Chapter 35

Akulay

In the east, they say that toads bring luck and prosperity. Some shrines house statues of frogs because they’re said to be the familiar of the eastern god of fortune. Imagine that. People actually worship these fly-munchers. Flies bathe in shit, which means, they eat shit, right?

Anyway, it’s a wide-spread concept in this country as well, though the good people of Redshire may say otherwise—the good people of Redshire, whose home was once host to the benevolent toad Akulay. The toad we’re going to kill today.

Don’t touch the skin. You’ll get warts.

Ranlan laughs at that, more nervous than amused.

We’ve been following the alpha through the forest for a while now. I’ve briefed the others and they should know what to do. Probably. Hopefully.

All that’s left is to find the timing. I hope it won’t be long because I’m tired of watching that giant rump desecrating wherever grounds it goes. That, and the rain is getting heavier by the minute. Our robes are soaked, and the mud seems to impede our every advance.

Are you ready, Ran? I asked, and her eyes lit in anticipation.

“Always.”

Do it now.

On my mark, Ranlan leaps out of her hiding spot, flicking her arm as she throws one of her knives at the alpha beast. The knife finds its mark, but not a single drip of blood comes out of its skin. The toad stops moving and, in a speed that’s impossible for its size, turns its head to the attacker.

( Ran, you’re the fastest. Draw its first attacks. )

Like a bullet, a tongue lurches out at her. Ranlan jumps out the way as she throws another knife at its mouth. The knife lands at the inner part of the tongue.

I don’t know why I know this, but a frog’s tongue is said to be one of the softest organic material in the world. True or not, the knife sinking deep into the base of the tongue puts some credit to that. The alpha starts charging at Ranlan, its eyes red and its stomps causing quakes with each step, clearly pained by that small piece of iron. Trees after trees fall, charged guilty for standing in the alpha’s path and meanwhile, I notice the movement of two shadows at the corner of my eye.

( Observe its movements. Let Ranlan hold out as long as she can until you see the perfect moment to attack. )

The two shadows converges on the moving toad, which is too frenzied by anger to notice. A spear penetrates its back and a sword comes slashing down its face, hitting one of its eyes.

“GROAAAHK!”

At the sudden attack, the beast flails about, its limbs and tongue lashing out at everything around it. Just as the two attackers withdraws from its back, there’s a large watery explosion around the toad’s body, launching them crashing into trees.

“Uagh! You fuck─” Zethran cursed.

More water balls are formed around the beast, each one compressed dangerously before the alpha launches them at the two figures.

( The wildcard is its magic. Most likely it’ll turn the table against you, but I’ll take care of that. )

Before the water bombs reach their targets, they explode midway, too close to the beast for its comfort. I can see the toad yanking his head about to look for the cause.

My, I wonder what caused that… ah, whoops.

I immediately drop to the ground as its gaze passes by where I am.

Don’t notice me, don’t notice me…

“Eat steel, you overgrown frog!”

Taking Zethran’s shout as a cue that it’s safe, I peek out the shrub that hid me to see the unfolding battle.

Aside from that hiccup with the first water bomb, they seem to be doing pretty well.

Douqi with the spear, Zethran with the sword, and Ranlan with her daggers—rather than three separate people, they behave as one entity—going between trees and shrubs, launching strikes in turns while the other two make sure the striker can escape, moments faster than the toad could counter.

The alpha only has one tongue, whereas its neck can only turn to a certain degree before it has to turn its huge body along. Three fast and organized targets is too much for it to handle without using magic, and speaking of which…

You don’t learn, do you, summoning that many water bombs at once? Well, enjoy having them explode in your face.

“GRRAAKH!”

What an ugly voice. You should be thankful that I’m not using my firebulbs. Oh, but it’s not like I can risk the sound and the subsequent horde of beasts, though. Although, hearing how loud the alpha is, we don’t appear to have much time, anyway─

…Ah. It saw me.

Shite─

“Fay!”

- Bonk -

Something pushed me.

Even without looking, I knew that Anlong had pushed me out of the away and took the attack himself. By “attack”, I mean tongue. And now I watch Anlong being dragged away gloriously by the alpha’s slippery appendage.

