Part Fifty-Six

This is just weird. There’s no sun in here, but I’m still watching a sunrise. I mean, it’s still an incredible sunrise. Especially since I can see all of the colors without being blinded by the sun's glare. I just don’t think I’m ever going to get used to Dungeons. They’re simply too otherworldly.

A lot had happened in the hours after we’d defeated the creature Finnél became. First of all, we’d successfully taken a few of Finnél’s men alive, and they were currently being interrogated in the jail. Braddock was in charge of that instead of the NPCs, though I didn’t know why. It might be some restriction placed on them by the System. They’d stayed out of the battle for the most part too.

As for their possessions, they’d been split up between those who had fought them, mostly since we’d already decided to execute them. Sampson had proposed that we deal with them in a permanent manner, and many of those who’d lost friends had immediately agreed. As for me, I didn’t really care. I thought that they were just reaping what they’d sown.

As for Finnél’s equipment, it had all been thoroughly destroyed by his transformation, and none of it was salvageable. We hadn’t even been able to find his sword after what happened. The only things left of him were his magic bags, which had somehow managed to survive being consumed by whatever he’d become. As for who would get what was inside, I honestly didn’t care. What happened to Finnél had raised a question in my mind.

Everyone was using words like creature, thing, abomination, or beast to describe the atrocity Finnél became in his final moments, but there was a much better descriptor. Monster. His twisted form had been hard to look at, but he had fought exactly how many monsters do. And considering that the creatures he’d spawned had had monster in their Analyze descriptions, and it was a fairly good bet that he’d become one.

Maybe that revelation should terrify me, but all it did was stoke my belief that I needed to get stronger. If monsters like that appeared on Earth, the casualties would be enormous. And if something even stronger appeared, then it really would be the end of everything.

There was one more question on my mind though: the Wrathful Fangs had been labeled as a Fiend-type monster, something no one had ever seen before. Considering that they were Fiend-types, would that have made Finnél a Fiend? Insight had squat on what the term might mean, so I and everyone else was still in the dark.

My one other takeaway from the incident was that there was more to the System then merely killing monsters, and taking whatever power the System gave me. The two opponents I’d faced had been strong, but in different ways. To put it in game terms, I probably had higher stats then the butler, but not only his Skills, but also his technique were leagues ahead of mine. I needed more options if I wanted to reach their level.

I already had a few hypotheses I could try. Mana was extremely versatile, so much so that it wouldn’t surprise me if there wasn’t anything it couldn’t do. So one option was to experiment with the applications of mana, slowly opening up new ways for me to fight. This did have the inherent danger of me becoming a jack-of-all-trades, but I thought the risk was worth it. At the very least, I wanted a way to boost my speed without being reliant on Beast of the Nightmare.

The other avenue was to focus on what I could do and expand upon it. I thought that there was still a great deal of room for my Skills to grow, especially since they were all below C-Rank. I’d also thought about having people teach each other how their Skills worked, but that might have problems. Even if Skills were similar, they weren’t close enough to be learned in a short period of time.

There was also the option of finding good equipment that had better Skills attached, along with experimenting with the ones I already had. And on that note, that’s where I’m heading. Well, after a quick nap.

Bye sunrise, see ya tomorrow.

***

I awoke a few hours later to a Scenario Update.

::Dungeon Scenario Update:

Remaining Challengers: 837.

Mid-bosses remaining: 3 of 3.

Monster Army Remaining: 77.87%

Time until escape is possible: 3 Days 01 Hours 13 Minutes.

The Dungeon Boss will arrive one day after all Mid-bosses and 90% of the Monster Army are killed.::

To think that after all that, not a single monster died. What a senseless waste. Even if a number of them were scum, we need as many people as we can get to survive this. Even the possibility of reinforcements isn’t enough to cover for the drop in morale we’ve experienced.

Ironically, Finnél had left us a few parting gifts. While none of us knew what he’d been planning when he went to the central tower, the consensus was that he’d been attempting to use a large mana crystal. I’d gotten a glimpse of it, and it was easily the size of my head. The Archmage had made quite the scene when Braddock had turned it over. Apparently, he’d be able to use it to summon more NPCs from elsewhere, though I took that to mean the System would make them.

