“... so you just went ahead and tamed a dragon…” Mariina muttered, as she looked at Agunan.
Between me dropping a few more healing spell cards on him and Lua using some healing magic, he was looking a lot better. Well, he still lacked his left arm, but we can work on that. And because Lua’s light magic just really wasn’t there yet, in terms of power, and her water magic being the opposing attribute to Agunan’s fire, the effectiveness of her water healing magic was reduced.
{Taming is not correct.} Agunan told Mariina. {I have dedicated my very life into his hands.}
“... alright. And what is the difference?” Mariina asked.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” I told her before Agunan had a chance to answer. “Well, it basically means he is something akin to my slave until one of us dies.” I compacted the truth, leaving the entire me being able to use his HP and mana as my own out of it.
“... alright. I suppose I understand. But it is more or less the same as taming a dragon.”
“Well yeah. Basically.” I confirmed.
“Just when I thought I knew everything about you and thought you wouldn’t do anything else crazy, you just had to go and prove me wrong…” She muttered.
“Well sorry, Lady Sage. But this isn’t on me.” Well, it kind of is, but it also isn’t. How was I supposed to know there is a dragon settlement to the west of that freaking forest?
As things were finally seeming to calm down, Agunan raised his head and looked to the west.
{Master, I sense a dragon approaching.} He told us.
“... what is it now..?” I complained to no one.
Agunan was not in any state to fight yet, so if this was going to be another fight, I’d have to do it. And all of my super Blue-Eyes are currently on cooldown after their summoning. Well, I guess I can always summon Meteor Black Dragon.
But luckily, it wasn’t necessary, because the dragon that approached was quite a familiar looking emerald scaled dragon, with a rider on its back.
“Oh. It’s Agatha.” I said, as I recognized Luster Dragon #2. She is the only one with one, so it has to be her.
She landed some distance from us, unsummoned her dragon and rushed over.
“Is… is everyone alright?” She asked, as she took a look at everyone.
“Well, all except Agunan, the red dragon over there.” I just answered. “What about you? I assume you and the villagers saw the dragons? Was there any panic?”
“Some, but luckily they just flew over us, so we were fine. But I really feel like I should have come sooner.”
“Mom. I’m fine.” Lua called out to her mother.
As we were waiting around, you know, for curious nobles to show up so they could take a close look at a dragon, I used many more healing spell cards from my collection to get Agunan to full health, and overhealed him to the point where I could get his hand to start growing back. Unlike with Agatha, I didn’t actually have to use Super Rejuvenation, as Agunan just now lost his arm and he is a dragon. He could have eventually regrown his arm on his own, but this was a lot faster. Sure it take me using every toploader Dian Keto the Cure Master and Soul of the Pure in my collection, but those will be reusable by tomorrow anyway. By the way, in case you wanted to know, his max HP is 19,400. Dragons do be built different.
“Agunan, a quick question. Can dragons take on some sort of a humanoid form?” I asked, as I looked at the dragon's arm regenerating.
{Some of us, yes. But it is quite difficult.}
“Can you do it? It might be a bit difficult for me to let you stay by my side at that size.”
{Yes. I am capable of doing it, as soon as my mana has recovered.} He answered.
“Oh. Nice. That’ll be useful. I thought I’d have to install a card in you or something for that.”
“Install?” Mariina perked up. “What is that?”
“Forget it. I’m not explaining that stuff to you.”
Then, I heard a loud grumbling sound coming from Agunan.
“Hungry?” I asked the dragon.
{... yes. Fighting does take a lot out of me. I hate to impose, Master, but do you have any food?}
“... not on hand, no. But I can make some. Just a second.” I said as I opened my collection.
Now, what to cook? I shouldn’t cook dragon for a dragon. At least not until I’ve asked him if he actually eats that stuff. Oh, that will work. I got out the monster and Mystik Wok.
“Mystik Wok, cook up this Fire Kraken.” I said to activate the card.
SpoilerSoon enough, a giant pile of some sort of fried squid, kraken is a squid right, was in front of Agunan. Wait, I think a kraken is actually an octopus, not a squid. Well, either way. I’ve only ever eaten those fried octopus rings, so I really don’t know the difference.