Pretty boy, you... you saved me from that? Rather than having me covered in frog dips that look like man seed, you'd rather have yourself covered in frog dips that look like man seed? If you live through this, remind me that I owe you a fuck and a drink.

“Anlong!” a girl shouted.

Ran, see if you can get him! We’ll cover you!

“I’m going for it!”

Rather than landing on the tongue, Ranlan lands on the hard ground because Anlong has already moved away, not only because of the tongue snapping back, but also because the toad jumped away.

Jumped away.

Jumped away. I repeated that because it shouldn’t be possible.

Something that big and heavy, jumping with a force proportional to its size, do you get it? I’m talking about how it just jumped thirty strides away, and multiple times too. With how gravity works, it shouldn’t be possible…

…though I probably shouldn’t be saying that, given there’s giant lizards flying in this world. But wait, it’s aeromancy, right? It may explain how dragons fly, but the alpha doesn’t have that kind magic. How would that thing do that kind of feat? There must be some kind of…

“Fay! I’m going after him!”

Huh? Wait, don’t!

Just as I run after her, someone else steps in her way.

“Stop.”

“Get out of the way, Zeth! Anlong’s about to be eaten!”

“Yeah, along with you if you run off on your own, git!”

He’s right… Ran… huff…

Hold on... let me... catch my breath…

“Don’t act rashly,” Douqi said, suddenly dropping down from the trees above.

“So what, we should just let him die while we make more plans?!”

Huff... Ran, that thing is intent on getting us one by one. It’s probably going to use Anlong as bait.

“But, that’s…”

“Think about it, woman,” Zethran lightly slaps her shoulder. “It could’ve jumped away anytime, but it waited for a chance to get one of us instead.”

To get me, to be precise. Though for what reason, I don’t know. Was it tactical, or was it Lyrfanas’ will?

Anyway, we’re not going to abandon Anlong. What’s important is that we don’t act separately.

“…I understand,” she replied dejectedly.

We won’t have a problem tracking the alpha, I noted at the destruction it left behind,

but the problem is its mimesis. And now it has a chance to use it.

“Mime… you mean like mimicry? Like bugs?” said Zethran.

Yes. But think about it; do you think normal mimicry would work for something that big?

“…Active mimesis?” Douqi said, catching on.

Rather than a stationary camouflage, an active mimesis would allow the alpha to adapt to its surroundings, maybe even move without being seen.

Probably. What we all need to keep in mind is, we’ve lost our edge. We’re playing the alpha’s field now, not to mention it has Anlong as well. We’re out of our bounds here. Any ideas?

“Can’t you do some magic thing? Like detection magic or something?”

“Detection magic?” Magic isn’t omnipotent, Zeth. I can’t just─

Wait, that’s it.

Teacher may not be teaching me any magic of use, but I’ve conducted experiments on my own with the facilities in her lab. Thanks to those late-night sessions, I’ve opened up entirely new disciplines, one of which might help.

While the others look at me expecting, I back away a bit and peek at my status card.

⌠n□□□Δ□⌡ ┤Vim Rate├

│11│ │49%│

Σ⌠Δ□∞⌡ ┤Pull Rate├

│106│/

Name

Fay

Titles

Indelible Survivor

Species

Human

Age

18 years old

Gender

Female

Mana Affinity

High –

Mana Pool

106

Skills

Magus – Aeromancy │5│

Pyromancy │5│

Hydromancy │5│

Electromancy│5│

Geomancy │3│

Photomancy │1│

Cryomancy │1│

Vimus - Perception │Master│

Strengthening│Novice│

Affiliations

Dracwhyr Monastery

…Photomancy.

If active mimesis is the manipulation of colors, and colors depend on the light, then maybe I can do something about it. Looks like all those times I was late for Douzhen’s classes will pay off after all.

Okay, let’s go. I’ll handle the mimesis.

“Huh? But you just said you can’t,” said Zethran.

And now I’m saying I can. Probably.

“…Probably, you say?”

“’Probably’ is good enough for me. Now let’s hurry before Anlong is…” not finishing the sentence, Ranlan gulps down as she thinks about the scenario.

“Slow down. Worst case is we cut him out of the frog’s belly,” Zethran said. If he intended to ease her, he failed miserably.

