This is it. The time has finally come. A couple of weeks early, but whatever.
It's time for the beach episode!
“Fortis, wake up.”
I was lying in bed when Maya barged in and began shaking me.
“Just a few more minutes, please.”
“The beach will be crowded in an instant, so wake up now,” she said, sounding a bit upset. I was admittedly a bit surprised to know how excited she was. We did live far from the ocean, but not like she never visited any kind of shoreline before. We went to lakes often. Was this really something worth getting excited over?
“Just three more minutes.”
I myself never went out with my friends in my previous life, nor have I ever been to a beach with others. I was supposed to be excited for today. Actually, I am. But, something happened last night. During dinner, I accidentally let out the fact that I was level 100. Solicea’s parent already know of a child that is level 100, Solicea told them that. What they didn’t know was who. Once they realized that, the family and the servants began lining up for a chance to spar with me.
All the way from the family head to the butler and the maids, many wanted to try fighting me. I won against them all, that shouldn’t be surprising. But it went on until near midnight, and I was exhausted from the fight.
Maya should have known that, as she watched half of the matches.
“Sigh… How about no?” With those words, she pulled the blanket from underneath me, causing me to tumble down to the floor.
“Ouch. What’s that for.”
“Go get change.”
“Fine, fine.”
I headed to the bathroom to wash myself.
* ••
“So this is the beach, huh?”
“Yeah. What do you think? Beautiful, isn’t it?” Solicea said with great pride.
I had seen the beach from the mansion, but looking at it from up close felt different. The sound of the waves, the sensation of sand underneath my feet, the heat from the sun high up in the sky. It wasn’t summer, but it sure felt like one.
If… if my past life was any different… could I have experienced things like this?
Would I have experienced the bittersweet summer vacation often seen in anime, when the couple would play on the beach together, then watch as the sun went down…
Urgh… what am I even thinking.
Not like I had anyone back then.
“We’re going to get changed. No peeking.” Solicea winked at me.
“I won’t do anything like that, I swear!”
“Can't I do it here?”
“Maya, no!” Solicea scolded. Maya let out a snicker. Honestly, at this point, she's just messing with us.
The three girls turned around and went to the changing booth. I already wore my swim trunks underneath my clothes, so all I did was take them off. While I waited for the girls, I began setting up the beach umbrella and the beach towel. We brought a couple of snacks as well, tucked away in our picnic basket.
“That should do it…” I wiped a sweat off my forehead and lay down on the towel. It felt so relaxing. It made me regret not going to a beach back in my previous life, although I did feel grateful for having the chance now. I closed my eyes, the soft wind caressing my skin.
“We’re back.” Maya chirped.
“Oh, I set everything up-” I opened my eyes and turned toward the girls. They were all wearing swimsuits. Both Maya and Solicea wore bikinis. Maya’s had a dazzling red bikini that matched her dragon colors, while Solicea had a simple but elegant black bikini. Emori wore a cute light blue one piece that matched the color of her eyes.
“You all looked great.”
“You… You think so?”
“Thank… you…”
The two humans blushed. The dragon, meanwhile. “Thanks. Let’s get to playing.”
Yeah… I never had my chance.
Maya went to the basket and took out an inflatable ball. None of us had wind-element wands, so to inflate it, Maya blew into the thing manually. After a little wait, the ball was ready.
“So, what first?” I asked.
“Beach volleyball!” Solicea declared, excitement brimming in her eyes. We were divided into two teams, me pairing up with Emori going against Maya and Solicea. There wasn’t a net around us, so we drew a line on the sand.
“Okay, everyone ready?” Solicea asked.
“Ready,” Maya said.
“I’m ready. How about you, Emori?”
“I am ready.”
“Alright. Dodge this!”
“Akh!” I narrowly missed the ball coming toward me. Using my nature wand, I managed to use Bind to prevent the ball from going too far off.
“I thought you said volleyball! Not dodgeball.”