With food piled high in front of him, Agunan began eating. As he ate, the regrowth of his arm accelerated even more. … yeah. Admittedly I forgot that the food I make with the wok has a healing effect. I could have just used it, instead of all of my healing spells. Well, there is the issue with how much you can eat, so. Either way. Agunan is healed and his arm is quickly growing back. Well, quickly considering he isn’t under some BS cards effect.
“... did you just cook a kraken with your card?” Mariina asked.
Oh god. Why do I do this?
{Mmm. Yes. This is very delicious. It has been a while since I’ve eaten any kraken meat.} Agunan commented, as he was munching on the Fire Kraken. Well, it is a good thing he is enjoying it, as the nobles who are brave are starting to arrive.
Well, it was mostly some of the males, as presumably the ladies were still either scared, or staying with their children or something. I don’t know, I’ll ask later, if I remember.
Interestingly, I didn’t see anyone from the Watchman family. I wonder where they are? Or are they just so used to my garbage that they don’t need to see the dragon?
Well, I was introducing my new dragon friend to everyone interested, while he was still enjoying his squid… octopus meal.
As I was hearing some: “So this is a true dragon.” and “Amazing. It is so majestic.” coming from the nobles lips, a somewhat panicked lady rushed to me.
“Brian!” Christina called to me as she got out of a carriage.
“Christina? I was waiting for you. Where are the others?” I asked. I did see Daniel also getting out of the carriage, but Brandon and Alice weren’t with them.
“Brian!” Christina kept panicking. “They just disappeared. First him and then her as well.” She said, sobbing a bit as she spoke.
“... wait. What happened? Disappeared? Alice and Brandon?” I asked to confirm.
“Yes. First it was my husband. At first, we thought he went to a restroom or something, but he didn’t come back. The maids searched for him, but they couldn’t find him.” Chirstina told me. “Then, when the knights came and told us that the dragon situation was over, and that we could come and see the dragon, Alice also disappeared. She was holding my hand and everything. But she just … vanished.” After she had said all of that, she once again began sobbing a little. I guess disappearing family members can do that for you. Luckily, her son and her sisters were there and he was doing an … okay job at consoling her.
Vanished? … okay. That cannot be normal, right?
(Laura?) I asked.
(It could be teleportation magic. She could have been forcefully teleported somewhere, but I don’t know why or how. I’m asking for information. Just a moment please.)
… yeah. Explain how the system works as well. I really want to know.
Lua looked at me, looking slightly worried as well.
“... Brian?” She asked. “Should we … do something?”
“Yes, but what? I have no clue what is going on.” I admitted. “Laura did ask about it, so hopefully.”
“I’ll have Mia ask as well.” Lua agreed.
I don’t know if having two system supports asking will make any difference and Laura is the higher ranking of the two, so she should get the info, if either will.
It didn’t take too long for me, and judging by the look on her face Lua as well, to get the info we were waiting for.
And it wasn’t exactly something I would call good.
“Lua?” I turned to face her and it appears she just heard what I heard.
“We need to go.” She said.
“Yeah.” I agreed, as I pulled a card out of my collection. “Ria, Lua and I have to go somewhere. Look over Agunan until we return. And Agunan, don’t do anything stupid until I return. Gradius.” I instructed my two servants before summoning the fastest thing I can summon.
I jumped into the cockpit and Lua came into the seat behind mine. Before anyone had the time to ask any questions, we had already blasted off with our destination clear. We are going to Alewatch.
[3rd person POV]
That morning, in the adventurer’s guild’s guild master’s room, the current guild master, Zayaan, was busy filling in paperwork when he heard a knock at the door.
“Enter.” He gave permission without ever looking up from the paperwork.
Two people entered. One was a guild receptionist and the guild master’s fiancé, while the other was a young adventurer, not much more than fifteen years of age.
“Zay. Something strange has apparently appeared in the plains to the south.” Krisha began. “Kurt, tell him.”
