Part Twenty

Western Australia. Australian Disaster Zone……

“I swear, when I find that fox, I’m going to punt kick him across the room. Dangit Regis! Where are you!?”

“Kuhuhuhu~.”

“Grrr, stop hiding!”

Regis grinned as Alicia futilely looked for him, even though he was sitting right in the open. He was perched atop a rock, in plain view of anyone who simply glanced his way, and yet Alicia kept walking around him. An omniscient observer would be extremely confused by this, until they realized that Regis was using the spell [Mirage], which modified the perceptions of any creature who looked at it. So long as he kept the spell up, Alicia had no hope of locating him.

After eating several dozen Magic Nodes with Warren and Leland, Regis’s mana had gone from a trifling puddle, to a small pond, more than enough to cast spells like this. Part of the reason for this explosive growth was simply due to the fact that Regis was still growing, and thus his mana was in the period where it would experience the fastest growth. But the consumption of the Magic Nodes was definitely having an effect.

“Hrrr, maybe if I…? But he’d see that coming, wouldn’t he? Hm…?”

Alicia was unfortunately just encouraging Regis by hunting for him. The more she played into the mischievous fox’s hands, or paws, the more he’d continue to toy with her. The best way to end this was to simply ignore him. Regis was easily prone to loneliness, and would quickly become despondent if ignored for long periods of time, so he’d likely give up his little game in that scenario. Alas, Alicia was simply too kind to come to that conclusion. She couldn’t bring herself to exploit such a weakness.

Thankfully, the game was about to end anyway.

“What are you doing, Alicia? Regis is right behind you.”

“Wha!? No he isn’t? Wait… not again! [Stun Strike]! There you are!”

“Kuu? Kuuuuu~?”

“Not today, little fox. Come here.”

“Kuuuuuuuu.”

Kalia, seeing Alicia walking right beside Regis, called out to her, causing Alicia to realize what was going on. In a fit of sudden rage, Alicia unleashed a Lightning Magic spell at the spot she’d pointed to, though Regis leaped out of the way. Unfortunately, while [Mirage] was a pretty potent spell, its effects were static, meaning that Regis was now fully visible. And that meant that Alicia’s wrath could reach him.

“…What just happened?”

Kalia was left behind, confused by the whole situation. The disconnect she felt originated from the fact that Regis had used [Mirage] to hide, rather than a simpler spell like [Invisibility]. He’d chosen [Mirage] due to its perception-blocking effects, which made it rather effective against Alicia. However Kalia was now highly resistant to the effects of magic, thus allowing her to ignore this effect of [Mirage]. A higher level spell might’ve worked on her, but Regis couldn’t cast those yet. Essentially, he’d been doomed the second he hadn’t noticed Kalia approaching.

***

[Kalia’s POV]

That was weird. Why couldn’t Alicia see Regis? Was she messing with him too? Eh, at least they’re getting along. Seeing Regis so sad was just heartbreaking, even if he still won’t let me pet him. Haaah. Ah well, guess I should be on my way.

She’d only stopped due to how odd the sight of Alicia yelling for Regis when she was right beside him was, so she still had somewhere to be. Unfortunately, it wasn’t anything good. Well, it wasn’t bad either. It was just a craptastic situation.

Moving on, Kalia approached the house they were keeping the injured in, bracing herself as she opened the door. A foul stench was instantly on her, causing her face to wrinkle in disgust. And yet she pushed on, for if she wouldn’t, who would?

Inside, she found four members of the other group laid out on couches, each of them sporting white bandages somewhere on their extremities. A few days ago, they’d encountered a powerful monster that used Dark Magic to fight. It had been surrounded by a veil of Miasma produced by Grudge Magic. All four of the fighters before her had been hit by it, causing part of their bodies to begin rotting. Fortunately, Michelle, the other group’s leader, and Gwyn had succeeded in driving it off after they crushed one of its arms. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done.

Unlike normal wounds, the necrosis caused by Grudge Magic is extremely hard to treat. Even Healing Magic can’t fully banish it. The normal treatment is to slowly cut the necrotic tissues away, then apply powerful spells like [Regenerate] to regrow the missing tissues. There were obviously a number of flaws with this treatment, but since Grudge Magic wasn’t used all that often, there was little real concern over improving it.

This was a rather long, involved process, which was why they’d elected to stay in a house instead of camping. The idea was that they could more easily keep their wounds clean in a controlled environment, and it had worked. No one had gotten an infection, though that was also in part to Kalia.

Seeing her, all four mercenaries gritted their teeth, prepared for the unpleasant experience to follow. She tried to give them a sympathetic smile, but it came out pained. She knew that she needed to do this, but it still hurt her.

Walking over to the first man, she pulled the knife she’d prepared before crouching down to unravel the bandages around his leg. The man, one of the party's tanks, closed his eyes before biting into a leather cord. While the nerves in the affected areas were already dead, those neighboring them weren’t. Kalia looked at him again, and once he’d nodded, she began.

***

A half-hour passed, and Kalia finally finished for today. After several days of treatment, all but one of the injured were restored, though they’d all need a day or two to regain their strength. Healing Magic may be powerful, but it can’t fully replenish everything lost. Two of them had been unable to walk before, and the other's right arm had hung limply, the damage to his shoulder leaving it useless. A few days would be needed for them to reestablish control over the limbs.

But for the fourth, there could be no recovery. The others had all suffered glancing blows, causing damage to their muscles and nerves, but otherwise leaving the limbs intact. It had been painful, but Kalia was able to restore them to their previous form.

“I don’t blame you, Kalia. You did your best. I’m just glad I can feel my arm again. I saved my best friend, and I’d do it again if I had to. Losing a hand’s nothing compared to that.”

