6/25 - The Holy Lands - Titan's axe - morning

Proxy is spending his time listening to music on a cassette player. He is lying on a couch that happened to belong to Marie. He had Nunnalé, rather had me order her, to put it at the front of the entrance to the camp. Throwing a rock into the air and catching. I’m examining the Black Grimoire. At first, I thought the pages were coated in invisible ink, but I was too scared to test that theory; even attempting to singe one of the pages was too risky.

"I'm so bored,” Proxy yawns as he throws the rock out of the camp. "I wanna do something!"

"Well, what's stopping you from doing something?" I ask him.

"Trust me, I would, but I'm on guard duty today, and if I skimp out again, I think Marie will kill me."

I remember what happened when he did. He gave a half-assed excuse and got knocked over the head, hard. Marie is a nice person, for the most part, but piss her off and she'll make you regret it.

"...Plus, I need a map. I can't go just anywhere. I need to be able to go like 'whoa, that place looks cool'. You understand?"

I wonder if I should say yes and save myself the trouble?

"Such a concept makes no sense. If you have a map, then why explore?"

Nunnalé just stepped on a can of worms and crushed the whole can. Proxy went on a four-minute rant about how just because you have a map doesn't mean you know what the place looks like. Note to self: advice Nunnalé not to entertain Proxy's flight of fancy.

"...So that ends my lecture, any more comments?"

"I request you move your feet off the furniture."

"What do you care, you weren't complaining before," Proxy deflects her request.

"I didn't make the request for myself, I want Master Richard to sit on it. You can sit on the ground."

"Like hell I will!"

"You will, or else I shall remove you off with force!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

Nunnalé and Proxy start fight over the couch as Nunnalé does her best to force him off, Proxy does his best to hold onto his seat. "Um, Nunnalé, I'm fine with sitting on the floor."

"No, the comfortability of my master is a must, no matter what!" Her usual deadpan expression is gone, being replaced with a fierce determination that doesn’t fit this situation. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing?

Finally, despite Proxy desperately clinging to the couch. Nunnalé throws him off. He goes rolling on the grass along with his cassette player.

"Here you are, Master Richard."

She pats the part of the couch she wants me to sit on. I want to say no, but something tells me I should.

"Thanks, Nunnalé."

I take a seat next to her. This thing is pretty comfortable; as if I’m about to sink into the couch any second.

"Okay, that sucks." Proxy jumps to his feet, dusting himself off. "Any change in the book?”

"None, it's still blank. I asked Ovan if he knew anything about it but he knows nothing. Overall, this thing is still a total mystery."

We had officially hit a brick wall with this book, and that most definitely isn’t a good thing. It brought us here, so if we can’t figure out anything new on it, then we’re stuck here. Of course, gawking at it won’t solve anything, but we don’t have a lot of leads to work with here.

I turn my attention to Nunnalé. "Are you sure you don't know anything?”

"No, I do not know anything about the book..."

I knew it was useless to ask her since she already told me that, but I at least want to be sure...

She puts her index finger and thumb on her chin. "...However, now that I can recall it, I think there is someone we can inquire on this topic."

A jolt of energy runs through my legs, I jump up from the couch. "Really!? Do you know where she is?”

“From where we are now, I am not sure. If we had a map, then I would be able to point to her location. I am sure Marie has one in her room.”

“One map, coming up.” Proxy gets up from the ground, running toward Marie’s tent. After a bit of waiting, he comes back with a long, rolled piece of paper in hand. “Got a map, who wants it?”

He drops to the ground, unfolding the map. Taking a look at the map, it shows the whole continent we’re inhabiting now. It’s a

"So this is how big this world is?" large continent, if I’m saying so myself. From what I can read from it, it’s mostly greenery, with little different terrain change. Furthermore, there are writings on it saying: “new camp here, avoid area, they’re patrolling this area now.”

Nunnalé puts her finger on a spot on the map. "As of now, we are here," she points to the lower south of the map, we’re a few miles away from the sea and from the tower we came from. She then drags her finger up south and went a bit North-west from here. Her finger stops at an illustration of a forest.

"She is here.”.

"Bro, she lives in a forest?”

"Yes."

"So, she's the wicked witch of the forest," Proxy joked.

"No, where did you get such a name," she corrects him as if he’s a moron.

"I was just messing around. Come on, I got better names, like..."

Nunnalé and I begin to ignore Proxy and just calculate the distance from here to there. Nunnalé is pretty fast on calculations, it’s making this easy to keep the flow going for this conversation.