“Uum. Guild Master.” The boy began. “There is … something like … a lightning bolt. Just stationary, floating in the air.”
As the boy spoke this, Zayaan turned his gaze up from the papers and fully focused on what the boy was saying.
“We saw it when we were going to the dungeon. The others coming with us are still there, watching it, but they asked me to come and report to you, guild master.” Kurt was a bit more nervous talking to the guild master than he usually would be, because as both the town’s lord and lady were out of town at this time, Zayaan was the de facto highest ranking person in town currently.
“A lightning bolt? In the air?” Zay questioned the adventurer.
“Y-Yes. That is how Tye told me to describe it.” Kurt said.
“Tye, huh.” Zay didn’t know this Tye adventurer that well yet. He had just recently come into town, after the news about the dungeon had spread a bit. But he was a B-rank adventurer and he had Zayaan’s old party member Alex also in his party. And Alex had said mostly good things about Tye. “I see. Kris, would you get a horse for me? I’ll go check it out myself.” Zay decided that he had to confirm this ‘lightning bolt floating in the air’ by himself.
It could be something trivial, or it could be a warning of some imminent incoming danger, either way, as the one left in charge, Zayaan wasn’t going to let anything bad happen under his watch.
Arriving at the place, he found a group of a bit more than ten adventurer’s just casually chatting around what he could only describe as a purple lightning bolt. It looked like an advanced spell, which had then been frozen in place by some mysterious force. From it, some strange power was emanating, but no one there knew just how dangerous it could be.
After speaking with the most skilled of the adventurers there, Zayaan realized that they have no idea what that lightning bolt is, and what should be done about it. So Zay did what he had been taught to do by the previous guild master. He returned to his guild and used the cross-guild communication device to contact the other guilds, describing what he had seen, and how he should handle it. While he was doing that, Kris took it upon herself to take one of the best magician in town to see the bolt, so she took Mrs. Moon to see it. While she might now be retired, once upon a time, Mrs. Moon was an A-rank adventurer extremely skilled in water magic. She even carries the title of a great witch, given to her by the Sage’s tower.
But as Mrs. Moon saw the lightning bolt, her face turned pale.
“We must evacuate.” She immediately said.
“Do… Do you know what that is?” Kris asked her.
“Honestly speaking, I have no idea. All I know is that it is extremely dangerous. That ‘thing’, whatever it is, is emitting more miasma than the A-rank monsters I’ve faced in the past.”
“Is that what it is?” Vivien, the archer and mage of the Saber Fang party asked. She had also felt a slight sense of dread, but she hadn’t known what it was. After all, it was incredibly difficult to tell the difference between a powerful source of mana and a slightly less powerful source of miasma. Both would feel the same to someone inexperienced.
“Yes. That is what I believe. And as soon as any monster approaches that thing, it will likely grow to be an A-rank monster.” Mrs. Moon stated, saying something that wasn't common knowledge, but she had learned from her own teacher. “We need to pull back to the town walls and prepare for that.”
Hearing that, the adventurers in the area had an immediate reaction. After all, none of them had ever faced an A-rank monster, and none of them felt ready to do so now.
“... alright. We will make preparations.” Zayaan said, after hearing the bad news. “First, make a wall with earth magic around the thing, so none of the boars can get to it. Then, call all adventurers back inside the walls. As well as the other townspeople. Kris, use the communicator again. Tell the other guilds what we found out. We might be able to get help before that … thing does anything.”
“Yes. At once.” Kris agreed as she moved to the room with the communicator device.
“Now. Tye.” Zay turned his attention to the B-rank adventuring party's leader. “I know this town doesn’t really mean anything to you, and you might want to run away, but as the guild master, I’m forcing you to accept the mission of protecting this town. Your party shall join the B-rank party Diamond Sword as our frontline.”
“Sure. I assumed as much.” Tye said. “But guild master, don’t you also have that ‘Card Summoner’ skill? Like Alex does? Will you also be joining us on the front line?”
“Of course I will.” Zay answered. “At the end of the day, when I was left in charge, I promised to keep this town safe from anything, and I plan on keeping that promise.”
