Extra Chapter: Searching for Soul-Healing Water
“You call this soul-healing water?”
“That’s right.”
I was asking L’Arc about the mysteriously effective liquid he had sprinkled on me.
“Glass?”
“I’ll say this: I was irritated when you said you wanted to learn more about the world of our enemies. But finding something like this almost makes it worth it.
Soul-healing water. The mystery liquid dramatically increased all of my abilities. But even with my abilities improved, I hadn’t been able to defeat Naofumi, that holy hero of the enemy world.
What would have happened if I’d been forced to fight them without L’Arc’s help?
There’s a significant chance I might have lost.
L’Arc tells me that Naofumi focuses on defense, because he is the Shield Hero. If that were the case, then I wouldn’t expect him to be a very capable attacker. It makes me wonder—if I had to face any of the other holy heroes in battle, would I survive the encounter?
I looked at my fans. They existed to protect the world, and they were special. We called them vassal weapons. They could gain new abilities by absorbing materials and parts of defeated monsters.
They also had the ability to take monster parts and transform them into various useful materials and items. A hero that had been summoned to my world long ago named it “the drop function.”
At the moment, we were back at our base of operations, in the middle of a meeting. We were trying to get to the bottom of what had gone wrong.
The first problem was Naofumi himself. He had grown so powerful in such a short time that it was hard to believe.
The waves were a battle between worlds and when I met Naofumi, he said that only two weeks had passed in their world since the appearance of the previous wave. It had only been two weeks, but he had grown dramatically.
The last time I’d seen the heroes, he was the only one of the four that was strong enough to deserve the title. He was powerful back then, but he wasn’t so powerful that I couldn’t overcome him. He held a cursed, ominous shield in his hands, which told me he was strong enough to maintain control.
He was strong. It’s true. I knew that I would defeat him the next time we met. That is truly what I thought. I thought I knew exactly how strong he was. Realizing I couldn’t win at the time, I decided to run, knowing that I would have to put an end to him the next time I saw him.
But two weeks passed—or should I say, I gave him those two weeks— and when we met again, I realized I’d underestimated him. That holy hero from another world, Naofumi, had grown unbelievably powerful. I realized we were in trouble when we met in battle.
I had another move up my sleeve, but L’Arc stopped me from using it.
Once again, the battle ended without a decisive victory.
“Right? We don’t have anything like it in our world, so I was pretty thrilled to find it,” L’Arc clipped, clearly pleased with himself. He spun the bottle in his hands.
“But how did you know? How did you know it would affect me like that?”
“Didn’t I already tell you about that, Glass-chan? The only way to restore soul power is by waiting for it to naturally replenish itself, by draining it from an enemy, or by receiving a portion of it from an ally.”
“That’s true, but . . .”
“And so, when I saw them use a draining attack on you, and your energy started to vanish, I realized it was because soul-people’s energy must actually be soul power.”
L’Arc, because he had teamed up with me, knew about what energy really was.
Soul power. Only those who held a vassal weapon could discern it. But I was a soul-person, so I was able to use my vassal weapon through other means.
When a human used a vassal weapon, they became aware of this soul power, but because I was a soul-person, that very same power was just normal energy for me.
“I understand, in theory. But do you see the problem with this?”
“Hm? Oh, you mean how it started to leak out after hitting an upper limit?”
“Yes.”
It was true that the liquid had greatly enhanced my abilities.
For us soul-people—they call us spirits—our strength is tied to our energy.
For humans and other creatures like them, their strength is most directly related to something called their “level.”
Energy is much like stamina for us, and when we use up our energy we grow weaker. In a short battle that can be decided quickly, we are unparalleled in a fight.
And while humans gain levels as they defeat monsters, spirits like me only regain a small portion of their energy. If we are forced to battle powerful monsters for a long time, we can use up all of our energy. However, our energy levels also restore themselves naturally over time—a small amount each second. If nothing interferes, our energy levels will rise to a certain level on their own.
We grow stronger over time by using our energy to acquire various abilities, and . . . well, perhaps I will save the specifics for another time.