As for how many times it would be or when, I had no idea. No one did. The Archmage had been too ecstatic to tell anyone. I got the feeling he was a major magic nerd, just like Kalia. This had happened about an hour ago, just after the first of the Archmage’s lessons ended. I didn’t participate in it, but I did watch it. I figured that if they learned how to unlock their own affinities, then there would be more mercenaries using magic. Though it could cause issues in the real world if it spread too much. But that’s an issue for politicians, not me.

Now as for what I was doing? Well, I was conducting my first experiment while simultaneously hiding. It should be pretty obvious who I was hiding from. Alicia had basically promised to lecture me to death once she could talk again. While I will admit that I fucked up, I will not be lectured over it. Lecturing some is the worst thing you can do to them, especially of they already know that they fucked up. Yep, it’s definitely all about principles.

“Here you are. One block, just like you requested.”

“Ah, thank you.” What? There’s no sense in uselessly antagonizing the NPCs. Even I know that.

The block of stone was for my experiment. As for what it was, well that was kind of gross and complicated. Yesterday’s battle had revealed a big concern for me. Losing the black sword in a battle meant I’d lose access to my Grudge Magic, and if I ever lost or broke it, then I’d lose one of my most potent weapons. It wasn’t like the Twin Swords were the only weapons I had. I still had the Desecrated Sword, as well as a few other backups. But they were so much better than them.

Now how does that connect to the experiment? Well, in that situation, I should still have the white sword. Yesterday, I’d cut off one of Finnél’s arms to dispel the illusion hiding his true self, but I’d noticed something then.

I’d cut off arms before, both of monsters and those of humans, but this had gone too well. There hadn’t been any resistance to the cut at all. My swords were sharp, doubly so when coated in Aura, but they weren’t that sharp. Even Goblin bones provided some resistance. I highly doubted that whatever Finnél had been had softer bones than a Goblin.

So the only conclusion I could make was that my sword had done something back then. And this wasn’t the first time my sword had displayed supernatural cutting power.

Back in Cavisburgh, I’d been attacked by a few of Hansen’s militiamen. While I’d easily dealt with them, one had tried to use his gun to block my first attack, but my sword had cut clean through it. Now that was also around the same time I’d gotten Sword Aura, so my inexperience had led me to believe it was just the Skill doing its thing. But I hadn’t done it again since. And so, the experiment.

Leaving the quartermaster’s post, I looked around before heading to a remote alley. I know I’m only delaying the inevitable, but I just know she’ll follow me around for awhile if she sees me, and that just seems annoying.

So, how exactly do I do this? Do I just stab the stone over and over, hoping something will happen? Maybe I should just try a few things, and see what happens? Rote repetition sounds annoying, but I don’t have a better idea.

I sat the block down and drew a single E-Rank sword I didn’t need. Figuring it wouldn’t matter if it broke, I stabbed the tip into the block. And as could be expected, it didn’t penetrate the stone. System-made swords might be good, but they’re not that good, at low ranks. Still, it helps to check as many variables as possible. So this time, I brought out the old Desecrated Sword and stabbed it down.

*Thunk*

Well what do ya know? It actually cut the stone. It’s only about an eight of an inch, but it still chipped it. I guess C-Rank swords are just that much better. Okay, next I’ll try the white sword.

*Thunk*

A bit more this time. Good, but not cutting-clean-through-bone good. I know there’ll be a difference between a quick thrust, and the full body swing I used, but there should be better results than this. Maybe I’ll try the black sword next.

*Tink*

Huh. It’s actually less than the Desecrated Sword, though not by much. Actually, I never used this with Aura, did I? Ah, unpleasant memories.

So what does this tell me? That the white sword is sharper than the black one, but why? To compensate for the black having the grudge repository? Could be, but it’s not enough for what happened earlier. Hm, confusion.

After that, I tired a few more tests, including using Aura, but I never got the level of cutting power it had displayed before. I was missing something. Think Michael, think. This feels like when the solution to a puzzle is right in front of me, but I’m too focused to notice it. So what am I missing? The swords are connected, Twin Swords, you know, so it stands to reason that what works on one will work on the other. So, mana?

It was a good enough guess for me. I tried sending a small thread of mana into the sword, much like how I would draw grudge out of the other one. I had admittedly done this before, back when I was first figuring out Grudge Magic, but I hadn’t looked around. It hadn’t even dawned on me back then, that the fact I could do the same thing might mean that there was a secret to the white sword too.

