"You guys made it! And nice outfits by the way." Q said as she greeted Brie and Phanos.
The four girls had obtained new equipments from the last time they met each other. Brie was wearing an outfit made of light cloth with pieces of metal strapped around her vital spots. Her boots also had some metal plating on them, and Q noticed that there were some very faint symbols put into the metal parts. She also had some new rings and other accessories, while her sword had a new glow to it.
Phanos was now wearing a frilly dress, and her eyepatch upgraded into a leather one with a skull design on it. Q couldn't find any trace of Phanos' knives anywhere, but she had no doubt they were skillfully hidden all across her body. In fact, with a slight movement of her leg, Q was able to catch a glimmer of something metal strapped to her thigh. She also had a belt around her waist which held all sorts of strange things like charms or mini-dolls.
"Why thank you Q, you two look very nice as well." Brie complimented.
Q and Kukis were wearing similar outfits with long black robes which reached down to their feet. Underneath those robes were linen clothes which had some enchantments put on them to increase their sturdiness. They also both wore wide-brimmed hats with pointed tops, although Q's was slightly modified so her fox ears would pop out the top. The two of them had new wands to cast their spells, but they also kept a few melee weapons in their inventory just in case they had to fight in close quarters combat.
"And it seems you two have obtained some new companions as well." Phanos noted as she pointed at the top of Q's and Kukis' head.
Schorl was nestled happily in between Q's ears that pointed out of her hat, and was currently sleeping contentedly. On the other hand Asphy had completely enveloped Kukis' hat and was constantly letting its fluids drip down the sides (as a side note, Asphy wouldn't stop trying to envelop Kukis' head, and this was the only way to keep it from choking her to death).
"Yeah, it's our familiars that we got from obtaining the Witch's class. What kind of classes did you two get by the way?" Kukis asked.
Brie raised her head up high as she answered, "Behold, for I have obtained the Spell Knight class!" She twirled around once to show off her new outfit. "With this class I am able to continue using my fencing skills, and can also use magic!"
"Ooh, very cool." Q and Kukis clapped their hands. Brie seemed quite satisfied by their reaction and smiled.
"Yes, it took a bit of effort, but I was able to find a class suitable for milady." Phanos said. "As for myself, I have obtained the Hexmage class in order to support her."
"Awesome. We have DPS, support, and two glass cannons... This is a terrible composition." Kukis seemed excited, but her excitement quickly deflated once she realized how badly their team was balanced.
"Composition?" Brie tilted her head in confusion.
"Allow me to explain." Phanos said. "A composition, in other words a team composition, is referring to what roles a gaming party consists of. What Kukis had just mentioned is that we have very high damage, but very low defense, so as we progress through the library we will be hard pressed to proceed."
"Yeah, a tank or a healer would be nice... Also, when did you learn about those terms?"
"Of course, once I had learned that I would be joining milady in TWO I took it upon myself to research every basic piece of information when it comes to online gaming."
"If push comes to shove we can just rely on Kukis to throw a potion at us." Q mentioned.
"Actually, I did put a point into [Throw Potion] in my skill tree so I can do that. I'll eventually run out of them though so we should probably focus on not getting hit at all." The rest of the girls agreed to this sentiment and nodded their heads. It was at this moment that a voice called them over.
"Girls, are your preparations complete?" Pamerun yelled.
"Yeah, we're ready!" Q answered. The four girls walked over to the entrance door to the Underground Library and faced the Grand Witches who were gathered there.
"Okay everyone, our mission this time is to safely escort Q to Alrune's door. We will focus on staying away from battle getting there as quickly as possible. If the guardians of the library come to attack us, five of us Grand Witches will stay behind and distract them, while the other two will continue to escort Q. Any questions?"
"I have one." Q raised her hand. "What if I die?"
"Don't." Was the only answer she received. "Alright, let's go!" As if on cue, the door opened to Pamerun's last sentence and the group began delving into the underground library.
The first floor was very simple as their group simply walked to the stairs leading down to the next level. The monsters on the floor were intimidated by the aura (and mana) that the Grand Witches were giving off, so they didn't attack. The second floor was similar, although some brave monsters attempted to attack the weakest members of the group (that being Q's party). Those monsters were quickly dispatched by the Grand Witches though, so they were able to clear the second floor in less than ten minutes.
During this time Q and her party were constantly admiring the grandeur of the library (since they didn't have to focus on defending themselves). With each floor came a new look and new monsters. While the first floor seemed to be consisting mainly of bricks and stones, the second floor seemed far more natural as the floor changed into wooden planks and the bookshelves were made out of solid oak. The monsters also seemed to be more 'natural' looking as Q saw that some of them were called dryads. The books on the second floor also seemed to be older as the pages were slightly more yellowed than the ones upstairs. When Q tried to touch one out of curiosity she was slightly repelled by a barrier which covered the entirety of that bookshelf.