"So, if we start going right now, we should hit the place within four to five hours," Nunnalé summarizes her results.

"Well then, what are we waiting for, let's go!" Proxy jumps up from the ground, grabs his stone sword, then runs for the small slope that serves as the entrance/exit to the camp. A couple of seconds later, he came back into the camp.

"Umm... We need the map, don't we...?"

"Master, I believe your friend is an idiot," she says in a blunt, matter-of-fact way..

"I wouldn’t say that… He’s just kinda single-minded at times.."

"You both go to hell!"

Holy Lands - White Fog Forest - afternoon

We spent five hours walking here. We've arrived in this forest and have been here for about a hot minute now. There's a thick fog covering the place, making visibility a problem. He'll, I can barely see my legs at times. We're close together so we don't get lost.

"Nunnalé, when we gonna hit the witch's place?" I ask as I move with caution.

"I have no idea," she answers straightforwardly.

"You serious? Aren't you supposed to know where we're going?"

"It is okay, even if we get lost I am capable of leading us back to the entrance. And if we were to encounter an enemy I will be able to dispose of it."

Guess she's right. The way she handled herself back in the mine showed she was no push-over.

"I hope it doesn't come to that," Richard voices his discomfort.

"Don't worry, buddy, we can take care of any monster. After all, we did beat those monsters in the mine."

In the blink of an eye, Richard's expression sullies from the mention of the mine. Oh shit, that's right! I forgot one of the monsters used to be a human! Shit!

"Hey, Richard, I didn't mean to call Racheal's dad a monster… I'm sorry."

"No, it's just… I still can't believe he was one, and imagine how Racheal feels."

"Totally. I can't imagine that sort of thing, you know?"

"That Warden was real scum of the earth."

I can feel the hatred he has for that douchebag, and I can't blame him; in fact, it's a good thing he hates him!

"Don't worry Richard, when I see him again I'll make sure to give him a few good ones for Racheal and her dad. Like this, and this!"

When he told me about how the giant was her dad, it made me feel sorry for the kid. And to gain your sanity back just to speak with your child; that's more than earned my respect; he was a true man. So the next time I see the Warden, he'll regret ever seeing me. But away from that...

"So, Nunnalé, who is this witch anyway?"

"Her moniker is the moonlight - Selena. My information about her is considerably low, however, she's adept at Source and all things surrounding it."

The hell is Source? Actually, there's something more important.

"Hmm, if she lives in a place like this and is a witch, I bet she's an old-ass lady but wise as hell."

"Try to be serious about this, Proxy."

"What, it might be true."

The fog is getting thicker and thicker the deeper we go. It's getting harder to see anything here. Then, something snaps from the back, causing my attention to go all over the place, trying to figure out where that sound came from… Man, it was probably my imagination, I should stop messing around and keep up with

"Hey, you guys, wait up for...me?"

When I looked back at them, they were gone. "Um, guys? Hello?" Crap, I got separated from them! "Okay, no problem, I just gotta go forward. Besides, there's nothing out here."

Just to spite my ignorance, a roar echoes throughout the woods, rustling the dead leaves of the just as dead trees. Needless to say, it was sort of cool but terrifying as hell.

"Okay Proxy, time to get a move on... Right now!" I start running through the forest and the fog. Shit man, I hope to high heaven I didn't get lost!

...

Nunnalé, Proxy, and I continue to travel through the fog-covered woods. There were a couple of times where I almost couldn't see Nunnalé's back. If we're not careful, then we can get lost, and that wouldn't bode well.

“So, Nunnalé, are we almost--” Not paying attention to my footing, I trip, hitting the dead leaves below me that doesn’t soften the fall. Fortunately enough, I only fell on my arm, and it doesn’t hurt all that much.

Nunnalé helps me up with one arm. "Master Richard, be careful while walking, and stay closer to me, it would disastrous if we split up."

"Sorry, I just can't see all too well in this fog. Especially since my glasses are broken."

"Glasses?"

"Yeah, see…" I take out my glasses. The frames are broken, there are no lenses in them since I took them out. Proxy gave them to me, saying he found them broken on the floor. I could see fine without them, but having them was a big help.

"Can you not get another pair?"

"Nope, I would need to go to the eye doctor for a new prescribed pair, and I obviously I can't do that. Though, I’m glad he got them for me anyway."

“Why, they are useless?”

“Well, I guess it’s just sentimentality, that’s all. But I guess I should be thanking you, Proxy… Hm?”

Looking back, Proxy is gone, nowhere to be seen. Oh shit!

