“A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Phanos, Lady Brie’s personal maid in real life. Thank you for taking care of milady while she was playing this game.” Phanos extended her hand in greeting.
Now that she was up close, Q was able to make out the details on her. Phanos had a very slim build and was about half a head taller than Q and Brie. She wore what seemed to be a mixture of wool and linen clothing, although there was a slight shimmer around the wool parts. Phanos also had light silver hair which went down to her shoulders, and two small horns which poked out of her forehead. While her facial features looked very cute and delicate, the one thing that marred it was a large scar which went across her left eye. Her right eye’s color was green, while the other eye was covered with an eyepatch.
“Hey, nice to meet you.” Q shook her hand. Looking over to the side she saw that Brie wore a slightly strange face, but couldn’t make much sense of it. “When Brie told me about someone in the real world joining her, I thought it was a friend. I didn’t think that she meant her own maid.”
“Haha, it honors me to be considered her friend.” Phanos smiled modestly.
“Ste- Phanos, you have barely changed your appearance. Why is that?”
“I made sure to keep my appearance as similar to how I look in real life so you would recognize me more easily, of course.”
“I see… Hold on, why do you still have the scar on your eye?” Brie asked worriedly. “Let me see it.” She then approached Phanos, who started to look a little flustered.
“M-milady, I assure you that it’s nothing of great concern.” Phanos’ words were ignored though, as Brie walked up to her and lifted up the eyepatch.
“Ah, so you do have an eye there. Honestly, do not worry me like that Phanos! Since this is a game that gives you a chance to use a new body, I would have thought that you would use that opportunity to remove that scar.” While Brie shook her head, Q took a quick glance and noticed that Phanos’ other eye was red.
“...I could never remove this scar, milady.” Phanos looked down. “It is a reminder of my failures and shortcomings, and even if you ordered me to remove it, I would still keep it.”
“Steph…” Brie frowned for a moment, and then patted Phanos’ head. For a moment they stood still like this, master and servant in an intimate pose, when suddenly they were interrupted by the arrival of a person.
“My my, what’s going on here? Another one of your friends?” Pamerun returned and approached Q.
“She’s Brie’s friend. I just met her today.” Q corrected her and turned towards the other two. “Are you two going to stay like that all day?”
“Oh dear! I seem to have shown you an immodest appearance.” Phanos quickly separated from Brie and straightened out her clothes. She then bowed to Pamerun saying, “Apologies for the late introduction. My name is Phanos, and I follow lady Brie.”
“Well aren’t you a polite one?” Pamerun chuckled. “Meeting new people is nice and all, but I’m afraid that you happened to interrupt our little training session here. Of course I don’t mind if you watch these two fight, but I’ll have to ask you to stay on the side.”
“This was training? I thought for sure…” Phanos mumbled to herself for a while, but then looked back up and smiled. “I am very sorry for interrupting your training session. I would be most honoured if you let me stay and observe.”
“Alright, stand by that tree then.” Pamerun pointed at a nearby tree with low branches. “Now let’s see some more variety in those spells!” She said to Q and Brie. “Q, I know that you’re experimenting with the [Gust] obtained from a spellbook and the [Gust] as a spell, but make sure to use other ones alright? As for you Brie, try focusing on just casting a spell. I can see your fingers itching towards your sword every time a wisp approaches.”
The two girls nodded and then Pamerun disappeared into the fog. A few moments later the area was filled with Fog Wisps again and the two began using different spells. Halfway through fighting the wisps, Brie complained about a slight headache so Q passed her a mana potion and explained the ‘mental fatigue’ from casting too many spells.
After around one minute of killing fog wisps, Q suddenly felt a fluctuation of mana and activated her mana perception. The mana in the air began gathering in a larger clump than usual, and the fog wisps around the area were being sucked in! Then, a form which was at least ten times the size of the normal wisps with coils of fog around it appeared.
[Will of the Wisps] - Level 40
“Oh my, it seems we’ve been hunting the wisps here for too long.” Pamerun reappeared and began explaining. “Sometimes when a lot of wisps die in a single area, they’ll gather into a larger more powerful entity. This isn’t a part of our training, but would you girls like to handle it? Phanos can join in as well.”
“Heck yeah!”
“Gladly.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
Each of the girls responded in kind and they began their attack on the Will-o-wisp. (A/N: Name shortened because reasons) Q started out by shooting twin [Gusts], one from her skill and one from her spell. Both shots spun in the air and gathered together to create a large ball of wind which sped through the air and hit the Will-o-wisp. Contrary to Q’s expectations, the ball didn’t tear through it like it did with the other wisps, but instead the coils of fog that surrounded the Will-o-wisp blocked it. Although this slightly concerned her, she noticed that it’s health had dropped a little so she continued to cast [Gust] as she ran around it.
“The Will-o-wisp can use the fog around it to attack and defend. Its range is around two or three meters, so be careful when fighting it in close quarters. Though then again it’ll just block ranged attacks so it’s up to you how you handle it.” Pamerun was sitting on a branch and gave out advice.