Eventually they made it to the third floor and their progress finally began to slow down a bit. This time the floor seemed to be fire based as there were burning spirits floating about, while the floor seemed to be covered in ash. The temperature also rose quite a bit, and the group had to deal with magic traps hidden underneath the ash. It's a wonder that these books don't burn in this kind of environment... though then again, magic. Q idly thought as they made their way through the floor.
Each floor after this seemed to also correspond to an element, and after an hour they finally reached the fifth floor of the library. At first it seemed fairly normal as there didn't seem to be any quirks about it, but then Q suddenly walked into a bookshelf which hadn't been there before!
"This is the 'light' floor." Pamerun explained, "There are many illusions and tricks of light which will confuse you as you go through. Stay closer together you four, it's only going to get tougher from here on out." The girls nodded and they tightened their guard as they made their way forward. After making it halfway through the floor, an ear-piercing shriek was heard and made them cover their ears!
"The guardian? It should only show up from floor seven and onwards..." Pamerun muttered quietly.
"Perhaps they have sensed that Alrune's key is with us this time." Suina said.
"Indeed..." Pamerun closed her eyes in contemplation. "Okay, if it's only one of them then Halidyne and Fremetica can distract it. If it's both then all of us will stay behind, while Haeldrix and Caryll will take the girls to the door." The Grand Witches nodded, and they all braced themselves for what was coming next. Q and the others also got into a fighting stance as they looked towards the stairway.
*FWOOOOSH*
Suddenly, a large figure burst out of the stairway and began flying in the air! It's speed was ridiculously fast, so all Q could see was a blur. Wherever the figure passed in the air, the illusions placed in the floor flickered and began to dissipate, while the whole room seemed to get brighter. Narrowing her eyes and tensing her body, Q concentrated as the world seemed to slow down a little. She focused her view on the figure, and was just barely able to make it out!
The figure was most definitely a bird, as Q could see its feathers trembling under the extreme speed it was moving. Its wings were also moving at a pace so fast that Q could've sworn that it was a hummingbird. Focusing on the head of the figure, Q saw two large eyes and a sharp beak which curved down. The figure seemed to notice Q staring at it as its eyes focused on her and it finally stopped flying around. As it stopped moving Q was able to get a proper look at it, and what she saw shocked her!
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
[Guardian of Knowledge] - Level 148
"And I thought the Guardian of the Ruins was ridiculous..." She muttered under her breath. As the figure hovered in the air, Q found out that it was actually a giant owl! Of course it was no ordinary owl as its features looked far more unrestrained and ferocious, but it also had an undeniable intelligence in its eyes. The owl screamed at the intruders in its library and swooped down to attack!
"Haeldrix, Suina!" Pamerun yelled out.
"Already on it!" Haeldrix yelled back as a giant wall of earth appeared in front of the group. Suina also cast a spell and the wall was further reinforced with ice that sharpened into spikes which jutted out the front. The owl didn't seem to care about it though as it crashed directly into the wall! The wall didn't even hold for a fraction of a second as it broke apart under the owl's charge and it continued to head for them!
Just as Q thought of dodging, she felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach and her vision shifted, only to find herself behind the owl! "Good job Caryll. Halidyne, Fremetica, please distract it while we go on!"
"No problem. This floor is basically my domain!" The woman named Halidyne stepped forward.
"Uuuuuugh." Fremetica groaned, but at the same time she also summoned a veil of darkness around the owl. "Just go already." She said while the owl was looking around in confusion.
With those words, the rest of the group began to run towards the stairs while the owl was being distracted. As they all ran down the stairs, the could hear the sounds of the owl rampaging against the two Grand Witches. “Will… will they be okay?” Q asked once she finally caught her breath. The sudden appearance of the owl and its display of power prevented Q from even thinking about fighting against it.
“Yes. Although they wield opposing elements, those two work incredibly well together. If worst comes to worst they can escape, but that will leave the Guardian of Knowledge to come after us. For now, we must rush to Alrune’s door so that their efforts are not in vain!” Pamerun reassured the group as they moved on through the next floor.
“Hey Pam, they already know we’re here right?” Haeldrix said.
“If the Guardian of Knowledge came after us this soon, I do believe so.”
“Then why don’t we just rush through? No need for subtlety anymore.” Haeldrix grinned as she began casting a spell. The ground underneath the group’s feet gathered up and turned into a large ball. “Hop in.” She said as a small hole opened up in the side of the ball.
“*sigh* As simple as that is, I suppose this is our best option right now.” Pamerun shook her head as she stepped into the ball. The rest of the group followed suit, and once everyone was inside the hole closed.
