I believe that the Vinleaf’s feats of strength and magic, as detailed in my recent paper, “Ancient Vinleaf Heroic Deeds,” are real, not poetic exaggeration. The reason why people think “that couldn’t possibly be true” is because martial artists and magicians cannot duplicate said feats. However, considering that almost all of the Vinleaf martial artists and magicians died fighting Iah, the more likely explanation is that modern humans simply do not possess the genes that make such deeds possible.

—Professor Emeritus Frederik Danneskiold, Bt, MC, DPhil, FKA

Asteria

The monster corpses would have to be disposed of since my goal was to make this valley safe, and leaving them here would attract more monsters. The ELs did the dirty work of extracting the monster cores and burning the corpses to ash. Since there were hundreds, it took three and a half hours for them to finish.

I offered to help them with the cleanup, but they told me to rest. Seeing them casually lifting two hundred pound monster corpses while calmly slicing into the monsters’ bellies to take out the anima cores made me realize that I would be too weak and slow to be of any real help.

To pass the time and help a little, I set up the tents in the place that Uriel had chosen for our camp tonight. One side was a crumbling wall that would keep the wind out of our backs while in front was a good view of the lake. I wanted to forage for wild herbs and berries, but they told me stay put in case there were more monsters around.

“Good monster core haul today,” said Sariel when they returned, covered in blood and gore.

“We’re washing off in the lake,” said Seraphiel. He hung back behind the other two as though he didn’t want me to look too closely at his grisly appearance.

“Isn’t it too cold?” I asked.

“We’re ELs,” said Uriel. He was carrying a monster corpse.

“No peeking,” said Sariel. He winked at me. I think he was aiming for a playful look, but the wink was enough to make a person’s blood run cold since he was covered in monster blood and gore.

They took a change of clothes from their packs then left. I took my violin out to tune it and played a few songs while I waited for them to return.

“Much better,” I said when they arrived after their bath in the lake.

“What kind of girl are you? I can’t believe you didn’t peek!” said Sariel.

“That’s obviously because she didn’t want to look at the two of you,” said Seraphiel.

“No, it’s because of your lack of male pulchritude. She’s not interested in your flat butt,” said Sariel.

I laughed.

“Wow, this must be why Seraph X Sariel is the most popular fan pairing,” I said to Uriel.

Uriel shook his head and put down the monster carcass that he'd cleaned at the lake. “Good work with the tents. Why don’t you go take an afternoon nap? I’ll prepare dinner.”

“You’re cooking that?”

“The meat of the luxela is edible so we’ll feast tonight,” said Uriel.

“I don’t feel sleepy. I think I’ll go exploring,” I said.

“I don’t need help,” said Uriel to Seraphiel. They had taken their knives out and were getting ready to cut the meat. “Go with Asteria.”

“Watch her. There might be more monsters,” said Sariel. He took the knife from Seraphiel and started helping Uriel.

Seraphiel and I walked around the valley. I took special note of the ruined towers. One of them had a room that was mostly intact except for one corner that was open to the elements.

“Where…” I said. The stone floor was almost completely intact, but there should be one special block. I remembered that from “Tales of Vesterland.”

Ah! There it was. One stone block on the floor was slightly bigger than the others, and it looked like it was loose. I knelt down and tried to pry it from the ground.

“Let me do it,” said Seraphiel. He easily tore the large stone from the hard ground.

“Eh? There’s no hole?” I said. This was supposed to be where the hero found a cache of ancient weapons and artifacts. “Ely step back.”

I moved back and motioned for Seraphiel to stand beside me. If there was no hole, then I would make one. The anima all around us seemed more responsive than normal. Was it because we were at the site of an ancient holy place? I ordered the chibis to take the earth from the place under the stone block and reinforce the sides of the hole they made.

Boom! The chibis moved so fast that there was a loud booming sound as air rushed in to fill the sudden void left when they moved the earth under the stone block.

Oops. Uriel and Sariel must have heard that. I stepped outside with Seraphiel and saw that Uriel and Sariel were running towards us. I waved to show that we were fine, but the two ELs didn’t turn back.

“What’s your angel doing now?” Sariel asked Seraphiel.

We went inside the ruined tower’s sole remaining room.

“Failing to prepare is the same as preparing to fail. I’m putting together a small treasure trove of items for the hero and his companions,” I said.

The goddess had a special storage space for legendary items that she let me access, but only for the purpose of putting said items in places where the hero would discover them. I cut a hole in space with a forefinger and drew out a large metal box. Or I tried to. The damned thing was too heavy. Seraphiel silently assisted me in putting it into the hole in the ground that I had just made. Then he put the stone block back where it had been.

“What’s in the box?” asked Sariel.

“Legendary weapons and artifacts,” I said. They were the starter equips for the hero’s party.

“...” The three Commanders stared down at the place where I’d hidden the metal box then at me.

“Okay, fine.” I gave up. How could I resist it when three S-class ELs looked pleadingly at me with puppy dog eyes? “You can take a look.”

Sariel was the most excited to check out the cache, but also the most disappointed when he saw the contents.

“This artifact is just a normal one!” said Sariel. He examined a fire elemental artifact. “Bah, I could get this from any market in Kraej City.”

Uriel checked the balance of the enormous mithril sword that had been in the box. He didn’t show any interest in the knuckle daggers I’d also put in the box. “This is for Israfel, right? It’s too big and heavy for a normal human.”

“I already said I wouldn’t answer your questions about the hero,” I said. “Please put the box back.”

“Legendary, my foot!” said Sariel.

“You think the artifacts aren’t good enough for the hero? You should put the Radiant Vortex in,” I said.

“Never! He’d have to pry this out of my cold, dead hands,” said Sariel.

“Stop putting up death flags, Sariel!” I said. “I’m going for a walk around the lake. Unless you need help, Uriel?”

“No, we’re fine. Go ahead,” said Uriel. He went back to the campsite with Sariel who kept saying stuff like, “legendary, she said,” and “I’ve thrown away artifacts better than that.”

“Ely, there’s something I want to show you later at midnight,” I said as we walked away from the tower.

“Something?”

“Something nice,” I said. “Look forward to it.”