L’Arc and his friends must have known all of these things, too. Among them all, the overall energy capacity we command is most directly linked with our strength. This “capacity” refers to the amount of energy we are capable of collecting at one time. The capacity cannot be enlarged by any simple everyday exercises.
My vassal weapon helped me to enlarge my capacity beyond that of the average spirit, but to gain more power than I already had, it would require a great deal of additional time.
“The amount of energy I received from the soul-healing water greatly exceeded my capacity to store it. So I was only able to use that energy for a short time.”
If only there were some way that I could extend that time limit, I might have a chance to defeat Naofumi.
I’ll be honest. With how strong he has become, I won’t be able to defeat him. If nothing changes, then I will be forced to use my final option the next time I see him. I’ll have to trade my life for victory.
“So we could beat him if you had more capacity?”
“In theory, yes.”
L’Arc was an easy-going accomplice of mine. He also held a vassal weapon.
I do not deny that he fights sincerely for the good of the world, but sometimes I feel that he lacks drive. I often found myself lecturing him.
He was an idealist, through and through.
There was so little time left until the next wave that any attempts we made to “level,” as the humans say, would be mostly meaningless.
I could easily accept monster parts and materials from my friends, and it would increase my strength slightly. But if I’ve already reached the limit of my capacity, what else could I do?
“Let’s use the next wave to move over to the other world.”
“What are you saying?”
“Glass, I swear. You have to learn to loosen up a bit. You’re too stuck in your ways.”
What?!
“Who is stuck in their ways?!”
“What would Kizuna-chan say if she saw you like this? You have to relax. Relax!”
“How cowardly of you! Don’t use Kizuna’s name like that!”
Kizuna was one of my closest friends. She was the one who wanted to protect the world. It was her commitment that inspired me to love the world, too. But Kizuna was not the sort of person we could send to battle in the waves.
Even worse, she had gone missing.
“Glass-chan, you make the funniest face whenever I bring up Kizuna’s name.”
“Don’t you mock me!”
“Oh stop that. You’re both just little girls to me.”
“Blasphemy! Don’t say another word!” I snapped, opening my fans and pointing them at L’Arc.
“Calm down.”
“Listen to me. We are very busy preparing for the wave battles. We don’t have time to spend exploring other worlds.”
“That’s easy to say, but have you noticed? That world is . . .”
L’Arc shared some important information with us. It was about the potential of the vassal weapons.
We gained new abilities by absorbing monsters and materials into our weapons, but there was a limit to how many things we had access to—a limit there was no way to get around.
We lived in a finite world. It might seem like there are infinite types of monsters and materials, but that isn’t the case.
But a new world offered new possibilities. It was filled with untapped resources. Furthermore, and this was perhaps the most surprising, the levels gained in that world were combined with the levels gained in our own.
That meant that the levels gained in each world could be added together.
“You see what I’m getting at, right? If we want to survive the next encounter with Naofumi, we should spend some time leveling up in their world.”
“But . . .” I began to protest, but I had to admit he had a point.
We had met Naofumi before, but we still hadn’t encountered any of the other holy heroes. What would happen if we won? Would the additional strength we’d accrued stay with us?
Would we need a temporary power boost?
Or since we didn’t have a lot of time, wouldn’t it be better to find a way to brush up our skills in our own world?
I had so many doubts.
“And . . . Didn’t you notice? They aren’t stupid. They aren’t going to put the holy heroes on the front lines so easily. If we get over there before the waves come . . . You see what I mean? We have the vassal weapons so we can kill them.”
That was a good point. It was going to be very difficult to kill the holy heroes if we only had the duration of the waves to do it.
It might make sense to cross over to the other world and then kill the last possessor of the holy weapon before the wave came.
“In Naofumi’s world, I couldn’t even find out where the other heroes were.”
“That’s true. Perhaps we should not worry too much over our methods. This is no time to worry about justice.”
I wonder how Kizuna would react if she were here to hear me say that.
L’Arc looked very happy, even though it had only been two days since our battle with Naofumi.
“So you know what I’m saying. If the next wave connects to Naofumi’s place, we should cross over to that world.”