We follow the alpha toad for the second time today, though this time, our only lead is the trail of crushed vegetation. We skip over wood and sink into mud—walking through this kind of terrain really strains your muscles, huh? It’s already throbbing badly, in fact. We should finish this quick.

“That thing is a hazard,” Ranlan commented while looking at the slimy liquids on the destroyed trees’ barks.

“Careful. The spit contains neurotoxin, remember?” Zethran warned her.

“You think I want to touch that?”

“…There’s something there.” Douqi said, pointing at something amidst the path of destruction.

Indeed, there’s something there. Following the discovery, we stop and hide in thick shrubs to observe the object from a distance.

It looks like... a mound... of the toad’s spit... wetted by the rain, making it look even more soggy and barf-worthy. Right. That's not the strange part, because the strange part is the shape of the mound. It's shaped like a person.

“That’s Anlong!” (Ranlan)

“What?!” (Zethran)

Indeed, it looks like there’s someone in that pile of… ugh, oral juice, toad edition.

“Can’t a bait be more obvious than that?” (Zethran)

“What do we do?” (Ranlan)

Hold on.

I cast my newly invented spell, luminobulb, into the air. It’s like a firebulb, but it’s made to have minimal thermal output and the energy is almost entirely used to produce light of various waves.

I don’t know anything about optics, but thanks to a certain bird, I do know some stuff about electromagnetism. Since light is an electromagnetic wave, I can apply the same principles.

Rather than a simple light source, the luminobulb I’m using is radiating electromagnetic waves with oscillating frequencies and wavelengths, thus the light it produces is a multitude of changing colors, creating a somewhat eerie atmosphere. The aim here is to hit the mimesis with as much spectrum as possible in the hopes that some of them will shine through the trick.

Zethran whistles at the sight. “What’s it called? Rainbow ball?”

It’s called ‘luminobulb’.

“……”

“……”

What? Why are you looking at me like that?

Anyway, I direct the bulb to go to where the pile is, increasing the light output as it goes closer and closer to it. So far, there’s nothing to be seen in the surroundings.

“Is it safe?” Ranlan asked.

…I don’t know.

“Umm, Fay, can neurotoxins kill?” she asked again.

Again, I don’t know. Maybe.

“Then shouldn’t we hurry?”

I sigh as I look at Zethran, telling him with my eyes, -keep a leash on her-. Instead he replies with scornful glare, -that’s your job-.

Haah… I guess it can’t be helped.

I put my arm in front of her. Yes, neurotoxins can kill if it’s strong enough to cut off the brain’s communications with vital organs, but─

“What?!”

─But, Anlong is a trained scribe. Aren’t you guys more resistant to poison than normal people?

“We are…”

Then there’s nothing to be worried about, I said, my gaze away from hers.

Frankly, for all we know, Anlong might already be dead. But there’s no need for her to know that.

“…Okay, I’ll trust you, Fay.”

Ouch. You’re hurting my conscience.

“Oy, it’s moving,” Zethran said, turning our attention to the apparently moving cocoon of spit.

It’s miniscule, but there’s definitely movement. Being awake underneath all that… I don’t want to imagine being in his place. Pretty boy, I owe you a fuck, a drink, and another kind of drink. The kind where I'm the one doing the drinking.

“How long are we going to wait around?” Ranlan said.

“Ask the little boss, not me.” Zethran replied.

Even if you say that…

Look around. The toad might be hiding nearby. Look for visual distortions and the like.

As I say that, I increase the luminobulb’s output, making it cover more than a twenty-stride radius.

“And I thought we’re supposed to lay low,” Zethran said, nodding at the luminobulb.

We’re already past that when the fight broke out.

Whether fortunate or unfortunate, no one spotted anything out of normal. It could be that the luminobulb is ineffective and the toad is still waiting for us to take the bait…

“…Or it could be nowhere nearby and we’re waiting around for nothing while Anlong is getting closer to death,” Ranlan responded to my conjecture.

…You’re right. We should go get him.

“Whoa, whoa, hold up. You can’t be serious, right?” Zethran said.

If we’re walking into a trap, then we’ll deal with it. We’ve already wasted enough time, and every second wasted is a loss. Well, that said,

I tap Zethran’s shoulder with a smile,

can you go get him?

