Wuxia - Mtl
CH.229 Don’t mind the Insects
CH.229 Don’t mind the Insects
As always, we got a warm welcome from the villagers as we landed. And possibly because of last time, I had multiple dhampirs asking if they could ride a dragon, including the two children. I had no reason to refuse, but I wanted to get straight to training, so I let them fly without me. Yes, I made sure the kids had an adult with them.
Kody and his father rode on my Sky Dragon, while Anika and her father borrowed Lua’s Hyozanryu. Agatha also let one of the adults ride Luster Dragon, and Ria did the same with Firebird.
The only one that didn’t let their dragon fly without them was Alice, with her Pitch-Dark Dragon. Sure it might be a bit selfish of her to hoard her dragon, but I have no right to say anything about that. And I don’t know if Pitch-Dark being a Union monster has something to do with it. It might. Maybe Pitch-Dark doesn’t like to have anyone except Alice riding on it.
But that isn’t something I have to worry about. Instead, I summoned some of the monsters we would need for our first lesson of the day. Dancing. Yes, we are doing it first, so Alice cannot use ‘I’m tired’ or something like that as an excuse to not take part. Not that I think she would, but she might, so let’s not even give her a chance.
I summoned our music, aka. Musician King and Spirit of the Harp, followed by an extra male dancer, Kagemusha of the Blue Flame. He did well last time, so let’s just have him here again. The one new addition to the lineup was Dancing Elf. I didn’t have her last time, as I, or Laura to be exact, hadn’t done the trade in for it yet. The winged elf honestly looked almost more like an angel, than an elf, but who cares? She can dance, so I summoned her. Maybe she can act as our teacher.
After dancing, it was time for weapons practice.
For that, I traded our dance instructors, as well as music producers, for weapons experts.
My partner for the day was Guardian of the Labyrinth. He might look a bit fiend-ish, but he is a warrior at heart. And he uses a sword and shield, so he is perfect. Lua was with Lava Battleguard. Again, I lack warriors who use blunt weapons, so I have to go with the more … monster looking ones. Lava Battleguard uses a spiked club, but that is close enough to a mace, right?
For Ria, it was Des Kangaroo. A real punching expert. But sadly, Des Kangaroo can’t speak, so the instructions will likely be a bit difficult to follow. Hopefully Ria won’t get punched too many times.
And lastly, with Alice was The Hunter with 7 Weapons. One of said hunters' weapons happened to be a poleaxe of some kind, and the way you use it is similar enough to a swordstaff, so he should work just fine.
Even Agatha joined us a bit later, so I summoned Enraged Battle Ox to play with her. … I honestly would have summoned the regular Battle Ox, but that thing is not available in any set I have unlocked. I think it might be exclusive to starter/structure decks.
… will I be able to get those when Pack Opener levels up? I hope so. I should try to clear that dungeon at some point. Maybe we can head there for the afternoon and hunt down some insects. Then I can either absorb them with Dungeon Founder, or we can take them back to the guild, since our party just registered. Get some contributions and all that.
We kept practicing, until it was time for lunch.
After lunch, which was sausages, other street foods and pancakes from the town of Yuva, the four of us, no Agatha this time, got into two Gradius. Why Gradius instead of Big Core, well simply put, for the speed. We were going to go all the way to the dungeon I located, so we could hunt some monsters there, and with Big Core, the flight would take a lot longer. Well, it wouldn’t if I just let Big Core cause sonic booms, but I really don’t think that is necessary, when we can just use two Gradius instead. I was in one with Ria, and Lua was piloting the other with Alice in the gunner’s seat. Why like this? Well, both Lua and I have a system support so we really shouldn’t get lost. And Ria won the rock-paper-scissors, so she got to ride with me. But Alice will be riding with me on the way back.
But yeah, with Big Core, if I kept the speed at subsonic speeds like I do with that ship, it would have taken us like one and a half hours to get here, but because of the hypersonic speeds of Gradius, we got here in just about 15 minutes. And that included a bit of time for Lua to get used to the controls, until we figured out that she could just order her Gradius to follow mine. Yeah, I forget it sometimes, but these machines have quite the sophisticated AI autopilot system.
When we got to the area of the forest that I burned down, I saw something I really didn’t expect to see. Or even want to see. The burned down area, as well as my quarry hole, had been taken over by the insect monsters. It wasn’t overrun or anything like the inside was, but there were a lot of them. It seems like the monsters from the first room of that dungeon decided to come outside, and make this place their new home.
(Brian, you didn’t tell me about this.) Lua sent me a message as her Gradius stopped next to mine and switched into hover mode.
(... I didn’t know.) I admitted. (I thought that the monsters would stay inside the dungeon.)