“I suppose you’re right,” I sighed.
“Hey, where’s Therese?”
“She’s probably back at the room, no?”
“She’s still relaxing? We better get moving if we want to survive the next wave,” L’Arc said. I nodded, and we left to go meet with Therese.
Therese was back in the room, playing with a bangle.
“Hey, Therese! How are things?!”
She sighed and held the bangle up to the light. She almost seemed not to have heard him.
“Hey!”
“This is amazing. It’s so beautiful,” she muttered, running her finger over the gemstone set in it.
I wondered if Therese’s people could see something that I couldn’t in such objects.
On our way back, Therese had been very excited to show me the bangles from the other world. She said they were amazing.
Therese used a unique type of magic that drew on the power of gemstones. She said that she knew a lot about gemstones because of that, and that the bangles were fitted with the best of the best.
I couldn’t help but wonder why, if the stones were as good as she said, she didn’t use them during the battle with Naofumi.
“They’re beautiful.”
“Therese!”
“Yikes! L’Arc?! When did you get here?”
“When? Haven’t you heard me talking to you this whole time?”
She snapped to attention and hurried to hide the bangle from his sight. She looked like a young man desperate to hide his dirty magazines.
As I wasn’t one of Therese’s people, I couldn’t understand her fascination with the object. But why was she so nervous about being seen with it?
“Oh, um, right. Of course I heard you. What can I do for you?”
“Were you really listening? And do you really like kiddo’s bangles that much?”
“Of course I do, L’Arc! Don’t you see it? Can’t you feel how happy these stones are?”
“All I know is that those things are powerful.”
“You’re such a brute!”
“Ugh!”
Therese looked disappointed. Then she punched L’Arc in the stomach.
It was a solid punch. I’d have to remember that.
“If those bangles are so impressive, why didn’t you use them during our battle with Naofumi?” I asked.
Therese’s magic used the power of gemstones, and she was bragging about how great those stones were. So why didn’t she use them?
“Because the stones . . . The little stones wouldn’t lend me their power to use against him.”
“What?”
“Therese, you psycho! You could have held back a little,” L’Arc whined, clutching his stomach.
They were close friends, but they got into scuffles from time to time. I guess that showed how close they were, but I didn’t really understand it.
“And? Why wouldn’t the stones lend you their power to fight him?”
Therese looked very sad when she heard my question.
What was the matter? Had I said something rude?
“Glass, don’t you understand? Think about it from their perspective. A god-like creator picks you up and polishes you until you are perfect. And then someone asks you to help them kill that very person.”
“I think I see what you are trying to say.”
Naofumi had made the bangles, so they wouldn’t help us defeat him.
“But if we asked for their power to save Naofumi, I think these stones would sacrifice themselves to ensure his safety,” Therese explained. She smiled and rubbed the stones against her cheek.
“Ugh, Therese. Stop that.”
“If you want me to stop it, you should make me an even better bangle!”
“Damn you, kiddo! You had to raise the hurdle on me, didn’t you”
“So? What did you want from me?”
“Yes, well . . .” I explained our plan to cross over to the other world during the next wave.
“Understood. Shall we get going?”
Luckily, Therese was optimistic about the plan and eager to cooperate.
“So with any luck, we will just slip through to the other side.”
We all agreed on the plan and met the next wave head on.
Luckily, it was connected to Naofumi’s world.
“Glass-chan. I’m sure you already know this, but if we see anyone fighting when we get there, ignore them and let’s move on.”
“Understood.”
We stepped through the rift and inspected our new surroundings.
Off in the distance, I saw a bird-like monster locked in battle with one of the wave monsters. It looked a lot like the type of bird monster that had been in league with Naofumi. It finished off its enemy and turned, running straight in our direction.
“Let’s go!”
“Yup! Therese, help us out!”
“Okay.”
Thanks to Therese’s help, we were able to make a comparatively safe crossing to the other world.
I turned to look back in the direction we’d come from and saw the rifts in the sky closing. Then I noticed a problem.
“What? Our equip effects don’t seem to . . .”
My stats had fallen dramatically. It must have been what L’Arc was talking about—a side effect of moving to another world.