His face warps into an ogre’s. As if he wasn’t already one.

“…If I die, I’m going to possess you, humiliate myself in your body and then commit suicide,” He said.

I nod quietly at that.

Zethran starts approaching the object we assume to be Anlong while the rest of us spread out and watch his back from various perspective, still on the lookout for invisible toads.

With every of Zethran’s step, I keep expecting the alpha to jump out and snatch him like it did Anlong. After all, there’s no other reason why it would leave a prize behind other than as bait.

…Then again, I shouldn’t have assumed to know how a beast’s mind works, because nothing happened.

“Thank god…,” Ranlan said.

She and I are standing by while the boys pull Anlong out. It only took a few seconds to do that. Or rather, longer than that, and the ones pulling him out would’ve fallen to the neurotoxin as well. That didn’t happen, and when they pulled him out, his eyes are already open.

“Ugh…” Anlong looks around with unfocused eyes.

“Yuck. I won’t be saving anyone from this next time, mark my words,” Zethran said, flicking his arms to get rid of the slime.

“Are you okay, Anlong?” Ranlan said as she helps the guys settle him down.

“I’m… alright…” pretty boy replied, still covered in frog saliva.

Wow, so much for neurotoxins. He’s not even unconscious, let alone endangered. He’s still out of the game though, seeing he can’t even walk on his own.

That was brave what you did. Thanks. I’ll be relying on you next time as well.

Huh? Why are you glaring at me, Ran? Did I say something wrong?

“Fay’s angry with you,” she said to him, “she didn’t want you doing what you did.”

That’s not what I said. Rather, please save me again the next time I’m in danger.

“Never do that again, Fay said,” she said. She said. It’s not me.

In response, Anlong looks at me and meekly says, “I’d do it again… as many times as it takes…”

Yes, please do that.

Ranlan gives a frustrated sigh, but seems satisfied with that response regardless before asking me, “What now?”

“Well, if he wasn’t before, he’s definitely a burden now,” Zethran said. Anlong seems too out of it to mind that insult.

Ran, you stay here with Anlong. We’ll take care of the alpha.

“Why me?”

Because you can run the fastest if something happens.

Telling a girl to carry a guy and run is not something I’d normally do. But they’re not normal people, especially not her. Carrying someone bigger than her is merely chore for her.

“Wait wait wait, you still want to go after it?” Zethran said.

Of course. We can’t let it escape.

“Let it escape? How about letting us escape?”

Listen, Zeth. For what reason did it leave Anlong behind?

“Who cares what the reason is? It’s probably just full, or Anlong just tasted like shit.”

“…Oy. (Anlong)

It wanted to escape. It probably thought that leaving him behind would leave us no reason to give chase. And why would it want to escape?

“She’s right. It must feel like it was losing. And we can’t just stop now.” Ranlan said.

“Even if she’s right—goddess help us—there’s no way we can catch up to it at this point.” Zethran explained.

I don’t believe so. It should be reduced to normal speed by now, exhausted, even.

“You’re just making guesses, aren’t you?”

We have a good chance here. Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet now?

“Oh, my feet aren’t cold, alright. Want to feel it with your face?”

“Stop it, Zeth!”

“We shouldn’t waste time,” Douqi steps in between us.

“Tch,” Zethran puts his arms on his waist, his face visibly crunching up as he stresses about something.

“Aargh, whatever, you fuckclucks. Let’s just finish this quickly,” he said grudgingly.

Ran, I’ll leave Anlong to you.

“…I don’t want to say I’ll leave the alpha to you guys, but… I’ll leave it to you guys,” she replied, forcing a smile.

I’m sorry, Ran. I would’ve taken you along, but if by chance everything goes wrong, I want at least for you to escape. Not that it’s going to go wrong, of course. Nothing’s going to go wrong. Not under my watch.

“Just remember, anything happens, it’s on you,” Zethran said, whispering so only I could hear.

--- --- ---

The three of us continue the hunt by following the trail of broken trees, led by my very own luminobulb. If my guess is correct, the alpha should be tired after all that jumping. It might be hiding not far from here.

Keep your eyes sharp. Look for visual─

“Look for visual distortions. Yeah, we got it.”

Good, because I don’t. Hopefully, the luminobulb will help us see through the mimesis. We’ll see. Or maybe we won’t, in which case, we’re dead.