Here’s where the repository would be, but nothing. There’s just an empty space here with..nothing..in it. Oh my God, I’m a fucking idiot.

I immediately began pouring more mana into the sword, and a few moments later, it seemed to shift with a small shic sound. Nothing changed about the sword visibly, even after examining it up close, but I still felt something change. And since I had nothing to lose, I swung it down at the stone block. And nearly cut through my own leg.

Ah! Damnit, that was close! I didn’t expect it to cut through the stone like butter. I’m glad I moved the other swords away, or they’d be cut in half right now. Oi, guess I need to be careful with this thing.

For whatever reason, filling the empty space inside of the sword caused it to become much sharper, enough to cut through stone easily. Though when I checked it, all the mana I’d put in, enough to cast [Rot] twice, was gone. Yep, I’ve got another mana guzzler here. Just once I’d like an attack that doesn’t eat mana like it’s Skittles.

Well that was efficient. Let’s see if I can figure some more stuff out while I have time.

***

Where is he? He does this all the time. He’s there when things go bad, but somehow disappears the moment it’s over. Does he just hate cleaning up? Or is he hiding because he knows I’m upset with him? I thought he trusted us, so why didn’t he tell us about everything?

She’d already looked all over the fort, but hadn’t found a trace of him. He had to still be here, so he’d likely just found an out of the way spot to hide in. She didn’t have the patience to look in every single alley.

Whatever. I need to go check on Cameron. He’s still recovering from the poison.

Whatever they’d used had been powerful stuff. If it hadn’t been for Kalia’s Healing Magic, he probably would’ve been bedridden for days afterwards. Now though, he was to be fully recovered by the end of the day.

The infirmary was as empty as always. Other then yesterday, it usually didn’t have anyone in it, as Healing Magic was extremely quick. Well, so long as they actually made it here.

“Lass, where’s Michael?”

Um, Cameron? I can’t talk. I thought we told you this would happen.

“Oh that’s right. You activated Observer, so you can’t speak. Huh. We can’t really have a conversation if only one of us talks.”

She shrugged, as there wasn’t much could actually do for him right now. He did look much better at least. The color had returned to his face and he no longer seemed as listless.

“Michael still avoiding you?” *Nod nod*

“And you’re still angry at him?” *Nod nod*

“Haaah. I won’t tell you to go make nice with him, you’re both old enough to know that already, but you should at least try to be understanding of his decisions. Even if you completely disagree with them.”

“…”

“At least talk to him, don’t just lecture or glare at him. Though I guess you’d have to write it down. Hm, I can kind of see why Michael didn’t want to use this plan. It makes it really hard to coordinate with you.”

“…!”

“Don’t sulk now. You already know he didn’t keep us in the dark maliciously, so you should just wait until you can talk again. Then you can have whatever conversation you need.”

She really wanted to retort to that, but had to settle for a pointed glare instead. But her new sulking session would have to wait.

*Gong…gong…gong…gong.*

“…!”

“Well that’s not good. Wasn’t four gongs an aerial assault?”

***

In the sky, far above the fort, flew thousands of avian monsters. Anyone who somehow got this close, would be defended by the noise from their wings flapping alone. Aside from the small sparrow-like Eclosi, all of the birds were burdened with rocks and dirt, with the largest birds, each the size of a school bus, carrying large stone chunks.

As for why the birds were here, well that was due to the machinations of one of the Army’s leaders. For some reason, this monster was no longer satisfied with slowly bleeding the humans dry, and now wanted to kick the hornets nest that was the fort. It had even gone so far as to rope in over half of the Aerial Brigade into its plan. The slabs of stone were weapons prepared by the Mivians for this exact purpose.

Now over the fort, the flock came to a halt, and the Eclosi began their work. They flew about, applying small-scale Wind spells to the rocks and piles of dirt to keep them on course to their target. A few of the stronger birds even gave the rocks spells designed to burst them apart upon impact, just as an extra fuck you to the humans.

Once they were done, the monster in charge of the group gave a single screech, ordering the others to shift to the next step of the attack. And as one, the birds released their burdens, allowing them to return to the earth.