[Gained New Adventurer Quest: Monster Cleaning] [recommended level: 10+] [Recommended party: 5+] [Crawlers appeared near the exit of the sewer. Eliminate them and destroy their nest] [Reward: 100 silver] Cissy, Theo, and Vivi left the guild after discussing their quest. Subaru, the spy Aria ordered to follow Theo, was watching them from afar, taking note of their every move and following them. They returned to the inn first to pick up Lyana before going to the sewer. Cissy walked in the front and acted as a guide for them. "Did you fail Theo-Sama?" Vivi whispered to Theo as they walked. "You try to hit on Cissy, but she got angry instead." "Ah, no. I didn't fail. I have predicted it and it was a temporary setback. I will get her later." He began explaining his technique. "Before I approached her, I watched her from afar. She's a woman but wears a male uniform and cut her hair short like a guy, why?" Vivi shook her head. "There's two reasons. One, she's comfortable like that and is a tomboy. Or two, she wanted to be recognized and appreciated by the other guards. She's the later." Theo then explained his reasoning "90% of the guards and soldiers in Amaryn is a male. Imagine you are a female in a male-dominated workplace. Not only you will be looked down, maybe you will even be mocked or abused. One way to be recognized as an equal is to dress and act like a male, to put yourself on an equal footing. If she's only a tomboy, she won't be that angry when I called her cute. The fact is, when I called her cute, she rejected it so strongly, that showed how she hate to be seen as a woman. I might be wrong, but then she said 'A soldier must not be cute'. That mean that she herself doesn't mind being called cute, but her soldier side doesn't want to be called cute." "Ohh." Vivi was amazed by Theo analysis. Lyana was eavesdropping on their conversation. She wanted to know what kind of technique Theo used to entrance woman so that he couldn't use it on her. "But just like what happened before, wouldn't a wrong word cause her to be angry?" Vivi asked. "Why did she come to the adventurer guild in the first place? For a quest. I didn't ask her about the quest immediately after I approached her , why? So I can have a backup plan. If I say something wrong that make her mad or something similar, I can distract her by changing the subject. She wouldn't be able to stop me from changing the subject because the subject I brought up is something more important than the one that made her mad. There's also a chance that she might not forget what I said that made her mad, but let's talk again later." "Ohh." Vivi's eyes sparkled again. They finally arrived at the sewer's entrance. The reason the quest was a chimera difficulty wasn't because of the task , but because of the location. Like every city, even the great and majestic capital have its dark side. Hidden beneath the stone road and great building, the Sewer sprawled for hundreds of meters. The Sewer, like the name suggest, was a dark, damp, and dirty place. Homeless people, abandoned children, criminal, and black market dealer make their home in the endless branches and loop of the sewer. It was worse than a normal slum because no soldier or guards ever go there at all. With only occasional adventurers come there to do some monster cleaning. "Why do you even bother helping a place like this?" Lyana asked as they entered the sewer. "I was born and grew up in the slum near here, so this place is already like a home to me. The people around are also pretty nice, like a family. Most noble doesn't care about the people in the slum. They think of them as nothing more than a trash or criminals, but that is not true. They are people who need help. And I have to start somewhere." Theo noticed how she spoke about the people of the sewer with affection. It was a side he could use to get close to her. "Not only that," Theo added. "Most of the slum people that becomes a criminal does it because they were never given the chance. They were rejected and cast out by society. They have no choices but to become a criminal." He said it out loud to make sure everyone could hear him, including Cissy. "You seems to know a lot." Lyana said. "During my time as a mercenary, I visited a lot of cities. Every city has the same problem with their slum." He smiled at Cissy. "It's rare to find someone like you who cared about them." "Thanks." Cissy replied and smiled. "Do we really have to go there Theo sama? It stinks." Vivi said while closing her nose with her hand. "Don't you have any spell that could help?" Theo asked Lyana. "No. I'm a combat mage, not a support one." "Well, close your nose as long as we're not in combat. Oh, and yeah let's make a party. Since