“Well, you’d better prepare for that as well.” Tye said, as he left the room. “I’ll go with the Sword members so we can put up that wall. See you later.”
“It is getting worse. The bolt thing is growing in size.” That report came from Alex, after he and the other members of the two B-ranked parties returned to the town.
By this time, Zay had used his authority to bring the town’s guard force under his control and had managed to pull everyone inside the town walls.
“... I see.” Is all Zay could say in response. “Alex, do you think your monsters can keep an eye on it? They can fly, right?”
“Are you planning on sending summoned monsters close to that miasma bolt?” Mrs. Moon asked. She had stayed available for the guild master to use, as she was going to be leading the magic squad with the adventurers Vivien and Laith.
“They come from Brian, so they are somewhat unique.” Zay said. “While I’m not saying it is impossible that they go roque, that might actually be better.”
“And they don’t have to get that close.” Alex added. “As Zay said, they can fly.”
“... Brian, huh. I wish he was here.” Mrs. Moon said quietly.
“Don’t we all?” Zay responded, having heard what she said.
It was the beginning of the afternoon. Because of the state of emergency the town was in, everyone capable would be helping in some way or another. That meant that everyone who could fight, was ready to fight, and those that couldn’t, would help the fighters. This would help the fighters stay rested and well fed, ready to go at any moment.
And judging by the reports Alex’s Harpie’s came back with, it would be soon. What they once had called a ‘miasma bolt’ was now a large dark purple blob, with the purple lightning surging around it. The power coming off of it was so bad that it could now be felt all the way at the town’s wall.
Just as everyone believed things couldn’t get any worse, a report had come in from the guild communicator.
“Zay! Sawyer city has been surrounded by dragons!” Kris told everyone in a slight panic. “Because of that, they can’t send out the reinforcements they were planning on.”
“What? But that is the closest city.”
Had Sawyer city been able to send out reinforcements, with proper transport, those reinforcements could have been here tomorrow morning. That is under normal circumstances.
But Sawyer city currently had an adventurer who was anything but normal. Zay knew that Brian could easily make that trip a lot faster than that. While he wasn’t completely sure how long it would take Brian, he had assumed that it would take Brian no longer than 2 hours, the time he could keep a monster summoned for.
“... but… if they are facing dragons … then there is no way Brian will come here.” Zay muttered.
Honestly speaking, that had been his plan as things got worse and worse. As the miasma crack had been getting larger and larger, they had realized that they wouldn’t be facing an A-rank monster, but an S-rank monster. And while they might have been able to take down an A-rank monster, they didn’t see any way of taking down an S-rank.
But Zay knew, well maybe believed, that Brian could take down even an S-rank monster. He knew Brian could summon multiple dragons and if they couldn’t take down an S-rank monster, then what could?
But now, even that avenue of escape has been closed. If Sawyer city is under a dragon attack, that will take all of Brian’s attention. He will never make it here.
As Zay pondered that, he took a card out of his pocket. Out of all the card Brian had given him, only one didn’t have what Brian called a ‘toploader’ around it.
“A Hero Emerges…” Zay quietly said, as he held the card. Perhaps hoping something would happen, he looked around for a hero.
Spoiler [collapse]But the card hadn't been activated. After all, just like when Brian tested the card out, Zayaan hadn’t met the activation condition for the card.
And then, what they had all feared happened. But not in the way they had expected.
The massive miasma blob cracked open, as if someone was cutting apart both space and time. And from the dimensional fissure, out came a single massive beast. Standing on four legs and looking like a giant mound, the thirty meters tall beast was ready to destroy everything.
Even standing on the wall of the town, they could all see the beast. It might be more than three kilometers away, but that is no distance as you stare at your impending doom.
At that time, the legend told around the town came to everyone’s mind.
‘A behemoth would once again walk on these plains. And a blond haired female magician would take it down.’
That was the condensed version of the full prophecy. And everyone who had heard that prophecy knew, they were now living in it. But Zay knew. In the entire town, there wasn’t a single blond haired female magician to take down this behemoth.
