He "An elf?!" muttered by Sen
He moved his katana on his upper right and focused the tip of his sword onto the hooded lady.
"What do you want?" he asked
"I'm here for you, Oracle-sama" said by the female elf, she was a beautiful elf with a pale soft white skin, her eyes crystal jade. On her hand is a pointed kukri with a forward point tip. She wore a black hood with a scabbard on her back hip. She has gloves like Sen's and unlike the Demon Hunter Uniform, hers was just plain black, like a mercenary clothing.
'War with the Elves huh?' said by Sen. He held a stare to the elf inside his hood. His eyes and upper face covered with black, hidden by the white hood, his mouth and throat hidden by the mask clothing provided by the Assassin Uniform. Sen looked like a character from Assassin's creed.
The elf replied, "I saw you repel a high level spell earlier-" The Assassin in robe Sen, interrupts, he said "You're the ones behind it, aren't you? Scheming to assassinate The Royal Princess?"
She threw her kukri into the air as a gesture, she catches it without flinching an eye away from Sen, holding it's handle with breeze "More or less, they're my clients, and they wanted it."
"After all, we Elves are well versed with magic, unlike you, Terrans."
'There's a good chance that this elf is part of a special forces unit from the Elves. Well, I hope I can suck out some information on this one'
Sen stared at her green eyes, and said to the elf, "Ho? Then you here to congratulate me for that?"
The elf had her head pointed down, and laughed inside her mouth with a sinister like tone.
"No, no". She raises her head and looked at Sen's hidden facem
"I'm here to bury you-"
A grainy blue phantom of Sen appears next to the Elf's left side, holding it's katana by it's two hands. The elf witnessed it close up, she saw it convert, into a span of millisecond it converts to a full colored Sen, utilizing the concept of Teleporting. Sen as he teleported, was holding the scabbard, waiting to unsheathe his katana, the moment he fully teleported, he attempts to unsheathe it onto the elf. All in a span of one singular second.
It was seen at slowmo, at different perspectives. On Sen's eyes, what he saw during the teleportation stage is different.
On his sight before he teleported, his screen or view, large amounts of small hexagram figures appears at his view, each measuring an inch, the hexagrams flips to it's sides, then he saw the elf and his position changed. He already switched places with his Teleportation Phantom.
"Huh?" said by the elf. Sen jumps back into the wall behind his back and raised his stance. She stepped back and heard a bang on the water. Her kukri felt a little lighter as it's blade rang the small water below her feet, she raises her right hand and saw her kukri's blade cut off from the handle. She then responded calmy, "Well, figured that you'd go for that thing? Well, that was what I was going to do, Oracle-sama!"
She materializes a sword out of thin air and ran towards Sen. Her sword was nothing new, it looked like an iron sword. Footsteps echoed throughout the cave, especially the wet footsteps the elf created, along the faster dripping water, "Tic, tic, tic"
'Materialization magic? I thought only we Players have it. Seems that Elves are superior in magic just like in folklore' said by Sen
However, Sen remained in his original position, where his sword is on his upper right, similar to a samurai in movies. Their swords seconds before crossing each other, the Blade Oracle thought to himself, "But my Oracle Skills.. it's too omnipotent to capture someone. I also, can't bear to cut someone's leg, I neither even have healing magic! Can I even cap-"
It was too fast for him to think, the female Elf did an overboard strike, Sen responds with a quick slash on his original stance, but felt no resistance on his blade, more like it didn't even touch the Elf's sword. He then saw the blue outliners path emitted by his katana's hieroglyphs and the elf's sword inches below the outliner, Sen missed. His vision didn't did him well in the dark.
'Oh… Night blindness' said by Sen with remorse, unable to clearly perceive light. His knowledge of history, anime, and warfare came with a price, his vision.
The elf thrusts her sword to Sen's chest, his hanging sword no room for movement, it was too fast for his brain to process, so his survival instincts kicked in. He teleports behind the elf, his back facing the back of the elf, and materialized to his right side his backup katana. He then grips firmly the tsuka, the handle of the katana, then turns back and slashed an X to the elf. The elf foresaw it, as Sen disappeared on her sight, she thought that he will attack her from behind, she quickly jumps forward, avoiding by an inch Sen's blade, leaving her standing onto the right side of the room, where it lightning was mild, where the computer only lightened the room. Sen's back was a wall, leaving him no space, a bad move for him. The elf then raised her sword onto her right shoulder, and her left hand extended and pointed to Sen, then she mutters silently, trying to not give a clue of what Sen she's trying to chant.
'Yare, I can't use two katanas at once and defend, sure it'll cut through an enemy, in the first place a Katana was never meant to be dual wielded! It's heavy!' said by Sen, he then dematerializes his other katana. But as he was thinking, the elf was silently chanting, "Wind boost, Form A" A green magic circle appears, creating it's eerie sound, it started from her feet and quickly traversed to her head like it was scanning, As the green magic circle made it's way to the leg, the elf jumps, then the moment the green Magic Circle made it's way to her head, it disappears so with it's eerie sound, then the elf poses as she was like about to thrust Sen, but the elf didn't fell into the ground instead she was weightless. Then a continuous stream of wind on her feet and body gushed away, she sent herself flying at a quick pace to Sen.