(They usually should.) Laura said, probably to both of us. (There must have just been so many that some of them escaped to the surface, now that there is space for them here. If you look, you can see that very few of them have entered the forested areas, likely because of how overgrown the forest is. There just isn’t enough space for them to move around in there. But this open area is perfect for them.)
(Well, at least we have stuff to kill, right? What rank are these things anyway?) I asked both Laura and Lua.
(The large ants seem to be killer ants. They are C-rank. The spiders and centipedes I’m not sure about.) Lua answered.
(The centipedes are C-rank as well, but the spiders are B-rank.) Laura answered. (Though according to the records I can access, the difficulty of the spiders comes from the webs they lay everywhere. Without the web traps, they are basically C-ranks in direct combat. Just be careful of their poison, as they can shoot it out.)
(... Okay, so we are facing an … not quite an army, but a company of C-rank monsters.) I recapped, and relayed the information to Ria.
I opened the canopy of Gradius, and hovered the ship next to Lua’s ship, so we could talk without the system link. Alice and Ria can’t hear us when we do.
“So, how do you want to deal with this? I think I should use a spell to keep them in place, then I can have one of my monsters bring them out one, or few, at a time for us to fight.” I gave my suggestion. I’ve already done something similar with Swords of Revealing Light when we got blood from a group of boars.
“Can’t we just jump in and kill them?” Alice asked.
“... Did Lua not tell you? Those are C-rank monsters, so they aren’t that easy.” I told her.
“... I think we could still do it.” Alice claimed.
“Maybe, but there is no reason to risk it.” I said. “So, any other ideas?”
“Can’t we just use these ships to shoot them?” Lua asked. She probably knew that Gradius had cannons from seeing them in action. I know she sometimes watches what I’ve done during the day with Tahlia and/or Fantasia in the factory.
“We could, but that isn’t training.” I said, reminding her of why we came here. “If we are going to do that, I could just wipe them all out with a dragon or something.”
“... I guess. Are you sure you can keep them in check?” Lua asked.
“Who are you talking to? I’ve done it before, and I can do it again.” I reminded her. “So, I guess that is the plan?”
With no one disagreeing, I went ahead and got Swords out of my collection.
“... so, they just can’t move?” Alice asked.
“Yeah. Swords of Revealing Light will keep them still, as long as they are inside that area.” I told her.
“... can I have one?”
“If you want it as your next quest reward, sure.”
“Thanks. … but I still need that dragon rider as well…” She muttered, probably pondering which card to request first.
“So what will happen if we go inside?” Ria asked. “Will we be unable to move as well?”
“You and I should be fine.” I answered Ria. “But I think Lua and Alice will still be affected.”
“Why is that?” Alice asked.
“The slave contract I have with Ria makes Ria mine. And this card doesn’t affect me, or my monsters, only opponents, so the two of us are unaffected.” I explained.
“... so, are we your … opponents?” Lua asked.
“Of course not.” I instantly said. “But the cards see it that way.”
“Are you sure? I don’t feel strange.” Alice asked, with her hand elbow deep into the Swords of Revealing Light.
“... it might be because you aren’t all the way in?” I guessed.
“If I go in, will you get me out?” She asked.
“Yes. But why would you?”
“I just want to try.” Alice said, and stepped into the area controlled by Swords of Revealing Light.
…
…
…
Is she … fine? But she shouldn’t be. According to the factory tests, only Ria and I should be unaffected.
“Umm, Alice? Are you feeling alright?” I asked.
“I feel fine. I can move just fine as well.” She answered. “Are you sure you just weren’t wrong about the card?”
“... I mean, I could have been. Or maybe there is some limit to how powerful of a being can be frozen by the swords. I did perform the factory tests a while ago, and you have grown more powerful since then. … but then again, it can freeze almost any of my monsters, so that doesn’t check out…” I began to mutter out theories on why the swords both should and shouldn’t work, but I really couldn’t come up with a solution.
After a bit of theory crafting, with no answer coming to mind, I was brought back to reality by Alice.
“So can I just go and kill all of these monsters?” She asked, turning to look at the closest spider.
“... yeah. Just be careful. Assuming it works the same as it does with me, as soon as you touch the monster, they will be able to move, until you can take at least a meter or two of distance.” I warned her.
“Sure. I’ll look out for it.” She called out, as she prepared her swordstaff for an attack and made her way towards a spider.
“... Ria, please go with her and keep her safe.” I requested, trying to collect my thoughts.
“... why does that work?” I kept wondering, as Alice and Ria got to work, exterminating a bunch of spiders, ants and centipedes.
“Well it works, so it's fine, right? Isn’t that your usual attitude?” Lua reminded me. “Come on, if we don’t head in, there will be nothing left for us.” She said as she took out her mace and walked in.