“... so you just went ahead and tamed a dragon…” Mariina muttered, as she looked at Agunan.
Between me dropping a few more healing spell cards on him and Lua using some healing magic, he was looking a lot better. Well, he still lacked his left arm, but we can work on that. And because Lua’s light magic just really wasn’t there yet, in terms of power, and her water magic being the opposing attribute to Agunan’s fire, the effectiveness of her water healing magic was reduced.
{Taming is not correct.} Agunan told Mariina. {I have dedicated my very life into his hands.}
“... alright. And what is the difference?” Mariina asked.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” I told her before Agunan had a chance to answer. “Well, it basically means he is something akin to my slave until one of us dies.” I compacted the truth, leaving the entire me being able to use his HP and mana as my own out of it.
“... alright. I suppose I understand. But it is more or less the same as taming a dragon.”
“Well yeah. Basically.” I confirmed.
“Just when I thought I knew everything about you and thought you wouldn’t do anything else crazy, you just had to go and prove me wrong…” She muttered.
“Well sorry, Lady Sage. But this isn’t on me.” Well, it kind of is, but it also isn’t. How was I supposed to know there is a dragon settlement to the west of that freaking forest?
As things were finally seeming to calm down, Agunan raised his head and looked to the west.
{Master, I sense a dragon approaching.} He told us.
“... what is it now..?” I complained to no one.
Agunan was not in any state to fight yet, so if this was going to be another fight, I’d have to do it. And all of my super Blue-Eyes are currently on cooldown after their summoning. Well, I guess I can always summon Meteor Black Dragon.
But luckily, it wasn’t necessary, because the dragon that approached was quite a familiar looking emerald scaled dragon, with a rider on its back.
“Oh. It’s Agatha.” I said, as I recognized Luster Dragon #2. She is the only one with one, so it has to be her.
She landed some distance from us, unsummoned her dragon and rushed over.
“Is… is everyone alright?” She asked, as she took a look at everyone.
“Well, all except Agunan, the red dragon over there.” I just answered. “What about you? I assume you and the villagers saw the dragons? Was there any panic?”
“Some, but luckily they just flew over us, so we were fine. But I really feel like I should have come sooner.”
“Mom. I’m fine.” Lua called out to her mother.
As we were waiting around, you know, for curious nobles to show up so they could take a close look at a dragon, I used many more healing spell cards from my collection to get Agunan to full health, and overhealed him to the point where I could get his hand to start growing back. Unlike with Agatha, I didn’t actually have to use Super Rejuvenation, as Agunan just now lost his arm and he is a dragon. He could have eventually regrown his arm on his own, but this was a lot faster. Sure it take me using every toploader Dian Keto the Cure Master and Soul of the Pure in my collection, but those will be reusable by tomorrow anyway. By the way, in case you wanted to know, his max HP is 19,400. Dragons do be built different.
“Agunan, a quick question. Can dragons take on some sort of a humanoid form?” I asked, as I looked at the dragon's arm regenerating.
{Some of us, yes. But it is quite difficult.}
“Can you do it? It might be a bit difficult for me to let you stay by my side at that size.”
{Yes. I am capable of doing it, as soon as my mana has recovered.} He answered.
“Oh. Nice. That’ll be useful. I thought I’d have to install a card in you or something for that.”
“Install?” Mariina perked up. “What is that?”
“Forget it. I’m not explaining that stuff to you.”
Then, I heard a loud grumbling sound coming from Agunan.
“Hungry?” I asked the dragon.
{... yes. Fighting does take a lot out of me. I hate to impose, Master, but do you have any food?}
“... not on hand, no. But I can make some. Just a second.” I said as I opened my collection.
Now, what to cook? I shouldn’t cook dragon for a dragon. At least not until I’ve asked him if he actually eats that stuff. Oh, that will work. I got out the monster and Mystik Wok.
“Mystik Wok, cook up this Fire Kraken.” I said to activate the card.
SpoilerSoon enough, a giant pile of some sort of fried squid, kraken is a squid right, was in front of Agunan. Wait, I think a kraken is actually an octopus, not a squid. Well, either way. I’ve only ever eaten those fried octopus rings, so I really don’t know the difference.