“Yeah, looks like it. It’s probably not your style, but you should wear some armor while we’re here,” L’Arc said, producing a set of armor from his scythe.
It was the western-styled leather armor that Kizuna had talked about.
There was no getting around it. It was better than wearing clothes with no effect at all. I removed my kimono and changed into the armor.
“Wow! Glass?”
“That does NOT look good on you!”
L’Arc’s comment annoyed me, so I kicked him in the shin.
“Ouch! What the hell?”
“You’re the one that gave me the armor.”
“How is that my fault? It’s the only set we have.”
“If you change your hairstyle a little, I think it will look better,” Therese said. She quickly tied my hair into two pigtails.
“Hm . . . You really do have a very young face, so something about this hair and this armor makes you look, um . . . immature?”
I kicked L’Arc’s shin again.
“Ouch! Why do you have to be so violent?”
“Just be grateful I didn’t hit you with my fans.”
“You’ll get used to the armor, and then it won’t bother you so much. Come on. Let’s get going.”
“Alright. L’Arc? Will you lead the way?”
“Sure thing. But first things first. Let’s eat!”
And so we began our adventure in the new world.
A few days passed.
“You know what? I like the food over here.”
“Yes, I agree. The Napolata is quite famous. That dish with the red noodles—I like it.”
“Erm . . . I’m starting to feel like we spend too much time wandering around eating all the regional specialties!”
Therese was holding a skewer of thick anko-like stuff she’d bought from a stall, and a chunk of it fell into the mud.
“Hey, you’re right!”
“Yeah, but we’ve also gotten a lot of drop items, and we’ve collected a lot of money, too.”
Our goals were to raise our levels and abilities and to procure more soul-healing water. If we could find a recipe for soul-healing water, and find the materials necessary to make it, then it would definitely help us in our next fight.
“Don’t worry so much. All of this is part of the path to making you as powerful as you can be.”
“Really?” I asked. I found it hard to believe. It was true that we had discovered many monsters and objects that I’d never seen in our world, but . . .
“Glass-chan, you worry too much. It’s going to be okay.”
“That doesn’t set my mind at ease.”
“So what? Oh, hey! It’s probably about time we found you some better equipment, don’t you think?” L’Arc said. He smiled and swung open the door to a weapon shop.
My vassal weapons were fans, but this world didn’t appear to sell fans in their weapon shops. It was a rare weapon, even in my world. I decided not to overthink it.
“What is it? Did they have a kimono?”
They actually did have one, but its effects and abilities were very low.
The shopkeeper said that he could have one custom made for me, but that it would take some time. L’Arc had other ideas in mind. He suggested another set of armor for me.
It was even uglier than my current armor, but it was made of better materials, and it had better equip effects.
“Think of all the battles we’re going to go through. I think you will need this.”
“Very well.”
I didn’t have any better options, so I paid for the armor with silver.
I suddenly noticed that Therese had disappeared. I looked around to see where she’d gone, only to find her standing before an accessory shop.
“Welcome! What can I get for you today?”
“Oh, it’s just . . . um . . . that.”
“Ah yes, a necklace made from Miraka ore. They say it raises the amount of experience its wearer receives from battle. It’s become quite a fad over in the Cal Mira islands.”
“Has it? I was just there, and I didn’t hear anything about it.”
“Ah yes, well they say the Shield Hero himself noticed its potential. It has become quite popular since.”
Just hearing the words “Shield Hero” cause my hand to curl into a fist. The more time we spent wandering around in public, the greater chance we had of bumping into Naofumi.
We had to be careful. We weren’t on our home turf, and we weren’t very strong yet.
“Therese!” L’Arc shouted. “You find more stones over there?”
Therese sadly shook her head. “Nothing on the level of the bangles.”
I could hardly believe how obsessed she was with the bangles that Naofumi made.
“L’Arc, you should probably start working on your crafting skills while you have the chance.”
“Ugh, no thanks. I hate doing that sort of detailed work. I’ll buy you something someday. How about that?”
“If you don’t try harder, Naofumi is going to steal her from you.”