“Okay. Brie, you and I are going to take it on from the front. Phanos, you can throw your knives and stuff from the back.” Q had begun running towards the Will-o-wisp as soon as she finished talking.
“I’m sorry Q, but I only follow orders from-”
“I am on my way!” Brie interrupted Phanos as she also ran to join up with Q.
“...Lady Brie.” Phanos seemed a little crestfallen for a moment, but quickly regained determination in her eyes and pulled out some knives which were hiding in her sleeves. “Fine then. I’ll just stand over here and throw my knives… *mutter mutter*”
While Phanos was sulking, Q and Brie engaged the Will-o-wisp. Q focused on using only wind and earth spells, as she remembered that the wisps exploded with a fire spell and she didn’t want to risk this giant wisp exploding on them. Brie on the other hand used her sword to make quick swipes at it since she couldn’t find a particular weak spot to stab.
Although the two of them furiously attacked the Will-o-wisp, it used only the fog coils around it to block their attacks as it slowly moved towards them. Even though the two girls attacks weren’t hitting the ‘main body’ it was still taking some damage, so they continued to fight while carefully keeping a safe distance from it. Q cast [Earth Armor] and was about to fight in in close quarters when a silver light flashed and the Will-o-wisp’s health dropped by at least 5%! Surprised, Q looked over to find that Phanos was standing with her arm outstretched, while wearing a smug face.
“That’s some nice damage! Change of plans, I’ll take the rear, Brie will fight it up close and Phanos will be in-between us. Brie, focus on distracting it and keeping its attention on you! Phanos, just keep doing whatever does the most damage.”
“Like I said earlier-”
“Phanos, please comply.” Brie took a step back to dodge a fog coil which whipped out and struck the air in front of her.
“Yes milady.” All of a sudden Phanos looked a lot more willing as she began rapidly throwing knives at the Will-o-wisp. Each of her knives had a slight glow to them and created a small breeze when they flew through the air. As the knives left her hand they flew forth with deadly accuracy, heading straight towards the Will-o-wisp’s main body. The Will-o-wisp moved slightly to the side to dodge it, but then the knife changed directions midair and hit it directly!
“How interesting… She combined wind and void magic…” Pamerun analyzed Phanos’ attack while leisurely sipping a cup of tea she brought out of nowhere.
“Uh, Pamerun. Hate to interrupt your cup of tea but will using fire magic against this thing make it explode? And to that point, will using lightning magic make it explode as well?” Q asked as she continuously fired out her [Gust] spell.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“The reason the normal Fog Wisps explode from fire magic is mainly because they’re susceptible to fire magic. The fire quickly burns away what constitutes as their body, and once their body disappears the mana leftover is consumed by the fire. This mixes in with the remnant wind mana that the Fog Wisp leaves behind, and creates the explosion. Because the Will-o-Wisp has more strength than usual it won’t cause an explosion unless it’s near death.”
“Thanks for the lecture!” Q instantly cast a combination of [Gust] and [Ember] once she heard this. As if it sensed danger, the Will-o-wisp turned to Q and condensed the fog coils around it to form a crude shield. The combination spell was easily blocked by this shield, and Q frowned as she waited for [Ember] to come off cooldown. “This might be a bit of a pain… Maybe if I add a bit more punch it’ll go through!” Q then cast [Ember], [Gust], and [Pebble Shot] at the same time, and had them fly towards the Will-o-wisp.
In mid air all the spells came together and created a burning rock that pierced through at least half of the Will-o-wisp’s shield before disappearing. “This Q seems to be more prodigious than I thought…” Pamerun looked closely at Q. “While normally earth and wind spells cancel each other out, she put in a layer of fire between them, allowing them all to coexist and increase in power… either she subconsciously did that, or it was luck. Either way, she’s full of surprises.”
Hey, that was lucky! Q thought as she watched all three spells combine. But I should probably pick up the pace. Brie and Phanos already have this things health down to half… She looked over at the main body where they were fighting, and saw that they were actually side by side. Brie’s slashes would slightly dissipate the fog and wouldn’t do much damage, but occasionally she’d use a wind spell after her attack, which dealt quite a bit. Meanwhile Phanos seemed to be more focused on protecting Brie, as anytime the fog coils moved towards Brie she would throw a knife to interrupt it. Phanos didn’t neglect dealing damage either, as she held a curved dagger in her left hand to swipe at the Will-o-wisp when she got near it.
The Will-o-wisp seemed to be getting angry though, as it let out a soundless scream and all the fog coils gathered around its body. Then after a few seconds of movement they separated into a bunch of small balls, which it then used to throw at the girls. This attack didn’t seem to bother Brie or Phanos all that much though, as they only made a few extra movements to dodge the balls and continued to attack the main body.
