“Houp! Hup! Huey!” A man dressed in nothing but shorts leaped from side to side, avoiding icicle pillars raising from the ground, swords and daggers flying around him, and blue flames. He lowered his staff to the ground, using it as a step to ride a raising pillar and pushed off it at an angle, propelling himself forward and arriving right in front of a small girl.
Mia raised an Ice wall in defense, but the man smashed through it with his staff. Mia ducked, expecting another swipe but felt a heavy THUD as the staff came down on top of her head, killing her.
[Slot 2 loaded]
“Aww man, this again.” The man pounded his fist against the wall, leaning back his view fell on Mia “What makes this? Five times?” He stumbled backwards, pulling out his staff from his inventory “This blows! ~ just let me kill you and get back to my men!”
Mia had fucked up.
The two of them had attacked two more groups, using the same tactic as the last. Ria took care of the bigger group and protected any kids, while Mia blocked off the high priest and burst them down. That was the plan and it worked, the two high priests being overwhelmed with their speed and getting taken out. Mia gaining two levels from the each of them, the stats from that going straight into mind.
But then came this one.
They had found them guarding a building, Ria and Mia not hesitating and attacking immediately.
But this priest reacted.
When Ria dashed forward the priest threw off his robe and moved to grab Ria, Mia reacting in time to slow down time and erecting a wall, isolating them, and in her hast saving, not realizing she was in combat with him.
This proved to be a bigger problem than she would have first thought. Her first death she was bludgeoned to death before she even had a chance to react, no monologuing about Gaia whatsoever, he just instantly went in for the kill.
The second time was the same albeit a bit slower as he questioned what was going on, but still managed to dodge all of Mia’s attacks, and starting from the third time he started to get more chatty, complaining about the situation in a laid back tone as if him returning a minute into the past was nothing but an inconvenience.
Mia stepped it up, slowing down time mid assault but that did little to slow him down, she laid traps, used exploding spears, and different weapons that started to hinder him, but one death and reload later he had adapted.
This was troubling, she didn’t even have her sister to help because she had saved without touching her. She couldn’t help but worry either, if this guy was this strong the others might be stronger as well…
“Hey, fox!” the man yelled out, tapping his staff on the ground “Let me out of this, would ya? Think it’s obvious how this goes.”
Mia’s ear twitched, if she couldn’t overwhelm him and he also remembered than she just had to be more creative. She raised both her arms, cold air filling the in closed space, snow piling at her feet, rising and lowering.
“Ho? Least you don’t make it completely boring.” He tapped the staff in front of him, then kicked it.
“-?!” Mia slowed dow- no, the staff firmly spun and lodged itself into her forehead, the slowed down time only serving to extend her suffering until she loaded.
“Well…maybe…” the man shook his head, pulling out his staff once more “Look, if you don’t mind I’d like to get back to my guys, you get me?” he reeled back, striking and shattering the ice wall.
[Slot 2 loaded]
“No, can’t leave.” Mia said, ice forming around heron the ground, while the air filled with fire balls.
The man pulled out his staff “Hah, what even is this, anyways?” he reached into his pocket, pulling out a necklace with a symbol of Gaia on it “I am not to good with the magic stuff, but boss said this doodad would protect me from mental shit while I wore it.” He shoved it back into his pocket, grumbling “So, this an illusion? Pretty strong.”
“…” Mia reframed from commenting, shaking her head “Doodad? Isn’t that Gaia’s necklace?”
“Eh? Is it?” he took it out again, studying the symbol “so it is!” he laughed, shoving it back into his pocket “Sorry fox, not too big on the whole religion thing.” He waved her off.
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“I… aren’t you a high priest?!” Mia blinked, didn’t that mean he had to be religious?
“Right? I can’t believe it either.” He once again laughed, spinning the staff in his hands “Once you evolve they want to stick you in the high priest role or you get kicked out, I had to memorize their entire scripture” He sighed, looking off into the distance as if remembering a fleeting memory “I forgot that shit after passing…I think I passed…did I?”
‘Is this guy serious?’ Mia shook her head “So why are you even in the church?!”
“Eh, no real big reason.” He pointed the staff at her “Just want to get revenge on the demons, lost my ma and pa in that war. They say they help me get revenge, then I don’t care what they do.” He reeled back, chucking the staff.
“-?!” Mia slowed down time and managed to dodge this time, looking back the man was right next to her, and he brought down his fists upon her face.
[Slot 2 loaded]
“Ah shit, thought I got you off guard.” He spat, tapping his staff against the ground “You gonna undo this illusion or whatever? Or do I need to start making your deaths less quick”
Mia backed away, this guy was nuts “This isn’t…. you’re…” she gritted her teeth, she had to find a way out of this “if you want revenge on demons, why not go yourself? The church is enslaving beastmen children! Right here! How is that against demons?”