With food piled high in front of him, Agunan began eating. As he ate, the regrowth of his arm accelerated even more. … yeah. Admittedly I forgot that the food I make with the wok has a healing effect. I could have just used it, instead of all of my healing spells. Well, there is the issue with how much you can eat, so. Either way. Agunan is healed and his arm is quickly growing back. Well, quickly considering he isn’t under some BS cards effect.
“... did you just cook a kraken with your card?” Mariina asked.
Oh god. Why do I do this?
{Mmm. Yes. This is very delicious. It has been a while since I’ve eaten any kraken meat.} Agunan commented, as he was munching on the Fire Kraken. Well, it is a good thing he is enjoying it, as the nobles who are brave are starting to arrive.
Well, it was mostly some of the males, as presumably the ladies were still either scared, or staying with their children or something. I don’t know, I’ll ask later, if I remember.
Interestingly, I didn’t see anyone from the Watchman family. I wonder where they are? Or are they just so used to my garbage that they don’t need to see the dragon?
Well, I was introducing my new dragon friend to everyone interested, while he was still enjoying his squid… octopus meal.
As I was hearing some: “So this is a true dragon.” and “Amazing. It is so majestic.” coming from the nobles lips, a somewhat panicked lady rushed to me.
“Brian!” Christina called to me as she got out of a carriage.
“Christina? I was waiting for you. Where are the others?” I asked. I did see Daniel also getting out of the carriage, but Brandon and Alice weren’t with them.
“Brian!” Christina kept panicking. “They just disappeared. First him and then her as well.” She said, sobbing a bit as she spoke.
“... wait. What happened? Disappeared? Alice and Brandon?” I asked to confirm.
“Yes. First it was my husband. At first, we thought he went to a restroom or something, but he didn’t come back. The maids searched for him, but they couldn’t find him.” Chirstina told me. “Then, when the knights came and told us that the dragon situation was over, and that we could come and see the dragon, Alice also disappeared. She was holding my hand and everything. But she just … vanished.” After she had said all of that, she once again began sobbing a little. I guess disappearing family members can do that for you. Luckily, her son and her sisters were there and he was doing an … okay job at consoling her.
Vanished? … okay. That cannot be normal, right?
(Laura?) I asked.
(It could be teleportation magic. She could have been forcefully teleported somewhere, but I don’t know why or how. I’m asking for information. Just a moment please.)
… yeah. Explain how the system works as well. I really want to know.
Lua looked at me, looking slightly worried as well.
“... Brian?” She asked. “Should we … do something?”
“Yes, but what? I have no clue what is going on.” I admitted. “Laura did ask about it, so hopefully.”
“I’ll have Mia ask as well.” Lua agreed.
I don’t know if having two system supports asking will make any difference and Laura is the higher ranking of the two, so she should get the info, if either will.
It didn’t take too long for me, and judging by the look on her face Lua as well, to get the info we were waiting for.
And it wasn’t exactly something I would call good.
“Lua?” I turned to face her and it appears she just heard what I heard.
“We need to go.” She said.
“Yeah.” I agreed, as I pulled a card out of my collection. “Ria, Lua and I have to go somewhere. Look over Agunan until we return. And Agunan, don’t do anything stupid until I return. Gradius.” I instructed my two servants before summoning the fastest thing I can summon.
I jumped into the cockpit and Lua came into the seat behind mine. Before anyone had the time to ask any questions, we had already blasted off with our destination clear. We are going to Alewatch.
[3rd person POV]
That morning, in the adventurer’s guild’s guild master’s room, the current guild master, Zayaan, was busy filling in paperwork when he heard a knock at the door.
“Enter.” He gave permission without ever looking up from the paperwork.
Two people entered. One was a guild receptionist and the guild master’s fiancé, while the other was a young adventurer, not much more than fifteen years of age.
“Zay. Something strange has apparently appeared in the plains to the south.” Krisha began. “Kurt, tell him.”