“Ha! I doubt that. What are you talking about, Glass? Haha!”
I sighed. I felt tired.
“Oh hey, Glass-chan, I think pretty soon we’ll be coming into the territory we were in last time. We might run into Naofumi and his friends there, so stay on your toes.”
“Understood.”
“Just to make sure, I will use magic to hide our true identities,” Therese said, rubbing a gemstone and muttering a spell.
The spell would make us look different to others.
L’Arc went to a nearby tavern to gather information on the area.
“I was thinking about going to Cal Mira to level up, but the activation event is almost over.”
“Too bad. We’ll have to find another way.”
“Right. Let’s head to a place where the monsters drop items we can use to make soul-healing water.”
We kept the mood light and moved over the country, fighting monsters as we came across them. We even found some of the monsters that were referenced in the soul-healing water recipe. I began to feel hesitantly optimistic. Maybe things were looking up.
The next problem was figuring out what sort of weapons the four holy heroes would be carrying. I already knew about the Shield Hero, Naofumi Iwatani.
We began to hear stories about the other heroes, too.
Sword, Spear, Bow . . . As expected, they carried different weapons than the heroes from our world—but they were all very simple.
The adventurers I’d met before the battle with Naofumi, the ones who had called themselves heroes, had carried those very weapons.
They had been so weak that I was sure they were lying about being heroes. So where had the real heroes gone?
Then when I found L’Arc fighting Naofumi on the islands, those same three adventurers were there. Could it be that the other three heroes were so weak we didn’t need to worry about them? No—that would be far too optimistic.
Even if they really had been the remaining heroes, it might have been a ploy to hide their true power until the last moment.
“So this place is called Melromarc?”
On the road there, we came across a lot of monsters that looked like bats with tortoise shells on their backs. They must have only existed in this new world. I’d never seen anything quite like them before.
“That’s right. We aren’t going to the islands anymore, but there should be plenty of monsters in this area that will drop the stuff we need to make soul-healing water. Let’s go.”
We entered Naofumi’s country.
I didn’t recognize the writing system, the culture, or the way that people thought.
Even the drinks seemed unfamiliar.
I didn’t even recognize the fish jumping in a nearby river. Kizuna would have been thrilled to find a new fishing spot. I couldn’t wait to tell her all about it.
“Naofumi and the other holy heroes spend their time in this country. What better place to find out more about them?”
“Yes. Let us see what we can find about Naofumi and about the others.”
A few days passed since we entered Melromarc.
We were walking through a think jungle, and heavy red fruit hung from branches all around us.
“The monsters around here are supposed to drop great materials.”
Since we came to the new world, we’d spent days hunting around for soul-healing water materials. I was starting to doubt that L’Arc knew what he was talking about.
Not to mention those strange shelled bats were appearing more and more frequently with each passing day. None of them dropped anything useful.
“Are you sure?”
“You need to be more trusting! We should head somewhere with stronger monsters.”
I was a spirit, so I wasn’t going to benefit from fighting stronger monsters. I could just get materials from L’Arc and Therese, so there was no reason for me to go with them.
“It would take too much time to power up that way. We don’t have the time to waste.”
“It’s fine! We are here to help you! Let’s just keep doing all we can until the next wave.”
“Right,” I muttered. Was I the only one losing confidence in the mission?
L’Arc didn’t seem to know what he was doing to get us through all of this. He didn’t have the backbone.
“Glass-chan. You waste energy being so tense all the time.”
“You’re the one who’s making me tense!”
“Ah, you’re becoming more like Naofumi every day!”
What was that supposed to mean? I remembered the way Naofumi had looked in battle—so angry, so tense. L’Arc was right—I didn’t want to be like that.
Another few days went by. We hunted monsters and leveled up our weapons while we collected materials. Then our vassal weapons started to vibrate.
A warning appeared in my field of view, saying that a guardian beast had reawakened.
“It looks like one of this world’s guardian beasts has started to move.”
“Yeah. But what to do about it is up to the people here. They can either kill it or let it construct its world-saving barrier.”
“But it doesn’t mean there is still isn’t a way for us to return home.”
