Chapter 7
MIRA AND THE REST OF THE PARTY found themselves walking down a long, gloomy corridor lit by the flickering, pallid light of lanterns hanging from the guildmember’s belts. Each lantern consisted of a metal cage enclosed around a floating sphere, which gave off a pale blue glow.
“Well, those certainly lit the place,” Mira muttered to no one in particular.
“I didn’t bother going to the adventurers’ supply shop because you said your equipment was taken care of,” Emella griped. “I never thought you’d come here without a lantern.”
Mira smirked, and a moment later, a brilliant ball of light appeared above her head. “Every mage should be able to cast a common light spell. It’s a fundamental technique.”
“That may be…but are you sure you should be wasting your mana without knowing what’s ahead?” Emella heaved a sigh of exasperation.
Flicker nodded in agreement. Squandering precious mana when a standard lantern would suffice was unthinkable for an adventuring mage.
“The mana requirement for this spell is trivial,” Mira replied.
“Is that so?” The ways of the summoner were inscrutable to Emella, so she figured it must be some class benefit.
As for Flicker, if Mira could see spirit traces which she herself could not, then she wasn’t in a position to object.
The spell didn’t last forever and had to be recast when it went out. While she was satisfied to show off at the moment, Mira was nostalgic for Danblf’s adventures with Cleos back in the good old days. As a light spirit, Cleos illuminated even the darkest regions of a dungeon like the noonday sun. As she walked down the corridor, she wondered if having him here now would make their journey easier, or if it would simply unsettle her companions.
In any case, the spell wasn’t a class benefit, but Mira’s pool of mana had already bounced back from the cost. As one of the Wise Men, her maximum value and recovery rate far outstripped that of the common adventurers.
The conversation hushed as the party reached the end of the corridor, where it opened into a small room.
The air against their skin was damp, and the far side of the room was shrouded in silent darkness. Pulling out her map, Emella checked the directions to the next waypoint, and they continued on. Nothing but the repetitive sounds of breathing, footsteps, and plates of armor rubbing together followed along with them.
Almost time for the monsters to start appearing, thought Mira as she ran her fingers along the stone wall. Down one more set of stairs, through the first hall, then down the next corridor into the atrium. Then we’ll have a fight on our hands.
[Evocation: Holy Knight]
Setting the summoning point next to herself, she prepared for battle. A glowing magic circle appeared on the floor, illuminating the corridor.
“What’s that light?!” cried a startled Emella.
“What is it? What’s wrong?!” shouted Asval as he wheeled and brandished his war hammer to engage whatever foe had ambushed the party. As he did, he saw a pure white knight step out of a circle of light.
“Sorry about that. Just needed to summon a spirit.” Mira rapped her knuckles against the armored faulds at the knight’s waist.
Her summoned spirit towered over her, nearly two meters tall, and carried both a giant white tower shield as well as a long silver sword. It was covered from head to toe in glimmering white armor; a flickering red light shone through the slit in the visor.
“Is that an armor spirit?” Emella asked in awe.
“You can feel its power.” Flicker let out a gasp, reaching up to stroke the spirit’s pauldron. The white knight was both overwhelmingly intimidating and somehow reassuring.
Zef couldn’t help but blurt “That’s so cool!” as he examined it from every angle.
“So this is summoning? You weren’t kidding about this trip being educational…” mused Asval, considering Emella’s conversation with him the night before.
He recalled her story of how Mira had only just registered with the guild and yet had somehow been granted a C-Rank license. He figured that Emella must have been confused or mistaken…but then she told him that they were going to the Ancient Temple Nebrapolis.
With a creeping sense of dread, he wondered if the spirit standing before him was a sign of things to come.
Grinning, Mira ordered the Holy Knight to protect Tact and repel anyone or anything that approached the child with harmful intent. While the Dark Knight would have been her summoning of choice for solo adventuring, the Holy Knight was a spirit devoted to the art of defense. It could even outperform higher-level summons when used properly. With her Holy Knight active and vigilant against danger, Mira was confident that she could have escorted Tact to the lowest level of the dungeon without any help at all.
After that, the party made their way into the great hall. Asval led the way, checking the grip on his hammer and casting a wary glance at their surroundings. He froze and held up his hand to signal those following.
“Hold. I sense something up ahead.”
Emella consulted her map while Zef moved up to provide close protection for Mira and Tact, taking a dagger in each hand.
Like ripples spreading across the still surface of a pond, the sound of dragging footsteps began to reverberate throughout the hall. Slowly but surely, they rose in intensity and frequency.
Weapons at the ready, Asval and Emella faced the darkness and guarded each other’s flank. Zef kept a sharp eye on the rear to hedge against a possible ambush. Moving closer to Mira and Tact, Flicker calmed her mind and prepared to cast at the first sign of danger.
“Looks like we’ve got ghouls,” said Asval, making no attempt to hide his disgust as the first silhouettes drew into their circle of light.