“…”

She’s so strong. I don’t think I could ever say something like that.

During the battle, the monster had injured all three of the party’s tanks, allowing it free reign. If Serena hadn’t used her whip to restrain it, it likely would’ve killed their back line. However, that had come at the cost of earning the monster's ire. It had rushed at Serena, fully intent on pummeling her into the dirt. Without a shield or metal armor, there was no way she’d be able to block its Miasma-infused attacks.

Fortunately, Tiffany had intervened, deflecting the attack and saving her friend, all at the cost of suffering a counterattack. Her right arm from the elbow down had been affected by the Miasmic Aura, and her hand had completely rotted away. And while Kalia had finished restoring her arm back to normal, even [Regenerate] couldn’t restore what was lost.

“I’m just glad I’m left-handed. Relearning to do everything with my left would be really hard.”

“Yeah…”

“Seriously, don’t beat yourself up. I did what I did because I felt it was right. Besides, it’s not like it’s permanent, right?”

Kalia couldn’t respond. While there were Healing Magic Spells that could restore lost limbs they were extremely complicated. Even Kalia would need to train for years to learn them. And there was something else that kept her from saying anything. Something she felt ashamed of from the bottom of her heart.

If…if only I’d learned Holy Magic. We could’ve pushed the monster back faster, and no one would’ve been hurt. I’m so stupid! Why didn’t I think of that before!? Especially after what happened in England.

To be fair, Kalia had had a lot on her mind then, so learning Holy Magic ended up slipping her mind. She likely would’ve thought of it sooner-or-later, but this had happened before she did, becoming a rather horrible wake-up call. And because of that, she felt responsible for what happened to Tiffany.

I swear I’ll restore her hand, even if it’s the last thing I do.

“Aren’t the others going to have a strategy meeting about that monster? Shouldn’t you be there for that?”

“Well…yes. But so should you.”

Tiffany shook her head sadly. “No, I don’t think so. I’m already sick of seeing the pity in everyone's eyes. Being there will just expose me to more. Though I should say that this could’ve been worse. Michael’s Magic was far scarier than what we saw.”

“Huh!? You know Michael?” Kalia hadn’t expected to hear his name right now.

“Mn-hm. Serena and I worked with him during the counter offensive back in the Siege Dungeon. Back then, I secretly thought that I never wanted to be on the other end of his magic, and I was right. I wonder what happened to him?”

“Um, well…he was actually a part of our group, but he had to go take care of some personal business. I’m not sure how long that’ll take, but we haven’t heard from him in weeks.”

“Ah, I see.”

Silence reigned after that. Kalia had wanted to tell Tiffany the truth, but she also felt that doing so would somehow be wrong. Gwyn had wanted them against telling people about Classes and Trials, all to let them monopolize the information.

Caught by the silence, and feeling too guilty to change the subject, Kalia left while using the meeting as an excuse, though it was clear she was just running away. She was too flustered to notice the look Tiffany was giving her as she left.

“Oh good, you’re already done. Hurry along now, we’re all waiting on you, Kalia.”

Once outside, she was quickly accosted by Michelle, the Earth mage who led the other group. She was older than most of them, easily into her late forties or early fifties, and had strict features that paired well with her no-nonsense personality. She was also highly pragmatic, and was one of the first mercenaries to understand how important dedicated mages would become. She was also the one who nagged Evan into becoming a Mage, though he’d been highly reluctant.

“Ah, sorry Michelle. I’m on my way.”

***

[Alicia’s POV]

“Kuuuu?”

“No, bad fox. You’re staying put until this is over. Now no more pouting.”

“Kyuuuuuuuuuuu…”

“What'd I just say?”

“Ku!?”

Regis finally settled down after being glared into submission. For whatever reason, the fox was being more and more belligerent lately. Gwyn had joked that he might be in his rebellious phase, and perhaps that was the truth. Though, she could’ve gone without the comment on her being his mom.

Wouldn’t that mean that…? No, let’s not pursue that thought. Makes me want to shudder.

Getting distracted by her thoughts let Regis try to wriggle away again, and by the time she’d gotten him back under control, Kalia and Michelle had arrived, starting the meeting. Only Tiffany was absent, though Serena appeared dejected because of it.

With nearly everyone present, Warren was finally able to start. Since he was their employer, if he said they needed to retreat, then that’s what they’d do. Fortunately, it seemed that Warren held the same sentiments that everyone else present did.

“I hope I speak for all of us when I say that this monster must be hunted.” Everyone nodded. Revenge was certainly a good motivator. “Then we must decide on the best way to approach this. We may have wounded the beast, but its magic still poses a threat. Is there anyway to neutralize it?”

Nearly everyone turned to look at Kalia, who flushed and hung her head. “There is. Holy Magic. It’s a school of Life magic that negates the effects of Dark Magic. I don’t know any now, but if I have a day or so, I should be able to learn few spells.”

Poor Kalia. She’s still beating herself up over what happened. As her friend, Alicia wished she could help soothe Kalia’s guilt, though that was something she’d need to absolve on her own. No one actually blamed her for what happened. Instead, they’d actually thanked her. If she hadn’t been there, those affected by the magic would’ve died, or been crippled at best.

“That’s fine. We still need to figure out where it went. Any ideas?”

“That thing is surrounded by Miasma, right? That should make a pretty good trail for us to follow. We just need to find some dead foliage or animals, and that’ll lead us right to it.”

“Good point. Then if no one else has any suggestions, I say we rest here for the night, and pursue the monster in the morning. Once we find it, we’ll put an end to the threat before it can take off."