"Nunnalé, we need to go look for Proxy!"

"I fear that's an irrational idea. The forest is thickening with fog. The likelihood of us losing each other is high if we wander."

"We can't just leave him though! What if there’s a monster here!?"

"No need for alarm. If we reach The moonlight witch's residence, then we can ask her to get him out of the forest."

Her reasoning is sound, but I’m worried that we won’t be able to before trouble finds him. Then again, wandering around here is dangerous, so if the Moonlight witch can help us locate him, then we need to meet up with her.

"All right, lead the way Nunnalé!"

"Understood."

We continue to trudge through the forest. Nunnalé is closer so we don’t lose each other. Eventually, we reach a point where a light is shining through the forest. That must be the exit.

“Come on, Nunnalé!”

“Yes.”

Nunnalé and I rush through the forest, heading for the light. Going through it, we exit the forest.

"Whoa! This is where she lives?"

“Indeed.”

There’s a neatly made stone road that has a large fountain in the middle of it. It leads up to a gigantic castle. No, more like a castle mansion. It also has a gothic Transylvania look to it, but at the same time, looks rather pristine and elegantly made. The moon shines behind it, castings a shadow over us.

"Let us head in the-" Nunnalé's sentence cut off as she just suddenly disappears from sight.

"Nunnalé!? Nunnalé where you-" The words halted themselves the moment the scenery changed. It was so seamless like I barely went anywhere. My feet, however, are unable to register the new surface, and my brain is trying to comprehend what just happened. We’re in a library, beside me are rows of large bookshelves, filled to the brim with books between moderate and larger-sized books.

“What the…” Trying to move causes me to lose my balance. My legs are still trying to adjust to this new change in location.

“Master Richard, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just need to get used to this.

"You look rather pale, I do hope that you don't spew your sick on my floor," A posh yet young, manner, delicate voice tells me. There’s someone on the other end of the room. "I am sorry if my teleportation came off as coarse," the delicate voice apologized.

"Proxy… My friend, he’s still in the forest.

"Oh, I almost forgot.”

"Holy...shit? Where am I?"

Proxy quickly adjusts to the sudden change in location. The way he was positioned and acting when he popped in makes it seem like he was running from something.

"Proxy, where did you go," I asked him as I get up from the ground.

"Where did I go, where did you guys go, you up and left me."

"I was too busy following Nunnalé."

"So what, you leave your best friend to die! How cold, so heartless!"

"No, I didn’t, you--"

"Please, that's quite enough," The lady's voice rings

"Who's there!?" Proxy was on guard, taking out his stone sword, wielding it in a reverse grip as he faces the person facing us from the other end of the room. Their heels click against the floor with every step they take toward us. They didn’t attack us when we came in, so I don’t think there’s much to worry about.

"Why are you so cautious, boy, you should be more like that young lady with you and here master."

Walking under the skylight that allows moonlight into the library, we’re able to see who’s there. Her skin tone is as pale as the moon itself, she’s wearing a gothic-themed dress. The palette is all black with white thrown in there. Pale blonde hair that blends with the moonlight, being tied neatly back with a black ribbon. Her forehead is visible with the front being trimmed save a few short bangs. But the most striking thing about her was… She’s a kid!

"You're witch Selena?" Proxy asks, focusing all his attention on her.

"...I am, do you...?"

I heard a laugh escape him. Ms. Selena was taken back judging from the look on her face. Proxy just started laugh uncontrollably, smacking his hand on his leg. "Hahaha, oh my god, this is the mighty witch Selena, AHAHAHAH! She's just a rugrat!" He was still laughing at her, not trying to even hide it. Selena, who was looking at him with a darker expression

"Ahahah, ha..." She laughed along with Proxy, but only hers was cold and full of something...sinister.

"I see you are amusing yourself from my physical stature. However, I would tread carefully about how you find amusement," she warned him.

"Or what, you gonna do, shrink me down to your size?"

"Perhaps, there are a few painful methods to do so. So I would not tempt myself." That shut Proxy right up. The corner of her lips curled up in satisfaction.

"Now, I would like to know why you three have come here?"

“Well, we have something bizarre that needs looking at.”

Proxy took out the grimoire from his bag. "Nunnalé told us you might know something about this book." She reached out for it but Proxy only lifted his arm.

"Did my threat fall on deft ears?"

"No, I just want you to tell me you won't just up and go evil witch on us," Proxy reasoned out.

"If I were an evil witch, I wouldn't have to trick you with a facade to get that book," Ms. Selena informed him. If she's as powerful as Nunnalé described her, then she's right, she wouldn't need to.