Q suddenly dashed in with her fist glowing a slight blue colour and she then punched the Will-o-wisp. As soon as her fist made contact, three bolts of lightning flew forth and wreaked havoc inside its body, taking away almost 10% of its health. Q then followed that up by a [Tri-spark] and then another combination of [Ember], [Gust] and [Pebble Shot]. At this point the Will-o-wisp’s health was less than ten percent, and Q resorted to using her claws as best she could to attack it.
Soon enough with all of their efforts, the Will-o-wisp was killed and the fight ended. “That was… unexpectedly weak. I mean I guess it’s on the same level of an elite monster, but still…” Q seemed to be disappointed by the lack of challenge.
“On the contrary, the Will-o-wisp is quite a challenge for any apprentice witches. Your fire spells and Phanos’ knives dealt a lot of damage you know?” Pamerun descended from her tree as she continued to speak. “As for you Brie, I can’t help but feel that magic isn’t one of your strong points. Perhaps you should look into other ways of dealing damage?”
“That is true. I feel far more at ease when using my blade to attack enemies, though I will admit using magic feels fun.” Brie seemed a little dismayed at the fact that her damage couldn’t match up to Q or Phanos.
“Don’t worry about it Brie.” Q patted her on the shoulder. “I’m sure there’s tons of classes and playstyles out there that suits you. You could probably be a magic swordsman or something, and enchant your blades with the elements!”
“Yes… I suppose I’ll find my class in time.” Brie smiled a little as she looked forward to the future.
“...” While Q and Brie were having their exchange, Phanos was watching with a wide eye. To think that milady is this comfortable around someone she hasn’t met in real life… And not to mention she let Q touch her! I must keep a closer eye on this Q…
“Well, I believe that’s enough excitement for one day, don’t you agree? It’s about time we headed back to the village. Would Phanos like to join us?”
“Of course!” The surprise on Phanos’ face was instantly erased as she put on a smile. “I would be honored to be let into your village.”
“Hehe, follow me then.” Pamerun began leading them back towards the village.
On the way back, Q suddenly thought of something as she asked, “Hey Pamerun, why did you let us into the village in the first place? I remember you saying that we didn’t seem like bad people, but I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to let complete strangers into your secret village.”
“Oh, that… Well, it’s a multitude of reasons, but the first one is definitely because I didn’t think you were bad people. The second is because I thought that slowly letting people know about our culture would be a good thing for us witches. You adventurers would be a good choice for this, as you didn’t have any prejudices towards us and were instead curious and willing to learn. The third reason…” Pamerun trailed off.
“The third reason?” Q looked at her with curious eyes.
“The third reason has to do with the ring and note you brought with you. I… I once had a lover back in a small town named Foria. We had all sorts of fun together, and after a while he eventually said he would marry me. I told him it wouldn’t work due to myself being a witch, but he insisted. He said that he would find a large ruby gem as red as my hair, and he would use it to propose to me. Unfortunately at that time I had to leave Foria because my presence was being noticed by the Velories, so I left him a note in hopes that he might find me again. That note you passed me is the same one I wrote, and the ring…”
“Oh.” Q finally understood why Pamerun looked so distressed when she first took the note from her. “I… I’m not sure what to say.”
“Haha, It’s fine Q. That was 50 years ago anyway, so I don’t expect him to be alive anymore. It’s just, the memories…”
“Hold on a second, you said 50 years ago?”
“Yes, why?”
“How old are you now?” Q looked at Pamerun who still looked young and beautiful.
“Fufu, even if you are a girl, it’s rude to ask for a lady’s age.”
“But you still look so… young.” Brie interjected.
“That’s a woman’s secret. Ah, it seems we’ve reached the village.” Pamerun made a quick chant and the trees parted to reveal the village of Malse hiding within. “For the next lesson, go find Suina, the Grand Witch of Water. She’ll be waiting at the fountain, and from what I hear your friend Kukis is already there.” She then waved her hand and a broom appeared. “I’ll be busy with getting other things ready. I’ll see you girls some other time!” She then sat on the broom and flew towards the village, presumably to town hall.
“That’s so cool! I want one!” Q’s desire to fly in the sky was reinforced as she watched Pamerun fly away.
“Indeed, I too would like to experience flying in the sky like that.” Brie nodded in agreement.
“As long as you order it, I will put in all my effort to let you fly through the skies, milady.”
“Thank you Phanos. Shall we head off to the fountain then?”
“Yeah, let’s go!” Q began to walk, and the three girls made their way to the center of the village.
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Hi. You know, sometimes I feel a bit jealous of other people's works (fictions to be more precise). I feel like their stuff is more thought out or better-made than mine, and while it doesn't elicit any negative emotions, it just makes me think like: man, I wish I could write like that. I mean I must be doing something right if you all like this fiction so that makes me happy at the very least.
On a more relevant note, I feel like Phanos somehow has more backstory than any other character in the past 39 chapters. Wow. Don't you love the snail's pace at which you learn things about the characters?
Fun-fact: A circle is just a polygon with infinite sides.