the morning strikes and we arrived at the town the elf prince was talking about, it's not a bustling town, more like a peaceful one
「my lord, welcome back.」
「where's the spirit?」
「she's currently still in the inn, please, my prince, don't trouble yourself too much at that slaved spirit, she's an unknown entity to us」
「the main reason why we are keeping her locked, I assume nothing has happened to her?」
「yes, she's still resting without any injuries」
they have been talking for quite a while, they seemed to have locked another girl there... a spirit?
"I'll... just take a look around"
"you are free to leave, I have my hands tied right now so please take care on your journey"
he said that but-... that spirit... I know it's none of my bussiness...
「did you hear that, the prince finally caught a spirit」
「and she's a real beaut too... damn royalties always getting what they want」
I'm getting way too curious... but...
"yeah... not great if I somehow annoy a big shot... even with my skill..."
my ether count's still not at its max, I feel a little groggy thanks to it too... I slept for 7 hours but it only increased by 20,000.
"I should get going..."
I still have to go to sir Ma'il... I'll ignore it for now, as I said, I don't have any business with it so I shouldn't bother
...
I asked around for directions and luckily it's just a few hours of walking to get to the western port, some people gave me a pat on the back and said something like Goodluck or, may the spirits bless you... is something wrong on that place?
"oi! Lady! care to ride the carriage? we still have a few spaces, but you still need to pay up of course"
"oh! please!"
I hand over a few and he welcomes me on board, so there's such things like public travel here huh? there's a variety of people here, some look like merchants while others look like soldiers... adventurers?
"missy, why are you going to the austeion port? mind if I ask?"
"Austeion port? the western port?"
"yes, I assume a girl that doesn't look like a merchant nor an experienced battler have any business with that place"
"I have to meet up a person over there, why though? what's with the port?"
"no one rarely comes for sightseeing there, it's a very depressing port, the people going are mostly soldiers or gatherers, merchants buy items from adventurers and adventurers or even soldiers here gather the materials, the port mostly allows travel to many parts of the world where monsters come, and most of them don't show the sunlight, you need a lamp or a spirit user to see, and in other cases, you need to pack food to survive or else, the stairwells lead to labyrinths where the situation's much worse, poison gas that emits from the ground, monsters that can even revive, no one is safe, even the port isn't safe, so goodluck finding an inn"
"thanks for the warning"
that being said, the port sounds dangerous... but I need to meet up with sir Ma'il right now,
...
...
...
Western port, I can see it in the distance, but like what that guy said... the place almost looks baron, there's no symbol of life anywhere in the houses or the stores, I can see some people but they practically blend in...
「did you hear? there's a duo who managed to complete a stage on a labyrinth!」
「whoa! they sound so strong! I wish I could find a partner like that」
so you need a party to capture a labyrinth? I don't need to listen to the murmur right now, I need to find sir Ma'il and miss Mae
...
...
I give up... I can't find them...
"uhh... sir? can I ask for directions?"
"hmm?!"
t-this guy! he looks like he wants to kill me!
"u-umm... have y-you found a p-person w-who hols a-a big s-sword..?
"a big sword ehh? I may have found him but what do you have in exchange for information?"
"e-ehh!? w-well... I have..."
I don't have anything... do I have to trade for information?
"if you don't have anything then don't bother me!"
drat... I could've found sir Ma'il right now... where the fuck are you guys...
...
...
there's still time, I might go ask in a store...
"h-hello? is the store manager here?"
「coming!」
suddenly dust and smoke enter the store front..
"*cough* ahem... sorry, it's a bit hectic up there anyway wanna buy something?"
"I'm a-"
"you can buy this cool sword! oohh~ what about this!? it's a potion that lets you shine in 5 hours! it's great for traveling labyrinths! oh! what about-"
this is... gonna take a while...
"umm... I'm just"
"what about thi-"
the doorbell front rang
"excuse me, can I get a potion?"
"over the counter shit or something special for the same price?"
"just over the counter, anyway what's this girl going to buy?"
"I was just going to ask directions but..."
"let me guess... she started blabbering about her sales right?"
I nod and he let's out a deep sigh, it appears like this happens all the time
"where were you going to anway?"
"I was gonna ask about if anyone has found my senior, he has a black and blue greatsword on his back"
"hmm... I might've found someone like that, I just saw him in the port recently, they were in the Island of darkness, they just came back so I suggest going over there now before you miss him"
"thank you very much! I'll be going now"
...
「here you go, potions, hey where's the girl? did you scare her off?」
「you should learn how to advertise, she was just going to ask for directions」
「oh really? well then! here you go, and give her this if you ever found her, tell her I'm sorry for talking way too much」
------
I've been walking for a few minutes now... I not including earlier but if I want to train... I... want to become stronger so I could at least help... yeah, I'll wait here even if I have to wait for a year!
...
...
...
「she's been waiting for quite a long time...」
「isn't that the girl they were talking about?」
!!!
"Wait! who was talking about me?!"
"some people called Ma'il and Mae I believe? those were some weird names wasn't it?"
"Where are they now!?"
"I believe they just went in the forest? those two were strong, I wish I was that good at fighting..."
I gotta follow them!
「w-wait! you forgot your-... she left」
「well forget about it, just leave it in the guild port for now, wanna visit the jug?」
「ehh sure, there might be something great they confiscated」
...
...
...
"o-oy! you plan to go in alone!?"