“Alright girls, get ready!” Haeldrix made a gesture with her hands and the ball began moving forward! Strangely enough the parts they were standing on weren’t moving at all, though Q noticed that the rest of the ball was moving. With a loud rumble, the ball of earth began speeding through the library, occasionally knocking into shelves or hitting bumps in the ground. It wasn’t even less than five minutes when Haeldrix said, “We’re here,” and dispelled the ball.
Once the ball disappeared, Q saw that the room they were standing in looked nearly identical to the first floor of the underground library. The only difference was that there were far less bookshelves around, and there was a large portion in the center that had nothing inside. Just as Q was going to say something, Haeldrix pointed to her left and said, “The door is in that direction. Hurry up and open it while we take care of this thing.” Once she finished saying that, Q heard another *FWOOOSH* sound and she looked up to find a large black eye staring at her.
[Guardian of Wisdom] - Level 150
When she got a good look at the next guardian, she noticed that it was actually a large raven! The raven was standing on the rafters, and once everyone had acknowledged its presence it lightly flapped its wings and came down to the ground. The raven opened its mouth but no sound came out. Instead everyone heard a booming voice inside their head saying, “Leave this place.”
Q and the others were reeling from the loud sound the voice made, while the Grand Witches prepared to cast spells. Seeing this, the raven seemed slightly disappointed as it said, “So be it.” It opened up its wings wide and it screeched while it cast a spell. The world seemed to get a little darker and Q suddenly felt the loss of something. When she checked her status she shockingly found out that all of her spells were sealed!
“Are you kidding me!? I go through all that effort of grabbing a class, and now all my new spells are sealed?” Kukis yelled once she looked at her status window.
“No time to worry about that! Just run!” Q shouted as she began heading in the direction that Haeldrix pointed out earlier. As she began to run she also swapped her equipment and brought out a simple dagger in case she had to fight. Brie and Phanos also followed immediately after, and after a moment of hesitation, Kukis ran as well.
Meanwhile the Grand Witches were trying to deal with the raven as best as they could. “Caryll, how long will the protection rune hold?” Pamerun shouted as she fired out a powerful wind blast at the raven.
“No more than five minutes! We have to escape before that or else our spells will be sealed as well!” The woman in grey robes responded.
While the Grand Witches were desperately casting their spells, the raven seemed bored in comparison. It simply flapped its wings a few times and quite a lot of the spells flying towards it were dispelled. The few that managed to actually hit the raven though, simply bounced off its feathers and became useless. No more than thirty seconds passed when the raven suddenly flew up to the rafters and began running in the direction that Q was heading!
“Not good, stop it!” The Grand Witches redoubled their efforts in casting spells but to no avail. The raven simply shrugged off their attacks and flew after Q, leaving the Witches behind.
*****
"Where is this damn door!?" Q said in exasperation.
"I'm not sure. I'm using magic perception but I can't find anything. Maybe we just haven't run far enough?" Kukis suggested.
"Not that it seems we can run anymore..." Q slowed down once she saw what landed in front of them. The raven was staring at the group in silence, and besides blocking their way it didn't do anything else. "Um... could you let us pass?" She asked cautiously. If it can speak then it can probably be reasoned with.
"No." The raven kept its stare on them.
Okay, so much for that idea... Q tried thinking of a way to get past the raven, but it was simply too strong for any of them to handle! That and if we take too much time that crazy owl will attack us as well. What do I do?
"Please, allow me." Phanos suddenly stepped forward. She took out two daggers from her sleeves and placed them in both hands. Everyone was watching her in anticipation as she slowly brought the daggers above her head, and then she suddenly flicked her wrist! A small sliver of light that was on the dagger was suddenly reflected in the crow's eyes, causing it to close them for a second!
"Go!" Phanos shouted as she proceeded to throw her daggers at its eyes. The girls all scrambled and ran underneath the crow, which just opened its eyes to find a pair of daggers heading for it! This time the crow used its wings to block the daggers, but during this time the girls had already passed it! The raven turned around and just as it was about to fly after the girls, it was hit in the back with multiple spells!
With the sounds of explosions behind them, the girls ran on and were faced with a few doors. One was a large door with glowing symbols on it, another was a door plated in silver and gold. The third one was small and wooden, and Q ran to that one without hesitation. Before any of the girls could question her decision, Q brought out Alrune’s Key and thrust it into a hole she saw! The instant the key entered the hole, the door let out a bright glow, and Q lost consciousness...
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Oh no, a cliffhanger!
Uh, I was out of town for the weekend so I didn't get to posting this until now. I was considering waiting till next week for a double release but... eh.
Fun-fact: Owls are actually very dumb birds.