“You really are a level 100 caster,” Solicea commented.
“That’s not the point.” I used the vine to throw the ball back to me. I did a quick check on the ball, making sure it wasn’t damaged.
“The point is, don’t change the game on your own!” I threw the ball as hard as I could as I spoke. I managed to catch Solicea off guard, the ball hitting her stomach and bouncing off. “And you’re out.”
“That’s not fair!” she pouted.
“You’re one to talk.”
Solicea went to Maya and held her shoulder.
“Maya, avenge me please!” she cried before heading to the side.
“My turn now.” Maya picked up the ball and stared sharply at me. I paid attention to her, ready to accept her throw when-
“Akh!”
While still staring at me, Maya threw the ball straight toward Emori. Emori wasn’t able to react in time.
“I’m sorry!”
“It’s alright.” I took the ball as Emori left the field, standing next to Solicea. “I’ll avenge you.”
“Let’s see what you got.” With a confident grin, Maya began our war. We fought for the ball, throwing as fast as we could. We tried to hit each other, but the other side kept catching the ball. At one point, Maya even threw the ball straight at Solicea. The surprised girl wasn't ready and was knocked back onto the sand.
“Hey!”
“That's disappointing…”
“You didn't even tell me what to do!” Solicea tried throwing the ball at me, but I caught it.
After more than a few more failed attempts to knock each other out, we finally called a truce.
With that, we moved on to the volleyball game.
“Alright, here I go.”
I smacked the ball from below, sending it on an arc through the sky.
“Hiyaah!” Maya leaped to the air and smashed the ball.
“Woah!”
Emori managed to get in place in time, preventing the ball from falling to the sand. The ball bounced up high into the air. I ran near the line and jumped up, smacking the ball, sending it straight into enemy territory.
“Hyaah!” with a loud road, Solicea smacked the ball. The ball slammed to the sand right before me.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Ah!”
“Yippee, one for us!”
“Sorry.” I used Bind to catch the ball, preventing it from rolling away.
“Impressive…” Emori said, looking at my spell.
“This isn't a magic contest!” Solicea yelled from the other side.
“It's just a warm-up,” I said, throwing the ball toward them. We continued the match. The score ended with a twenty five to twenty two with Maya and Solicea as the victor.
“Congrats.”
“Phew, that’s a good one.”
“Thank you.”
“I expect my crown.”
I kneeled beneath Maya, picked up some sand, and dropped it all over her head.
“Hey!”
“You did say you want a crown.”
We all giggled, except for Maya who's busy getting the sand out of her hair. We continued enjoying the day, doing various things like eating watermelon, drinking some more coconut, building sand castles, and stuff. It may be the obligatory beach scene, but it was a lot of fun. After a fun and rather exhausting day, we returned home.
But it wasn’t over.
“Welcome, to the test of courage,” one of Solicea’s maids said.
“Solicea, you planned this?” I asked, but she shook her head.
“No, I don’t even have an idea about this.”
“Ladies and gentlemen. A demon lord had descended over the house,” The maid said with an exaggerated tone and a grim expression.
“So, should we fight our way through?” Maya asked, showing her fist. The maid panicked. “Ah, no, please-”
“Don’t worry, I’m just joking.”
“Maya, put more expression to your jokes,” Solicea scolded.
“Ehem. Please let me continue. Oh young heroes, please save us! Enter his domain, and defeat the demon lord.” As she spoke, Solicea’s butler came to us, picked up our stuff, and waltzed right back through the main door.
The maid stared at the butler, letting out a heavy sigh. “Well… It seemed the demon lord’s lackeys could get in and out through the main entrance. Unfortunately, you can’t.”
“Why?” Maya asked.
“You just can’t! You must go through the winding woods and find the rear exit. Only then, can you enter the mansion and defeat the demon lord.”
“O- Okay.” Emori nodded. She seemed to be the only one taking all of this seriously.
“Now come, heroes. Please enter.”