we're not inside a dungeon, there's no high-level penalty." A message appeared in Lyana's, VIvi's, and Cissy's mind. [Accept Party Invitation from Theo Gladium?] "I have to warn you all. If we see some criminal activities down there, please ignore it." Cissy said. "Oh. Where do your caring side of you go?" Lyana asked. "It's not like I don't want to help them, but if we help them it's only going to complicate the problem. The Sewer is a criminal den, and in Amaryn, the leader of the criminal underworld is a group called the Greed Kings. They got their hand on the city guards, the justice system, spy corps, secret police, and a lot more. If we try to do anything to stop them, we will be caught and branded as a criminal instead." "Do you have any idea who is the member of this Greed Kings?" Theo asked. "Only rumor, but I think Count Cobra is one of them. He's the one controlling the spy corps and secret police." ------ They went deeper into the sewer. Theo brought out his torch and Lyana cast a candlelight spell to light the way. They passed several people along the way, but heed them no mind. Soon enough they find the monster they have been searching. A group of five crawlers, a creature that looked like a hideous crossbreed between human and spider. "Wait! Don't do anything yet." Theo ordered. The Crawler haven't noticed them. Theo took out a scroll from his bag. The scroll burned in his hand and an information flooded his mind. [Crawler Lv 3][Crawler Lv. 5] "Their level aren't that high. Vivi, can you mind control them?" Vivi closed her eyes. She opened her eyes again. "No. It's not like I'm not good enough, someone or something was already controlling their mind." Cissy heard their conversation and shouted. "What? Someone is controlling them to attack the slum?" "No," Theo answered quick. "Crawler is a hive mind creature. What controlling them is most likely their queen." "It's time for you to show what you have learned." He patted Vivi's shoulder. He was told that during his time saving the princess, Lyana taught Vivi some offensive spell. "Lyana, you and Cissy scout the area and search for more monster." Lyana and Cissy nodded. "[Fire bolt]" A bolt of fire shot out from Vivi's hand and hit the nearest crawler, burning it. But since the magic was still low level, the damage wasn't that high even with Crawler weakness to fire. The group of Crawler noticed them and, like their name, crawled to them with their eight legs. "Keep firing. I'll push any that get too close." Vivi continuously fired fire bolt from her hand at the same target. It fell to the ground after four shot, but the rest was still moving toward them "Wait Theo Sama don't push them yet, I have something I want to test. " Vivi waited and waved her hand in front of her body. "[Combustion]!" A great fire exploded out from Vivi's hand. It was a powerful spell albeit with its near melee range. The fire burned and incapacitate three of the four remaining Crawler, but Vivi messed up. Instead of exploding forward, the fire exploded to every direction, including to herself. Theo pulled Vivi before the fire could harm her. He smacked her head lightly. "Are you stupid?! You almost hurt yourself!" "Hehe. Sorry, Theo Sama. It's a tier 2 fire spell I read it from one of Lyana's book. She told me not to learn it yet, but I'm bored without you." Theo sighed. "Tell me first before you're going to experiment like that. What if you hurt yourself? Remember that you are mine, any damage you do to yourself, you need to pay it to me." "OK!" Vivi acts all cute while answering. Theo pushed back the Crawler that got too close and let Vivi kill it., but he pushed too hard that he broke its neck. "Um, my bad." He apologized. Vivi went and finished the rest of the incapacitated Crawler. ------ They regrouped with lyana and Cissy who were also fighting a few more Crawlers. He observed how Cissy fought. Most guards were trained to use spear in combat, but since the sewer was a narrow place, using spear was stupid. She compensated this by using a short sword. From the look of it, she was quite skilled. Nowhere near Theo, but still, skilled. After following the Crawlers, they reached a huge vertical room with water flooding the lower part. Crawler's eggs fille the wall, most still unhatched. The hole they entered was located on top of the room where there was a platform. Theo looked over the edge. "Damn, that's deep." He said looking down at the ten meters long drop. "This is definitely their nest." "Any idea how can we clear this all?" Lyana asked after looking down. Vivi and Cissy then followed them by looking down the hole. "Well, it's your and Vivi's job." Lyana let out a disappointed sigh seeing that Theo had no plan