The two fighters suppressed their revulsion and squared off against the shambling monsters as the Holy Knight moved to place itself between the abominations and Tact. Shield in hand, the spirit would fight to the bitter end against the ghouls if it came to that.
But I don’t favor their chances, Mira thought, letting a small smile spread on her lips.
Mira had become so accustomed to adventuring with Cleos that it had been a long while since she’d last experienced monsters emerging from the darkness. She strained to see the action, but Asval was blocking the end of the corridor, and no matter how she swayed from side to side, she was just a bit too short to get a good sight. Visuals aside, another of her senses was threatening to overwhelm the moment…
“Ugh! What a stench…”
Mira frowned at the foul odor that was growing in intensity.
It seemed that Tact smelled the same thing as he pinched his nose and whined, “Eww, what is that?”
“Just part of the full ghoul experience,” Zef said cheerfully.
As the warriors held the creatures at bay, he explained that the putrid scent of rot was a ghoul’s calling card. A parasitic entity, the monster latched onto corpses and reanimated them—but it couldn’t restore life functions. The corpse continued to rot as the parasite controlled the body…at least until it fell to pieces and the ghoul was forced to find another dead host.
Mira’s expression grew even more disgusted. She recoiled in shock as she managed to catch a glimpse of a ghoul around Asval’s blocking form—a lump of flesh so festered and decayed that it was hard to even call it a corpse. Cloudy, unfocused eyes stared blankly ahead at its prey, and the gaping, lipless mouth revealed a tongue that looked almost ready to fall out. Only a few strands of hair remained attached to its peeling scalp. Torn skin revealed clumps of maggots writhing in the decayed flesh.
It was so gruesome, so barely human that even the air she breathed began to feel thick with corruption. Mira fought a horrible urge to vomit. But as she looked away, she caught a glimpse of Tact, and her pride gave her cause to swallow her nausea.
“I’ll start us off,” Flicker declared, and she stepped forward and cast the spell she’d been preparing.
[Sorcery: Truest Crimson]
Power gathered at the tip of her raised staff for an instant before a whirlpool of flame erupted between the two shambling forms. The ghouls’ skin burned as their limbs withered in the conflagration, sending them falling to the ground. The flames followed them down, scattering their ashes and cremating the corpses thoroughly. It took but a few moments to immolate the pitiful husks and cleanse them of their impurity—even the stench was burned away.
Two more ghouls marched forward into the light as the flames subsided, and Asval and Emella leapt forward. Emella’s sword slashed one of the unfortunate monsters in half while Asval’s war hammer scattered pieces of rotten flesh and maggots to the corners of the room with a mighty blow.
“I think we’re clear,” he said a moment later when no other creeping horror emerged from the darkness. Tact peeked out from behind the shield of the Holy Knight, nose still firmly pinched shut.
The whole encounter lasted only a half-minute, but it served to reaffirm to Mira that this all was no longer a game—rather a reality that had dire consequences for anyone who faced it unprepared. Due to the visual realism of the game, she’d been unable to look directly at a ghoul the first time she encountered one. The effect had worn off over time—but the addition of the olfactory sense was something she was sure she’d never grow accustomed to.
The ghouls that’d been reduced to ash weren’t an issue, but the two destroyed by Emella and Asval still reeked of decay. Mira’s expression soured as she led Tact and her Holy Knight into the room to rejoin the warriors.
“Didn’t you take your medicine, Tact?” asked Emella.
“I took it,” he replied with a dutiful look on his face.
“Then the smell shouldn’t be bothering you that much.” She fixed the child with a skeptical gaze.
“Give him a break,” Zephard interjected, then began poking around the ghouls’ remains. “We may be used to it, but this is the kid’s first time. Even with the medicine reducing the smell, some always lingers.”
“That’s true,” Emella muttered as she thought back to her early days.
“Um…medicine?” Mira asked as she pulled the collar of her shirt over her mouth and nose to avoid the full brunt of the smell.
“The scent blockers. Wait, did you not bring any?!”
“Never heard of them.”
“First the lanterns, now this…” Emella shook her head. “It’s a drug that makes smelly things…less smelly.”
“Simply put, but yeah, basically.” Asval shrugged in agreement as he tossed aside a rag he’d used to clean the gore from his war hammer. “The medicine partially paralyzes the nerves in the nose—it doesn’t block all smell, just sort of sets an upper limit on how bad things can get. It’s been around for about twenty years now… I can’t imagine what it was like killing these things before that.”
Amazing. I wonder what else I’ll discover? Curiosity fought with revulsion within Mira’s thoughts.
The stench won.
Her focus returned to the present, surrounded by the odor of decay. Tact dared to remove his fingers, and it seemed that with the aid of the drug, he was able to somehow endure it.
A thought occurred to Mira—they were currently in the Ancient Temple Nebrapolis. The catacombs were an undead paradise, and the ghouls were just the opening volley. Things would only keep ramping up, and on the third level was the Giant Ghoul—a massive, rotting corpse. The smell would be indescribable.