Sen's right hand quickly reverse gripped his katana and formed a cross sign with the katana and left arm, blocking the flying elf's rush attack, using his dual katana that formed a cross sign.
"It's hard to believe that you're not that good as a swordsman, you can't even defend properly from my attacks! You weakling!" said by the elf as she forcefully pushed Sen's defense form. She was flying straight forward with her wind magic to Sen's cross sword stance, a defensive maneuver.
'What an unrealistic swordfight' smirked by Sen
"Why do I have to parry if I can just kill that 'someone'?" said by Sen. The elf still continued to fly using her flight magic.
"As if!" said by the elf
Their faces was almost near to each other, however Sen was overwhelmed, his back was almost to lose it's balance, yet another noisy phantom of Sen appears behind her flat back, and became clearer and sliced forward with his blade her flat back on it's skin surface. The elf looks to her front and saw a glimpse of a blue Sen dematerializing, like grains of dust being shoved away.
She falls down into the puddle of water, but her face was supported by her right hand that prevented it from touching the water, she asked as she struggles for breathe
"Shit… who.. are the hell are you?"
"Sen Arcaea. The Blade Oracle."
"'I'm an Assassin Class Oracle, there's no need for me to block someone's attacks if I can just attack them from behind. In other words, if you attack me…"
"You die" He stared at the elf with a ferocious gaze, he walks back and slashed the air to remove the blood on his katana.
"How can you even beat me with that thing?" followed by Sen
"I'm not.. done yet…" She slowly regains her footing and raised her sword.
'Of course you're not done yet, I'm keeping you alive for Interrogation.' muttered by Sen
"Heh, seems that I was shocked that you can do that…what you did earlier wasn't just skill…"
"I wouldn't call it a skill, but a lost Forerunner skill.."
Sen's eyes dilates after hearing the word 'lost' and 'Forerunner'
"Quantum Leap!" yelled by the elf
Sen gasps his breathe, he quickly turns around and returns to his normal stance, which is the more convenient one, where his sword is held near the hips.
"That was a Unique Skill. Or maybe, you're a Relic User that allows to read other people's Skill Set?" asked by Sen
"You stupid? Quantum Leap was the Original Skill of the Forerunner Spectral!"
"All of the Forerunners said all the same thing, Arcaea!"
She wipes the water from her forehead while giving a gaze to Sen on his hand, her two sided sword aimed at him with a ferocious smile.
'Deus wanted to rename Eastoria to Arcaea..
Also… Spectral… that was one of my father's old IGN..
So it would seem.'
He smirks and looks to the elf in the eye with his hooded eye, "Oi, you already know that you'll die, why don't you just defect?"
"No… I'll.. fight you! And…"
Sen interuppted "Who gave you the order to kill me?"
The elf remained a cold stare to Sen.
'What the? She looking for a death wish?
Well, she won't probably disclose her clients info'
"You'll die before you know it. I told you, I'm an Assassin Class."
"Then do it! That was the reason why am I here, challenging you into a duel!" She rushed again with her sword to Sen and did an overboard slash, Sen steps back with his Leap, evading the attack, the elf then changed her grip into a familiar western one, holding her grip into the handle with her two hands, tip pointed upwards near her nose, she then stares at the triangle tip of her sword and said to Sen, "Its kill or be killed!"
'What a persistent bitch, rapier stance? That's not even a rapier' silently muttered by Sen
"Then why do you want to die?" Sen asked her but she slowly walked to him and chanted,
"Spirits of..the Ice…lend me thy strength… and…"
She stuttered, she fell down to the puddle of water with her knees and sword
"Is that why you're challenging me into a one sided duel?" said be Sen.
His hooded gaze was piercing, with that, he slammed her with direct words
"You incompetent, hopeless… killer.."
She gasped, and breathed heavily, but with that she saw a reflection of her face at the puddle of water that slowly turned red due to her blood that spilled from her back. She saw a reflection of a murderer, a killer, a face of her death itself.
"You…. Damned..!" She ran towards Sen with her sword open, she slashed from above, giving her opening
Sen dodged left and struck her throat with his right hand, Krav Maga basics. She drops flat on her back, with her sword on her hand.
"Appraisal" A golden magic circle appeared on Sen's right eye, near it's retina, instead of a triangle, there was a circle and another circle that encompassed the interior circle. Three in total. The circles had tiny words embedded on it, forming a horizontal lines of words, each circle layer represents each part of the HUD and it's contents, but was unique. Numbers didn't decide their status, but their probabilities.
"Not a relic user, hmm?" said by Sen as he stares into the yellow transparent HUD his Scan magic gave him, he reads the line, and mutters
"Health: Fatal, critical condition"
"Mana: 77%"
"Race: Elf"
'Deus never told us about Relic Users. So it's not even present on ha status check?'