"Yeah, that makes sense. Here ya go." Proxy handed her the book.

"Now that we settled that messy affair, let us move somewhere more relaxing."

She then moved to a door that leads into a hallway. "Well, come along, we don't have all day." We followed her through a great hallway. Selena led us into a lounge area where there’s a lit fireplace and furniture that had a Victorian design to it, the same can be said about the room itself. Proxy, Nunnalé, and I sat down on one of two of the large couches that faced each other. Selena sat in an armchair.

"I require tea. Doll, can you go to the kitchen and make some tea for us? Go right out that door and make a right until you hit a doorway."

"understood," Nunnalé responded politely. She went off to the kitchen.

"Now, I assume you two are from the other world," Selena opens up with a question.

"If you mean from a world where monsters aren’t real, then yeah," Proxy answered.

"How long have you been here?"

"For about six days," I answered her.

"I see... So you had everything explained to you?" We both shook our heads no. "Astonishing, do you boys have no curiosity," she expressed shock at our ignorance, which we have, apparently.

"What do you mean?” I ask her.

“Do you two not even possess the basics of what is going on, let alone you?" She points to me.

“About what?”

“About you and that girl, and the power to you hold.”

“Wait, hold on a moment. What power are you talking about?”

“Silence, you shall gain your answers in nothing short of a moment.”

She readjusts herself on her seat, getting herself comfortable. "Now, I will open your eyes to a new power, this power is called Source." I heard something about that in the mine from Nunnalé. "Source is the essence that allows us to perform feats that is similar to the concept known as magic, but it is not magic, allow me to make that abundantly clear.”

“Similar?”

“Yes, similar in execution, but not quite magic. Magic, by what I understand, is the manipulation of the world, beckoning its powers. Source is the manipulation of one’s self. For example, you can’t make a sunny day turn downcast. But, you could make your fist as hard as iron.”

“Essentially, you wouldn’t be able to change how the world functions, but just one ourselves,” I answer

“Well put. However, Source is a conduit to performing these feats. The main factor in what you can do with your Source is your soul." She points to the middle of her tiny body. "The soul is like a record book inside of a person. It holds their feelings, characteristics, and memories."

"So Source is affected based on the characteristics of what the soul has recorded?"

"Exactly, I'm glad to see you're able to keep up."

Proxy looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "What about me?"

"You were able to keep up? My, my, what a surprise, I had thought this simple concept had escaped you, child," she smirked as she giggled like an innocent child.

"Hey, up yours, and you don't call me a child, I'm a couple of years older than you, brat!"

"Let us ignore the peanut gallery and continue."

She put up four fingers. "Now, the soul is the main factor in what your Source can do, your soul will fall under a certain category. It will belong to one of four attributes." She lowers one finger. “The first one is the attribute tree of Elemental Prime: an attribute that allows the control over four elemental resources; Fire, ice, wind, lightning.”

She let down a second finger. "Now for the second attribute - Guardian: as the name states, this attribute is more geared towards healing and enhancing the user's body."

"Let me guess, they aren't good at fighting themselves," Proxy guessed.

"Depends, as I said, they can enhance their body parts to become harder than steel.”

“So, would that mean they can hit like a gorilla?”

“Harder and could blow a hole through your chest.”

“Oh…”

She then put down her third finger. "Then there is the third attribute - Conjurer."

"Oh, let me guess, you can make shit with it, right," Proxy answers, lacking tact.

"Such a moronic way to put it. Conjuration isn’t just making things materialize out of thin air. Like the clothes on your back, there’s a creative process. If you wish to make something with materialization, you need the materials to make the desired item. Of course, this can be bypassed, but it’s a more unique ability in the attribute.”

And now, she lowers the fourth finger. "Now, I hope I don’t need to explain its properties but just in case I will. The last one is Illusionist: This allows one to interact with the senses of people, altering reality, or at least distorting it with their Source.”

“Wouldn’t they be dangerous?”

“Yes, however, their greatest weakness is their opponents being aware of their abilities.”

“How so?”

“If I were to tell you something you hadn’t noticed before what would happen?”

“I would notice it.”

“Precisely. Illusion Source is supposed to affect what the brain relays to the eyes. if you were to notice the abnormality, your brain would be able to see through it, sending your eyes the real image. breaking the illusion. Though, that only applies if they’re using your brain to create said illusions.”

On the left-hand side of the room, a door opened. It was Nunnalé with tea. "Here you are." She put the tray on the coffee table. We took our respective cups. I noticed there were only three.