The pretense of adventure and camaraderie was all well and good, but it was time to take matters into her own hands. She reached her right hand out to the side and pointed slightly away from the rest of the group.
[Summoning Arts: Bound Arcana]
As Mira spoke her spell, a blue magic circle as tall as herself appeared at her right hand—but Mira’s spell wasn’t done yet. Confirming the magic circle, she extended her other hand as well.
A second magic circle appeared, slowly turning and radiating power. Bound Arcana was a skill unique to summoners and served to supercharge summons that were near the magic circle. But Mira wasn’t using this to enhance her one of her usual summoned spirits. Bound Arcana also served as a requirement for the technique she had in mind.
“Mira, what are you doing?” asked Emella, backing away slowly at the sight of the young girl wielding so much magic power.
“Just wait and see.”
Mira began to draw her hands together and the circles followed.
[Summoning Arts: Mark of the Rosary]
As she touched the magic circles, they began to glow with blinding intensity, and a moment later, they were instantly rewritten. The rest of the party gasped in wonder.
The light receded, revealing a double magic circle larger than the previous two. Each circle glowed red, and powerful magic could be seen radiating from their centers. The rest of the party murmured in amazement, but Flicker stared at the sight in entranced silence and listened.
All high-level spells required chants to accompany the casting, and this one was no different. Mira touched one of the circles and slowly began to whisper:
I call upon the maiden of heaven.
She who wields the holy blade.
She who is called Alfina.
Who swore loyalty to her master.
Answer my call.
Though the words were nearly inaudible, a voice echoed through the room. The guildmates looked about before realizing that it came from where Mira stood.
[Evocation: Valkyrie]
The magic circles glowed in response to her power.
“What is this? What’s going on?!” Emella cried, holding a hand up to shield her eyes.
But Flicker gazed directly into the brilliant scene, squinting to try to discern what sort of magic she was witnessing. The rest turned their faces away to avoid it and fought the urge to run.
The magic circles around Mira flared, then vanished. A moment later, another magic circle slowly appeared. It split into an upper and lower circle that separated to leave a pillar of light in between.
“I am here as you command. It has been some time, my master.”
A solitary woman stepped out from the pillar of light. She was beautiful—clad in azure light armor, gauntlets, and greaves. Her ice-blue hair cascaded down her back in waves and was held back by a circlet around her forehead. The sword at her hip was carried in a scabbard of azure leather that matched her armor, but a divine light spilled from within.
The battle maiden stood expectantly before the party.
“Been a while, Alfina,” Mira said, staring at the woman.
The summoned Valkyrie dropped to a knee before Mira to pay her respects.
“You’ve certainly changed, haven’t you, Master?” Alfina cocked an eyebrow as she looked at Mira.
“Yeah, well…things happened.” Mira expected some sort of reaction, but she still fought to hide any bitterness in her voice.
“Did they, now?”
Back in the game, spirits summoned via rituals only gave minimal responses to commands. But Alfina was engaging in conversation of her own volition, confirming another of Mira’s suspicions—she wasn’t dealing with mere NPCs anymore.
It wasn’t an entirely unwelcome development for Mira, who had become accustomed to adventuring solo. It would be nice to have someone to talk to now and then—even if it was a person she’d summoned from thin air. Mira’s face lit up as she realized that she’d no longer be lonely when soloing.
“How have you been, Alfina?” Mira asked, curious to how far the conversation might go.
“My sisters and I have been training daily so that we are prepared for whenever you call upon us.”
“Hrmm, indeed. I see. Very commendable.”
“I am honored by your praise, Master.”
“Say, uh…Mira? Who is this?” With wide eyes pinned on the intimidating aura of the Valkyrie, Emella worked up the nerve to step forward and get some answers.
Flicker and Zef each stared for their own reasons—the former out of magical appreciation, the latter out of lust.
“Emella, meet Alfina.” As Mira made introductions, Alfina stood and turned to face Emella with a slight bow. “Alfina, this is Emella.”
“You must be one of my master’s comrades. A pleasure.”
Emella stammered, “L-likewise.” She sketched a bow of her own in return.
“Well she’s certainly a looker. And unlike the knight, she can talk.” Asval had regained his bearings and muttered approvingly as he gazed at Alfina. Just as a mage could sense another mage’s magical flow, the imposing warrior was astounded by the Valkyrie’s incomparable battle aura.
“I told you this would be educational. I hope this has changed your opinion of summoners!” Crossing her arms, Mira puffed out her chest. She was convinced that she was well on her way to restoring the power of the summoning arts.
“Master, your orders?” Alfina asked, fearing that unless she took the initiative, she might become the subject of a lecture rather than a participant in battle.
“Go forth and cleanse all monsters between here and the fifth floor!” Mira replied, undoing all Emella’s planning and preparation with a single order. She’d smelled enough ghoul for one day.
“As you command.”
Drawing her sword from its scabbard, Alfina sprinted into the depths of the Ancient Temple while leaving a trail of azure light in her wake.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login