“... yeah. I guess.” I agreed, before I got out my sword and followed after Lua.
After a bit more than an hour, we had taken down all of the insects that had come out from the dungeon.
I don’t know if that was a long time, or not that long considering that all of us, except Ria, aren’t really close range fighters and we went at it with close range weapons. And with the number of insects being around 60, I think we did okay. That is one monster every minute, more or less.
As for the corpses, I ended up putting them in storage. If I absorbed them for generation points, I would suffer the remote penalty and only get half the points. So by keeping them in storage, I can either sell them to the adventurer’s guild or someone else, strip them for materials for my own use, or absorb them for generation points the next time I visit my TinaWood.
With all the monsters now cleared, I deactivated Swords of Revealing Light and returned the card to the collection.
“So, do you want to head inside for more, or should we head home?” I asked.
I knew the answer for two of them, just by looking at them, but Ria seemed ready to continue. She does have a bit more stamina than us, and she does have more CQB skills as well.
“No, I’m fine with this.” Ria answered. “I don’t really like fighting insects. … their blood doesn’t taste good and you have to punch them really hard to get through their skin.”
“Well it is called a carapace for a reason.” I said.
“I guess. But I still thought it would be easier.” Ria said.
“Perhaps. But the conclusion is that we are heading home. Well, to the village first, we still have to pick up Agatha. Then home.” I deduced, and got out two copies of Gradius from the collection.
Like on our way here, I let Lua summon the other one. The only difference was that this time Alice was with me, and Ria was in Lua’s Gradius.
By the time we reached the village, Alice had fallen asleep. And as Agatha wasn’t in a hurry to return, I let her sleep for a bit longer. I still didn’t let it go on for too long, only a bit over 30 minutes, as I didn’t want her night sleep to be bothered.
On our flight back, Alice rode with me, as I was honestly worried she would fall off her dragon if she tried to fly alone. She was still half-asleep, and kept nodding off. I guess all of the physical exercise is beginning to take its toll on her body.
After dropping off Agatha, our party made a quick stop by the adventurer’s guild to drop off the paperwork about the escort mission. Unlike in the morning, the guild was quite full by now. It was around 6pm, so I guess people are starting to get back.
We did get some looks, but nothing more than that, so it is fine. Honestly, with Alice’s sleepiness starting to catch me as well, I would have probably just summoned someone like Black Luster Soldier to deal with anyone that tries to mess with right now.
“I see you completed your first quest as a party. But next time, perhaps look at a C-rank quest instead. I know the escorting Lady Agatha isn’t that popular, but it is still not something a C-rank party should be doing.” Is what a receptionist told us. She wasn’t the same one that registered our party this morning, but she still knew about it. Maybe it was some sort of guild gossip or something.
“We might try. But we aren’t the best at getting up early, so it might be difficult, as most C-rank missions are taken by then.” I responded.
That is actually about a half-lie. I get up surprisingly early, but I just immediately jump into the factory. But if I instead got up, got dressed and came to the guild, I would likely be here at the time when the best quests are chosen. But at the same time, I just don’t care enough. My guild rank doesn’t matter. That is why I’m not even trying to push it. Sure it could be cool to have some high rank attached to yourself, but it might come with some expectations of me, and I just don’t want them, so I’ll only rank up naturally, instead of forcing my way up ranks.
Back at the manor, it was time for some magic practice. We got in a good amount of physical skill practice, but I’m not about to forget space magic, nor telekinesis. Lua ended up joining me and Paulina as we practiced telekinesis, and she quickly was able to do the remote loop with us. I don’t know how fast she will figure out telekinesis, but at least that part she was really good at.
For space magic, my reliability is getting better. My space wall spell will now activate about 85% of the time, and it always lasts for at least 10 seconds. My record currently is 22 seconds, times by Laura. … it does still break from anything more than a soft touch though.
After bathing and dinner, it was time for level ups and bed. For me and Lua, it was going to be the last ‘overall’ level up until the birthday, just to avoid any evolutions, the same went for Alice. Ria though… well, she got to LV.80. We might just have an evolution there. But we’ll see tomorrow.
For myself, I leveled up Sword Technique. Yes, I made sure to ask my warrior monsters if it is fine first, and while it wasn’t unanimous, the majority vote was for yes.
Ria got a level in Mana Control, as it had begun to throttle her. Even if she only uses Internal Magic Technique, she still needs levels in mana control.
Lua leveled up her Staff Technique skill. While it wasn’t the correct skill for a mace, she could use a mace in a similar manner to what the staff technique would have you use a staff for. Staff Technique is a skill that helps self defense with a staff, whereas Blunt Weapons Technique is the offensive version, so… having both is good.
Anyway, that is it for today. Good night.
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