“Up ahead. That’s where the trail ends,” Zethran pointed at an area maybe fourty, fifty strides forward.

It’s got to be somewhere around here, then. It must’ve sensed us coming and decided to hide. Douqi, you take the top while Zeth treks the trail. I’ll have overwatch.

They both nod and make their way.

As Douqi jumps up into the trees, I notice something strange on the edge of the luminobulb’s area of effect. No, rather than strange, it’s perfectly normal, which is what made it strange.

The luminobulb’s light is made to paint different shades of any object it shines upon. However, a region at the edge of the trail doesn’t have such effects under the light and stays the same color, staying as normal as it would’ve been under normal light.

Coincidentally, it’s also where Douqi starts his route.

Douqi, your right!

He heard me, but his reaction came a bit too late. Jumping away might’ve reduced the impact, but it still launched him through several trees. Zethran tries to catch him in the air but fails as Douqi slips past his arms.

“Shit!”

Zeth, watch out! Jump!

He follows my direction and jumps, avoiding a sweeping attack.

Duck!

“Oy, I can’t see shit─”

The attack hits him this time, sending him groveling through the dirt for several strides.

I told you to duck!

I can see through the mimesis, somewhat. It’s easy to observe at a distance, but during a close-range battle, perhaps not so easy.

Zeth, cover me!

“Really?! Look the state I’m in, you clucktard!” he shouted, his back still on the ground.

I summon a firebulb and a waterbulb at my sides. If I can’t see the target, then the best thing to do is to attack a wide area, right? Thinking that, I combine the fire and water into another new spell.

Before I can launch it, however, the alpha is already making its way towards me. Or it seems like it, judging by the crushing of trees and the like.

“Uyaah!”

Following the battle cry, a sword flies into the air and stops seemingly midair, with its pointy half sinking into something I can’t see. Most likely it struck the alpha’s one good eye, because the shape seems to fumble around aimlessly now.

“Groaaakh!”

Nice! Now get away, Zeth!

I throw the steambulb at it just as Zeth jumps away from the alpha’s range. As my attack reaches the target, an explosion takes place. Not a fiery one like my firebulbs, nor is it a watery one like the toad’s water bombs. It’s an explosion that quickly engulfs the area in a blanket of hot steam, swirling in an accelerating speed like a typhoon. A boiling hot typhoon.

“Fay, you bitch!”

Zethran frantically puts his arm in front of him as the steam comes for him, but it merely goes around him like river around a rock—just a simple barometric barrier, really. He looks at me, half dumbfounded and half angry, and I wink at him in response.

“Groaaakh!”

“Oy, it’s coming out!” Zethran warned.

Get back, Zeth!

Just as the alpha’s shadow appears on the edge of the steam cloud, I launch a promptly-made firebulb at it. The impact is minimum, but it’s enough to push it back in.

While Zethran makes his way towards me, I make dozens of charged bulbs around me, some positively charged, and some negative. After “enough” is made, I launch them all simultaneously into the steam cloud. There’s a large flash as the chargebulbs release the particles inside, followed by intense streaks of lightning.

Thanks to the steam cloud’s movement, the charged particles diffuse into the steam, causing small and spread-out lightning instead of focused ones. Electric currents quickly cover the entire thing like a thunderstorm trapped in a dome. Before long, the smell of burnt flesh fills the air.

I let it continue for one good minute before I decide it’s enough and disperse both the steam and electricity, revealing the blackened body of the alpha, laying lifeless on the ground.

One roast toad, coming up.

“You monster,” Zethran said with a vicious smile.

I believe that’s the first time you ever praised me.

And it was well deserved. This was the first time I’ve used thunder magic since coming up on the surface world. At least, it’s the first time I’m using it outside of a controlled environment. And the results were magnificent. Am I praising my own magic? Oh, yes. And I’m not the least bit ashamed. I truly am powerful.

“Oh, shit. I forgot about Douqi!”

Go get him. We can’t linger.

Then, just as Zethran is about to go find our friend, it happened.

I should’ve known. Yes, I considered it, but I should’ve known that nothing’s going to go right, ever. Just like a plot twist at the end of a chapter, something would always go wrong.