“Eh, they say it’s necessary and something about cleansing, fuck if I care.” He shrugged “But I’ve seen what they can do, and when they head out to the demon lands Imma be right there in the front lines for this.” He chuckled “so, gonna let me out?” he asked, clapping the staff upon his open palm.
This guy, so strong yet… “No.”
He paused “No? damn, so how slow you want this next one to be? Throw everything you got too, make it more interesting.”
“No, you can’t leave till you die.” Ice formed around her, spikes rose from the ground with fire igniting between the gaps.
“Is that like, a condition for your spell or something?” He asked, looking a bit puzzled.
“What? Condition?” What was he talking about?
“Yeah like, boss was explaining some spell to me, dude’s a push over but I love em, anyways he was explaining complex spells to me and how they need stuff to happen in order for other things to happen, or restrictions.” He then took out the necklace again “and if this thingy isn’t working then this illusion must be pretty strong. Right?”
‘this isn’t an illusion and you have to be wearing it for it to work!’ Mia screamed in her mind “Yeah, sure, whatever you say.”
“Ha! You sound like my teacher.” He proudly said, hands on his hips “So basically, I won’t be free till I die.” He nodded to himself, convinced “And while I’m stuck here, your partner is fighting my friends! You are stalling, aintcha!”
“…what?”
“Don’t play dumb, I have you figured out! None of this is real.” He swung his staff a few times in the air, bringing it to a halt “I bet I am not even talking to a real person right now! Just a tool to keep me stuck here, I won’t fall for that, I gotta get back to my men.”
“…what?”
He spun the staff even faster “If it fails I just come right back here, right? So I either get frre or I don’t. simple. “
“…I mean, yeah…” she could release him from this by simply loading slot 3, but Mia really didn’t want to run all the way back here from Anabelle, she’d much rather bang her head against this brick wall till she won.
“So you admit it.” He shook his head “Well, been fun illusionary child, I’m gonna go save my pals.” He then swung the staff into his head leaping into the burning spiked pit, burning alive in cold flames with a caved in skull.
“…” Mia looked to her status page “I gained ten levels for that…” She didn’t know how to feel after that one, did he really just kill himself?
[I want to blame not being able to handle time travel but… that one was just a stupid meat head.]
“Would what he was saying about illusions even work?”
[Maybe? Depending on the setup and the intention of the caster.]
“Not going to worry about it, anymore.” She never even got his name, though… she was unsure if she should even care. Since he had an inventory, she looked for the drop but saw nothing “All he had in there was the staff?!” she groaned, he didn’t even have any slave collars.
She lowered the ice wall, once again prepared for anything but what greeted her was something outside her expectations “uh, hi?” Mia found herself surrounded by a large group of adventurers, most gathered at the entrance to the dungeon while a few were off to the side, comforting a girl who was vomiting onto the ground.
“Mia!” Ria came rushing up, hugging her sister “Glad you are ok!” she spun her around and lifted her up, motioning to everyone “these people came to help! Guild staff and high leveled adventerers!”
“We are not about to let these racist assholes do what they want.” A wolf beastkin spoke up.
“We’re gonna send them right to that goddess they care so much about.” A Rabbit beastman said, the others cheering.
Mia looked over the group, not recognizing any faces “Where did they all come from?”
“Heeyo~ Mia~” A familiar voice rang out, and the girl Mia recognized as Honey came over and joined the hug “Me and Dem have been watching since the first one, called in reinforcements” she said, a smug look marked on her face, which shifted to confusion as she let Mia go “Wow, you are cold.”
Ria nodded “I’m getting frostbite holding her, but it is worth it.”
“Let go then.” Mia wiggled in her grasp, landing on the ground once Ria let go “So that’s it? We got them?”
“No.” Dem spoke up “This dungeon is their hold; we sent a search party in.”
“We must get the kids and keep them safe” Honey added “Plus, we were waiting for you to finish, we wanted to step in, but your sister said you were strong enough to handle it.” Honey shrugged, then motioned to the vomiting adventurer “That one insisted though, said something about a mental curse debuff and then started vomiting something fierce.”
“RECOIL!!!!!” the adventurer shouted, rabbit beastkin by the looks of it.
“…was tough, he was evolved and very strong.” Mia said, then glanced at her sister “7 times.” She grumbled, Ria swiftly turned away.
[Oh, cursed him and made him dumber and weaker.]
Mia thought back to how easily the man killed her, and his necklace specifically stated to protect him from those effects when worn ‘if that was him weakened…’
[Saved to slot 2]
Rest in peace, no name.
Rest in peace…