whatsoever. "Fine, but buy me a book after this." Lyana stood near the edge and raised both of her hand. "[Raise Magic], [Haste]!" She cast two buff magic. Normally such magic would only affect her. But if someone used a buff magic while in party, the rest of the party were also affected, but with reduced effectiveness. ' "I'll burn the egg. Vivi, you kill any Crawler trying to get up. Theo and Cissy, both of you cover our flank if someone or something popped out from behind." "Right." Cissy said. She and Theo stood guard behind the rest and watched the entrance from where they came in. "If there's any problem, call me." Said Theo. "[Greater Fireball]" Fireball hovered on both of her hand. It gradually grew bigger until it was bigger than her head. She threw it toward the egg-covered walls. [Greater Fireball], while it didn't look as impressive as other Tier 3 fire spell, it was one of the most effective. Without using that much mana, one could throw a fireball that grew larger the further it flew while still retaining its destructive capability. Even getting as large as a human body. Not to mention that after the spell hit its target, the fire would spew everywhere. Perfect for targeting grouped enemy. The fire scorched the wall, burning most of the eggs near it. The ground and wall trembled. Countless crawler appeared from the bottom and climbed the wall with haste. "Vivi take care of them! I need time to prepare my next spell." Lyana said while raising her arm again. She looked over her shoulder to check on Theo and Cissy. "[Higher Block],[Higher Counter], [Higher Parry]" He said while taking a stance. Like she had expected, the Crawlers also appeared from the tunnel behind them. Vivi began casting [Firebolt] and [Fire arrow] to kill or slow down the crawler that climbed the wall. But their number were too many for her to handle alone. Lyana brought her hand together and close her eyes. When she separated her hand, an electrical current jumped from one hand to the other. At first, only one bolt of electricity jumped, then two, three, until it became a continuous stream of electricity jumping from one hand to the other. "Move!" She shouted and Vivi stepped back. "[Double Chain lighting]" From each of her hand, a lighting bolt shot out, seeking the nearest Crawler. After it hit its target, it jumped to next Crawler, and again, and again. Each jump reduced the damage by 25% of its current power. It will continue jumping until there was no available target left or until it doesn't have enough power left to jump. From the first until the third target, Lyana's lighting bolt still had enough power to kill its target. From the fourth until the seventh it destroyed some of their limbs. And from the eight until the final target, the bolt paralyzed them, sending them down from the wall to their death. Chain lighting was a perfect spell to use when there was a crowd of enemies in a line. It was a very inefficient use of mana, however, as jumping between target use a lot of mana. Lyana chest heaved wildly. Using two double tier 3 spell took almost all her mana, but it was already an amazing feat. Most mage at her level wouldn't be able to even cast a tier 3 spell with such mastery. The ground shook again. This time much stronger, like an earthquake. Lyana, who stood on the edge, was caught unprepared and lost her balance. Vivi caught her hand, but her small body couldn't handle Lyana's weight. They both fell down the hole and screamed. "Lyana! Vivi!" Theo shouted as he heard their scream. He turned toward Cissy who still struggling with Crawlers on her side. She was pretty skilled with her short sword, but The Crawlers was simply too numerous. He took a spell-paper from one of his pouches. Flame erupted and burned crawlers all around him. He then jumped toward Cissy and helped her finish all the rest. "Cissy, do you bring a rope?" "Yes, exploring the sewer without one is suicide." "Find something strong to tie it. And throw it down that hole when I call you." He said while pointing at the hole Lyana and Vivi fell to. "It's long enough, right?" "Yes, it is. Wait, Theo, you don't mean to..." He stood on the edge and looked down. Below, Vivi and Lyana were standing in front of a massive crawler. "Shit. The Queen." Crawler Queen was a rare and dangerous creature. Its danger level was the same as a Hydra. While not possessing Hydra's regenerative abilities, Crawler Queen has an intelligent rivaling humans or beast-kin. It should be intelligent enough to have a conversation with Lyana and Vivi. But considering what they did to its eggs, Theo wasn't sure it wanted to have a chat. The good thing was, the Queen was in a perfect position for a 10-meter drop [Monster Beheading].