“So who’s team leader?” Solicea asked. The girls looked toward me.
“No thanks. One of you should do it.”
“Alright, I'm the party leader.” Maya took on the role and stepped forward, the three of us following after her.
“They really went all out in decorating this…” Emori murmured. When we left, the mansion’s garden looked like any normal garden. A large open space, with trees and paths and the obligatory fountain. Now, the decoration made it look like an actual forest. The leaves covered the sky, preventing any light from coming. It got so dark that Maya needed to use fire magic to see.
“That won’t burn anything, right?” Solicea asked to make sure.
“If I burn down your house, how much am I expected to pay?” Maya asked in return.
“A lot.”
“I see…”
“Don’t do anything dumb, please.” I pleaded from the rear. All of a sudden, a weird, white fog filled the passage.
“What is this?” Emori asked, startled.
“Is this part of the set?”
A white cloth appeared from the side, with a haunting scream. It surprised the girls. Well, it surprised me as well, but I managed to hold my voice.
I see…
They created the fog with magic, I assumed. The white cloth looked like a normal cloth as well.
Quite cheap, if you ask me.
Then again, it did get me a bit. So it worked, I guess?
“It’s really dark…” Solicea murmured.
“I wonder if they’re using magic…”
Emori looked up at me. “You mean the fog?”
“Fog? Oh, yeah. That as well. I mean, to block out the sky.” The foliage above us was dense, yes, but the it was a clear night. It shouldn’t be enough to block out the entire light from the moon and stars. A bit of the light should have passed through.
“If we can find the person that is controlling the magic… hehehe…”
“What’s with that freaky laugh?” Maya stared at me.
As a mage, magic wands are extensions of my body. Meaning…
I held my magic wand.
“Eh, Fortis?” Solicea exclaimed. I looked through what seemed to be a small hole in between the weavened plants. I pointed the wand upward, a magic symbol in my vision.
Fireworks!
A trail of light flew right up to the sky, before bursting into a cloud of sparks, its beautiful light shone on the world below.
“Wha-”
“Fortis-”
The darkness dissipated. We could now see the path clearly.
“Come on, let’s proceed.”
“I often forgot that you’re a level one hundred mage…” Solicea murmured. Well, to be fair, this was more thanks to my knowledge in my past life, rather than my level.
“Fortis… Can… Can you show that spell to me sometime?” Emori asked shyly.
“Sure, why not.”
“I’ll be waiting.” Her eyes sparkled. She must have loved the fireworks. We navigated through the little tunnel, arriving by the rear door. The maids that were there was surprised by how quick we passed their little test. Well, it was partly my fault.
They swiftly reapplied the magic, the sights darkening once more. Then, the door opened with a loud creak, revealing the dark interior of a room. A sweet smell wafted through the air.
“Is this the kitchen?” Maya sniffed. “Smells like fish.”
“You’re very sensitive to fish, huh?” I glanced around the area. Maya’s light began lighting up more of the room. There were the regular cooking utensils, with some dried fish to the side.
Is this bait?
Considering Maya’s fondness of fish, it might be. I didn’t detect the presence of any magical-related spells in this room, though.
Or maybe this is just leftovers from a meal? Tomorrow’s breakfast?
“What’s this…”
Emori kneeled in front of one side of the wall. On it written some words in red.
“‘Help… us’?”
“They definitely went above and beyond for this.” Solicea extended her finger and swiped it across the wall. “... Tomato sauce.”
“Could those be cleaned easily?” Maya asked curiously. Are we supposed to be talking about this in the middle of a haunted house?
“There’s an elementless spell for that.”
The three girls looked toward me.
“It’s called Cleansing.”
“Isn’t that a bit ominous for a cleaning spell?” Solicea lifted her eyebrow.
“Well, it isn’t used just for cleaning stuff.” I painted a black circle above the tomato sau- I mean blood, then paint the symbol Cleansing above that circle. Slowly but surely, the blood dissipated.