“Uum. Guild Master.” The boy began. “There is … something like … a lightning bolt. Just stationary, floating in the air.”
As the boy spoke this, Zayaan turned his gaze up from the papers and fully focused on what the boy was saying.
“We saw it when we were going to the dungeon. The others coming with us are still there, watching it, but they asked me to come and report to you, guild master.” Kurt was a bit more nervous talking to the guild master than he usually would be, because as both the town’s lord and lady were out of town at this time, Zayaan was the de facto highest ranking person in town currently.
“A lightning bolt? In the air?” Zay questioned the adventurer.
“Y-Yes. That is how Tye told me to describe it.” Kurt said.
“Tye, huh.” Zay didn’t know this Tye adventurer that well yet. He had just recently come into town, after the news about the dungeon had spread a bit. But he was a B-rank adventurer and he had Zayaan’s old party member Alex also in his party. And Alex had said mostly good things about Tye. “I see. Kris, would you get a horse for me? I’ll go check it out myself.” Zay decided that he had to confirm this ‘lightning bolt floating in the air’ by himself.
It could be something trivial, or it could be a warning of some imminent incoming danger, either way, as the one left in charge, Zayaan wasn’t going to let anything bad happen under his watch.
Arriving at the place, he found a group of a bit more than ten adventurer’s just casually chatting around what he could only describe as a purple lightning bolt. It looked like an advanced spell, which had then been frozen in place by some mysterious force. From it, some strange power was emanating, but no one there knew just how dangerous it could be.
After speaking with the most skilled of the adventurers there, Zayaan realized that they have no idea what that lightning bolt is, and what should be done about it. So Zay did what he had been taught to do by the previous guild master. He returned to his guild and used the cross-guild communication device to contact the other guilds, describing what he had seen, and how he should handle it. While he was doing that, Kris took it upon herself to take one of the best magician in town to see the bolt, so she took Mrs. Moon to see it. While she might now be retired, once upon a time, Mrs. Moon was an A-rank adventurer extremely skilled in water magic. She even carries the title of a great witch, given to her by the Sage’s tower.
But as Mrs. Moon saw the lightning bolt, her face turned pale.
“We must evacuate.” She immediately said.
“Do… Do you know what that is?” Kris asked her.
“Honestly speaking, I have no idea. All I know is that it is extremely dangerous. That ‘thing’, whatever it is, is emitting more miasma than the A-rank monsters I’ve faced in the past.”
“Is that what it is?” Vivien, the archer and mage of the Saber Fang party asked. She had also felt a slight sense of dread, but she hadn’t known what it was. After all, it was incredibly difficult to tell the difference between a powerful source of mana and a slightly less powerful source of miasma. Both would feel the same to someone inexperienced.
“Yes. That is what I believe. And as soon as any monster approaches that thing, it will likely grow to be an A-rank monster.” Mrs. Moon stated, saying something that wasn't common knowledge, but she had learned from her own teacher. “We need to pull back to the town walls and prepare for that.”
Hearing that, the adventurers in the area had an immediate reaction. After all, none of them had ever faced an A-rank monster, and none of them felt ready to do so now.
“... alright. We will make preparations.” Zayaan said, after hearing the bad news. “First, make a wall with earth magic around the thing, so none of the boars can get to it. Then, call all adventurers back inside the walls. As well as the other townspeople. Kris, use the communicator again. Tell the other guilds what we found out. We might be able to get help before that … thing does anything.”
“Yes. At once.” Kris agreed as she moved to the room with the communicator device.
“Now. Tye.” Zay turned his attention to the B-rank adventuring party's leader. “I know this town doesn’t really mean anything to you, and you might want to run away, but as the guild master, I’m forcing you to accept the mission of protecting this town. Your party shall join the B-rank party Diamond Sword as our frontline.”
“Sure. I assumed as much.” Tye said. “But guild master, don’t you also have that ‘Card Summoner’ skill? Like Alex does? Will you also be joining us on the front line?”
“Of course I will.” Zay answered. “At the end of the day, when I was left in charge, I promised to keep this town safe from anything, and I plan on keeping that promise.”