"Nunnalé, why didn't you make yourself one," I asked her.

"I was not ordered to make myself one." Does she need to be told to?

"Eh, it's a bit too bitter," Proxy criticized Nunnalé’s tea. "Should've given me coffee." He put his tea back on the tray. It was pretty bitter but I didn't want to be rude, so I drank it all. Selena, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying it.

"This is quite bitter, but not terribly so, good work, doll." I just noticed that she keeps referring to Nunnalé as a doll.

"Excuse me, but why do you refer to Nunnalé as a doll?"

"Oh, you don't know? Have you told him nothing at all, doll?"

"No, even if I had told him about Source or what I am, it would benefit nothing considering I lack the qualifications to teach him."

"I see, then I guess I better fit the pieces in for him." Selena put her cup down on the table.

“Boy, what do you think she is,” asked Selena, her hand pointing over at Nunnalé.

“She’s human,” I replied.

"She may appear to be, but that girl over there is not human." I was puzzled by what she meant.

"Not human? But I saw here bleed," I pointed out proof of her humanity.

"That was by design, just because it bleeds red does not mean it is human… I do think that the doll should explain what she is." We gave our undivided attention to Nunnalé.

"I am what the witch of the moonlight has referred to as a doll of servitude. A doll of servitude is made to serve a master that had an adequate amount of Source. The Source is used for two things: acts as a binding contract, I derive power from it as well as live off of it," she thoroughly explained.

"To keep you alive," I repeated.

"Yes, I need another's Source to make me function and to help fight. If something were to happen to you, the Source keeping me alive would disappear, and as such, I would die as well. However, if I were to be destroyed, you would not be affected by it in any way; you would regain the Source we share."

This whole deal is a bit too one-sided for me to agree with. I guess this is to benefit me if she were to somehow go awol. Though, I don't think she would do such a thing.

I looked out the window behind the couch opposite of us. The moonlight was beaming into the room. It was shining in all its majesty, becoming the world's light source... Hold on, when we got here the moon was out, but it should've still been the afternoon.

"Why is the moon out? It should still be some time before nighttime."

"While it might be the afternoon out there, in this place, it is not in actuality."

"So this is illusion Source," I speculated, sharing my guess with her.

"It’s a yes and no sort of matter. This whole castle is in a field that makes it seem and feel like it is nighttime when it really isn’t. It serves more than just decoration, it also allows me to know when someone has invaded my world. This extends from the misty forest to the castle grounds."

"So what, you knew we were here and could just teleport us in," Proxy jumped in.

Selena giggles, treating it as if it’s a joke. "...where would be the fun in that? Seeing you squirm around in the forest was rather entertaining.”

"That just sounds like you were too lazy to do it, who knows, maybe you're not cracked up to be as powerful as Nunnalé says you are." As Proxy berated her, Ms. Selena’s eyebrows twitched.

"Oh dear me, the dog can bark, but I must know how you got lost in the woods so easily. It must be such a harsh life for you, only having two brain cells barely working hard enough to work the contraption that is your brain." Proxy was utterly shell-shocked. To be honest, that was a pretty funny burn.

"Hey, what was that half-stack, I didn't quite get that!"

"Perhaps I didn’t hear that properly, but I happen to hear you call me half-stack?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess you couldn’t hear me from way down there."

"Quite the tongue for such a half-witted boy."

"Such tall talk for someone who lacks half of the height!" The two of them went back and forth, insulting the other.

"Enough, you're asininity is quite irritating."

"Well, talking to you with that condescending attitude of yours is obnoxious."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

She giggled to herself in a quiet manner. "Then how about we settle this in combat." Proxy was startled by the suggestion. "Have you lost your nerve, I said let us settle this with a fight, or is that too much for you to understand?" Proxy let out a smirk, showing that his mind has accepted the situation whole-heartedly.

"You're on,” he accepted with a grin, Selena reciprocating with one of her own.

Just when I thought Selena would be above this, turns out she was just like Proxy, only more subtle about her nature.

The holy lands - Titan's axe - afternoon

"Proxy, Richard, where are you two!" Marie was calling out for the boys, wanting to talk to them about what chores they'll be doing tomorrow. "Where the hell did they go? Not only are they gone but so is my map. What hell is going on?" Not long after that did it take her long to figure out what was happening...

"Oh, what the hell! They're skipping out on guard duty again! I swear, when I see them again I will poke a hole through their chests." She stood at the entrance with her spear in hand.

She stared at the couch behind her. "How the heck did they get my couch up here...?"