“... Are we supposed to do that?” Emori asked.
“Pretty sure not.” This is certainly different from my experiences back on Earth. “I probably should stop using magic.”
“You are definitely ruining the experience,” Maya said, motioning us to follow her. We proceeded deeper into the house, investigating the various clues set before us. I stayed back, no longer using any magic to mess up the game. This must what people feel when they saw something unrealistic in a game or anime. It took them out of the experience, much like what I was experiencing now.
Ignorance is truly a bliss sometimes.
After we solved clues, puzzle room style, we ended up in the main living room. There, sat the demon lord.
Asleep.
“Dad?” Solicea approached him. The person jumped up and looked toward us.
“Ehem. Who is there? Wh- What? Heroes? Impossible! Why are you here? How come you penetrated my impenetrable defenses?”
You mean that tomato sauce? Oh, wait, that shouldn’t be the defense…
“Regardless, this is where your journey end. You all shall bow before me!” Solicea’s dad unsheathed a wooden sword. Thunder roared outside, his silhouette standing tall in the room.
Thunder… I wonder which spell they use.
There were a couple of ways one could create thunder for visual effects, but I digress.
“Da- I mean, demon lord! Your reign ends here! We shall be taking your head.”
That’s pretty good acting… hold on.
“Solicea, Maya, you don’t happen to be a part of the drama club, are you?”
“Eh, you only noticed that now?” Solicea looked at me with exasperation.
“You hurt my heart.” Maya put her hands in front of her chest.
“Don’t act like you bothered saying anything to me!”
“Silence.” Solicea’s dad voice roared through the room. Maya moved forward, a fireball in her hand.
“Maya! Don’t burn the house down!” Solicea rushed forward and held Maya back.
“Th- Think about the innocent lives!” Emori got scooped up by the mood as well.
Maya clicked her tongue. “The foe we face before us is the demon lord! Do you think the innocent lives will care if they die for such a cause!”
“They definitely will!” Solicea and I shouted at the same time.
“I’ll- I’ll sacrifice myself for the cause!” Emori declared.
“Don’t just say that, Emori!” Solicea turned to her. Well, I guess if it turned to this…
I swept my hair to the side. “Don’t worry, my dear ladies. I, the knight of the… of the…”
“Tuxedo ring.” Maya cut in.
“The what?”
“You’ll definitely look cooler in a tuxedo,” Solicea commented.
“Who the heck fights in a tuxedo?”
I turned to Emori, who simply nodded meekly. “I… I think you’ll look good in a tuxedo too.”
Again, who the heck fights in a tuxedo?
Solicea’s dad stared at me. “So you’re the knight. You shall be facing your death.”
“You will be the one going to the grave.”
“Sir knight!” I heared the yells of someone behind us. I turned around, finding Solicea’s mom holding a sword.
Are all the adults in this world chill or what? How come they’re so friendly?
“Sir Knight, please, take this sword.” She handed a wooden sword to me. I took it and bowed my head. “I shall rescue everyone.”
I turned back toward Solicea’s dad, pointing my sword at his face. “I shall show you the wrath of the…”
“Tuxedo ring!”
“The tuxedo whatever!”
I checked the center of the room, finding it cleared out. I then leaped forward, heading straight for Solicea’s dad. We traded blades for a while. It was intense.
… Nah, I’m just joking.
My forte was in magic attacks. What made everyone think I could handle a blade? A quick swipe knocked me straight out.
“Our knight’s weak…” Maya stared at me, disappointment clear on her face.
“Well how about you have a go?”
Maya stepped forward. Solicea’s dad struck, but…
Maya grabbed the sword, and with her strength, pulled the sword straight out of Solicea’s dad’s hands.
“I win.” She lifted the sword up, Solicea’s dad letting out a faint sigh.
“Ouch! You may win now, heroes, but I shall one day return!” And with that declaration, he ran out of the room. The lights went back on, and the servants and Solicea’s mom came out clapping.