“Well, you’d better prepare for that as well.” Tye said, as he left the room. “I’ll go with the Sword members so we can put up that wall. See you later.”
“It is getting worse. The bolt thing is growing in size.” That report came from Alex, after he and the other members of the two B-ranked parties returned to the town.
By this time, Zay had used his authority to bring the town’s guard force under his control and had managed to pull everyone inside the town walls.
“... I see.” Is all Zay could say in response. “Alex, do you think your monsters can keep an eye on it? They can fly, right?”
“Are you planning on sending summoned monsters close to that miasma bolt?” Mrs. Moon asked. She had stayed available for the guild master to use, as she was going to be leading the magic squad with the adventurers Vivien and Laith.
“They come from Brian, so they are somewhat unique.” Zay said. “While I’m not saying it is impossible that they go roque, that might actually be better.”
“And they don’t have to get that close.” Alex added. “As Zay said, they can fly.”
“... Brian, huh. I wish he was here.” Mrs. Moon said quietly.
“Don’t we all?” Zay responded, having heard what she said.
It was the beginning of the afternoon. Because of the state of emergency the town was in, everyone capable would be helping in some way or another. That meant that everyone who could fight, was ready to fight, and those that couldn’t, would help the fighters. This would help the fighters stay rested and well fed, ready to go at any moment.
And judging by the reports Alex’s Harpie’s came back with, it would be soon. What they once had called a ‘miasma bolt’ was now a large dark purple blob, with the purple lightning surging around it. The power coming off of it was so bad that it could now be felt all the way at the town’s wall.
Just as everyone believed things couldn’t get any worse, a report had come in from the guild communicator.
“Zay! Sawyer city has been surrounded by dragons!” Kris told everyone in a slight panic. “Because of that, they can’t send out the reinforcements they were planning on.”
“What? But that is the closest city.”
Had Sawyer city been able to send out reinforcements, with proper transport, those reinforcements could have been here tomorrow morning. That is under normal circumstances.
But Sawyer city currently had an adventurer who was anything but normal. Zay knew that Brian could easily make that trip a lot faster than that. While he wasn’t completely sure how long it would take Brian, he had assumed that it would take Brian no longer than 2 hours, the time he could keep a monster summoned for.
“... but… if they are facing dragons … then there is no way Brian will come here.” Zay muttered.
Honestly speaking, that had been his plan as things got worse and worse. As the miasma crack had been getting larger and larger, they had realized that they wouldn’t be facing an A-rank monster, but an S-rank monster. And while they might have been able to take down an A-rank monster, they didn’t see any way of taking down an S-rank.
But Zay knew, well maybe believed, that Brian could take down even an S-rank monster. He knew Brian could summon multiple dragons and if they couldn’t take down an S-rank monster, then what could?
But now, even that avenue of escape has been closed. If Sawyer city is under a dragon attack, that will take all of Brian’s attention. He will never make it here.
As Zay pondered that, he took a card out of his pocket. Out of all the card Brian had given him, only one didn’t have what Brian called a ‘toploader’ around it.
“A Hero Emerges…” Zay quietly said, as he held the card. Perhaps hoping something would happen, he looked around for a hero.
Spoiler [collapse]But the card hadn't been activated. After all, just like when Brian tested the card out, Zayaan hadn’t met the activation condition for the card.
And then, what they had all feared happened. But not in the way they had expected.
The massive miasma blob cracked open, as if someone was cutting apart both space and time. And from the dimensional fissure, out came a single massive beast. Standing on four legs and looking like a giant mound, the thirty meters tall beast was ready to destroy everything.
Even standing on the wall of the town, they could all see the beast. It might be more than three kilometers away, but that is no distance as you stare at your impending doom.
At that time, the legend told around the town came to everyone’s mind.
‘A behemoth would once again walk on these plains. And a blond haired female magician would take it down.’
That was the condensed version of the full prophecy. And everyone who had heard that prophecy knew, they were now living in it. But Zay knew. In the entire town, there wasn’t a single blond haired female magician to take down this behemoth.