"s-sir!? yes! I need to follow them"
"disregard that for now, do you know how dangerous that island is?"
I stop for a second but-
"give me one"
"one?"
"a person who can protect me then"
"I-I'm sorry lady but I can't do that"
"then I'm going whether you like it or not, what's it to you about my safety anyway?"
"a-ahh... well if you say so, I warned you so no hard feelings if you die"
I'm much more prepared than anything, rather I don't know why I'm rushing... maybe it's just because I don't like waiting too long
...
...
...
I took a small boat to the Deep Isle... it's what it says in the sign... anyway they weren't kidding that the place is dark... I see some staircases leading underground while there's also a decision to keep going...
Adventurers!
「that was chaotic down there... how could those two be able to fight a whole hoard and still be able to fight?!」
two adventurers!?
"ahh sir! where are they now?"
"ahh... who are you? like I care, there at the floor just bellow here, probably
「hey! she's alone, do you think it's fine to leave her?」
「I'm tired... what about you? if your so concerned then you protect her」
"erm... miss! why don't I guide you to them? probably best if you have someone with if you're going to search for the people you're looking for"
"thanks but I can do this on my own"
"no, I'm not taking a no in your answer, whether you like it or not I'm going!"
haahhh... there's no stoping him I guess...
"okay fine, but please keep up with me, I need to find him asap"
"yes"
why?... why am I rushing to see him? why do I want to see him so badly?
...
...
...
"here it is, the entrance to the se-"
"then let's enter right now!"
[alert: abnormality being sensed inside *&ß↨◄◄↨]
[w//n/ng! d///u/ba/ce ~~-------------]
!?
[Alliter---- ma--- te--- ril---]
What's happening!
*Isabelle experienced static in the system, her mind, body became unstable and in just a few seconds screeched so high that the person behind him fainted from the sound then fainting after*
---------------
*some time before Isabelle's arrival on the western port*
"Mae, anything you wanna train to Isabelle?"
"her reflexes is a must but without proper control, I doubt it would be easy..."
"hmm... then what about letting her experience a battle alone? or someone she doesn't know?"
"that... that could work? do you have any plans or ways to train her like that?"
"yeah but it would be best to try it out first, what about the port's special island? I heard the labyrinths require planning and a team capable of surviving in harsh environments"
"then we shall see if it's appropriate for Isabelle's training"
well really I just want to try the labyrinth, I want to polish my fighting style if possible and Mae's with me so it might be good to see what she's capable of
-----------
"hmm... you could do well if you can manipulate shadow step or dark miasma..."
"I see... then we shall train more"
there's nothing like training in the dangerous pits, this might be a great way of training Isabelle!
...
huh?
"hey Mae, do you see this?"
"Captain?"
some sort of... scripture... even the system can't translate this... so a is this from a new world?
"May, you did say there's a lot of otherworlders here in Maritika right?"
"yes, Maritika's unstable Mana summons monsters and humans from other worlds frequently here that even the system can't withstand sudden eruptions of Mana"
"so this might just be the effect of the system trying to sync with the Ether remains of this scripture... but it might be good to let Mei see this"
I copy the sample and deliver it to Mei Via system pass
"Captain, why don't we have a break for now?"
"agreed, Isabelle might be waiting right now"
we took a small break and returned immediately, it was worth looking around, we noticed some other scriptures readable to us, this world is getting weirder every second...
"Captain Ma'il... s-somehow..."
"hmm what is it Mae?"
"n-nothing... please continue"
"hmm... you look a little light-headed... here, I'll hold your arm for now"
"t-thanks..."
I wonder what's happened to her? isn't anomalies supposed to never feel ill?
well anyway we somehow end in the labyrinth, even while carrying Mae
[Urgent call: MA'IL!!! HURRY GET OUT OF THERE!!]
"huh!? Mei? wh-
[JUST GET OUT!! NOW!!!!]
"wha- Hugk!"
pain... everywhere... mu...st...
*Mae suddenly screeched a high pitched voice and her eyes began to turn into every color even things a human couldn't comprehend
"T...ma..."
-----------------
"Ma'il!!! MA'Il!!!!! DAMN IT!!!"
*Mei pushed a button and suddenly all of the speakers in Laplaca Hel turned*
"Naoya! Liliya! get in here this instant!"
no... no no no... it's still way too early to jump into conclusions... this... shouldn't be possible...
"Mei? what's the rush?"
"Where's Theia!"
"huh? I thought she was at her mansion? why didn't you call her?"
"have you seen any of her servants!?"
"hmm... I saw the employees of the cafe but not her servants... what of it?"
"no... this..."
"Mei! what's wrong!?"
"Naoya... something's weird's going on... even Mei's hesitant right now..."
no... this...
"I order both of you to go to Maritika right now! this is a rescue mission!"
"rescue mission? what for?"
"Ma'il, Mae, and Isabelle are currently the only anomalies in Maritika, thankfully both of you are not but all of them are currently incapacitated on the labyrinth... if worst comes to worst their ether will mix with the Ether they found!"
"aye-aye Mei! Liliya, let's head over right now!"
"affirmative, we'll be going now"
...this... this scripture... should've been burned 100 years ago... why was it there!?
--------
(scripture)
lo's mo farho to reilo ti Gaaro 'K////'. smod b'bei xin revno '/h//a'
^%^%^
destroy all and corrupt all heaven's Kinds. Justice shall reign on the goddess of death Thonma
--------