Yes, the waves in this world would stop for a time, but the waves would continue back in our world. The timer in my field of view was still ticking, counting down to the arrival of the next wave. So it didn’t matter what choice the people of this world made. It didn’t even matter if we ran out of time.
Anyway, that’s what I told myself as I killed one of those strange monsters, a Spirit Tortoise familiar.
“Either way, our chances of getting in another fight with Naofumi are lower now, right? Isn’t that a good thing?
If the Spirit Tortoise created a barrier to protect the world, then we wouldn’t have to fight anymore. And if they killed the Spirit Tortoise, then we could at least have a long period of peace. Either way was good for us, because we needed more time to grow stronger before we were forced to face Naofumi in battle again.
If we could find a way to make something like soul-healing water back in our own world, then we would stand a better chance next time. The armies fighting for and against the Spirit Tortoise were of little concern to me.
It didn’t take very long for word of the Shield Hero’s victory over the Spirit Tortoise to reach us.
“That kid. He can really pull off some impressive stuff—when he puts his mind to it, that is.”
“Indeed. Some of his actions leave a bad taste in my mouth, but there is no doubt that he is a true hero.”
We found ourselves preparing to leave this new world, as it would only be a matter of time before the Spirit Tortoise resolved our problems for us.
But then . . .
Our vassal weapons began to scream.
“What is that?” L’Arc shouted, tightening his grip on his scythe.
I spoke to my weapon.
I could see it. Someone I knew was walking through the town, just like any old day—like nothing special was happening.
I pointed at him.
Then, as if he finally understood what was happening, L’Arc nodded and readied his weapon.
The person we were following finally noticed that he was being followed, and he turned to face us in the middle of the street.
“Well, well, what are you three doing in a place like this?”
“How about you answer first?”
I knew him. He ignored the mission his vassal weapon had entrusted to him and tried to use it to rule the world. He was our enemy. He was unforgivable.
It was Kyo Ethnina, the hero of the book of the vassal weapons.
My vassal weapon was still screeching and sounding an alarm.
Then Kyo’s book sent out a light to surround us.
Suddenly, my field of vision was full of information. It said things I couldn’t believe.
Kyo had developed technology and used it to take control of the world’s guardian beast.
“You!”
“Heh. Those vassal weapons of yours won’t shut up, will they? What’s the big deal—you were going to destroy this world anyway? At least let me use it first!”
“What are you after?!”
“Why should I tell you idiots?”
The book in his hand started to shine.
“Oh? I guess it’s time then. I was hoping I could laugh at you fools for a little longer, but I guess we are out of time,” Kyo said. Then he vanished.
He must have used a teleportation skill of some kind. He did it nearly instantaneously, without broadcasting his intentions.
“Glass-chan. This is not good. That guy had taken control of this world’s Spirit Tortoise.”
“Yes. There have to be rules in battle. Fighting does not rid the world of good or evil. And his action has definitely broken the rules.”
If he thought he could use any of the energy that he took from the Spirit Tortoise, he was mistaken.
The vassal weapon in my hand warned me of the risks.
If one used another world’s guardian beast to extend the life of their own world, it would only end in destruction. If you steal another’s leg to replace a leg you’ve lost, it won’t work, and you will die.
We had to stop him. I didn’t know how to do it, but we had to stop him.
“L’Arc, Therese. Let’s go.”
“Yup!”
“Yes!”
We had a small stockpile of soul-healing water, so we’d be able to fight a little.
If we had to give our lives to stop Kyo’s treachery, we would. That was our job as possessors of the vassal weapons, even if we were from another world.
We found the road that would take us to the rampaging Spirit Tortoise and set off to do our duty.
Glass and her friends prepared for the waves.
They must defeat Kyo, but what is waiting for them when they find him?
Their story joins with the Shield Hero’s.
These are the stories of two worlds that should never have met.
The border between the worlds will begin to warp. What will the new reality mean for Glass?
The hopes of another world—one that stands against destruction—are not sufficient to stop the coming of the great waves.
The waves that will drown all that is, leaving only desolation behind.
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