'We feel like guinea pigs for this HyperDive Tech, eh? Arcaea Inc.'
"Nani? Giving mercy? Pity?"
The elf stared at Sen's katana and read the English inscription that was mixed with some tiny hieroglyphs to at spanned across the sword.
"Al'… Arbitr… huh.."
'You can read english?"
"You held back, didn't you?"
"With that magic power, you can still last for another five minutes"
"How many people have you killed?"
"Not much… not too many.."
"What were the people you killed?"
"Corrupt politicians. Rapists. Kidnappers. Defectors. Spies."
"Defectors?"
"Defecting Elves. Human Spies. Demi-human Ninjas"
"Are Elves and Humans on bad terms with each other?"
"You're… not from this world… right?", asked by the elf. Sen replied with a huff, then kicked a huge amount of water to her face, making her gasp for breathe.
"Answer me first."
"Explain it, do it so can do at least something good with your life"
"The Elvian High Council wanted to combine the Four Command Relics to gain absolute power and take control over the world for absolute justice and order"
"All Races have their own Command Relic, which the Gods gave in before the Age of Gods ended."
"Each race's Pure Royalty, one who is King or Queen, possesses and inherits their Command Relic."
Her blood slowly leaks from her mouth to her sides, her voice withers down, and slowly closed her eyes.
''Absolute justice and order? Are the creators just dumb or what? They should have an ulterior motive'
Sen mutters "What a waste" He materialized a Red Potion and drank it, then he kissed the lips of the elf, transferring it to her mouth.
"Don't get the wrong idea. This things are made by an Oracle, it won't work until it gets mixed with an Oracle's saliva"
Damn it, Kei, if you lied about this I'll seriously burn your BL Comics
Sen sat with a Japanese sitting position and shoved his hand with another wave of water to the Elf's face.
She woke up, almost drowning from the water, as she catches her breathe and said
"You moron! I have a tracker placed in my neck! They'll hear my voice and track us down!"
"Not to mention these things can't be remove either, it needs high level magic to be unlocked.."
"You should have let me die Oracle-sama" tears dripped on her eyes, dripping on her temples, crying.
'They? Must be referring to her government.. or maybe client.'
''Ie ie, I know what you're hiding, you witch'
"Just kill me. I went out rogue and they won't probably take me in anymore! They'll classify me as a deserter! I.. have.. no place.. anymore!"
'Lies' said by Sen
Sen stood, and unsheathed his katana "You're too dangerous to live."
"What a waste" He pointed the katana downwards with his two hands
I knew about my mental chanting the day after I arrived at this world. And I was the only one.. that can do it. My friends was jealous about it, knowing that they had to perform ridiculous and yell chants to use a skill. Until I found out about the [Stance Mode]. Where you physically train repeatedly Stances, where you repeatedly chant out a desired Spell or Skill, beating it into muscle memory, and choreographing that move, as a trigger for that Skill. The more you do it, the faster it will react.
For some reason, the other Oracles was jealous of me, especially Hiroki. We asked Deus about my uniqueness and he said, "Assassin Class have that peculiarity. Only them are.. blessed with that ability"
Inside Arcaea, days after the arrival of the Twelve Heroes. Near the gate where Sen previously puked blood. The fences was made out of rough stone and the gate was in fact, made of stone too, with only a big wooden door served as an entrance.
"Gah! Deus! Why's Sen the only one with that ability? Is there a way for us to learn that thing?" Said by Hiroki "E-eh…No" said by Deus
"Do something
Hiroki walks back muttering to Deus, "Useless god"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING USELESS GOD?!"
"YOU, OBVIOUSLY!"
I watched them train on their private spots, repeating the same skills all over and over again.
Why...Was the Assassin Class.. The only Class given with that ability?
We're inside a computer, that means they can record our thoughts. Eee! Deus! Why do you keep hiding stuff from us?! Now today, you left us the moment we arrived at Cenaria! What are you, a Game Guide NPC?!
I usually see them practice at their own spots, like Rio-chan for example. She usually practices at the afternoon at the Northern Demon Ravine, where she constantly waits for a certain creature, which is....
"Rio-chan, you're here again?"
Without even taking her eye off the Ravine, she said "Shut it, you cheat"
"So you even got it, huh"
"Railgun Maneuver" She chanted forth. Four empty yellow panels that floated near her, marked with words as she chanted
The right panel glittered with medium sized words.
"RAILGUN SKILL... ACTIVATING"
The lower right panel appears with a shadow of Rio's body, what it appears seems like a real time view of her body.
It also included Mana Bar and Life Point Bar. She held her right arm forward and aligned her body to it.
Sen read the words into the left floating panel and saw a scroll on it, saying 30%.
"Unfair, you can adjust the damage output of your skill damage?" he said
"Says by the one who can mentally chant skills. We other Oracles have to go with the trouble of doing troublesome poems and choreography just to cast skills. You idiot"
"Well, envying was to be expected. Hehe"
"boom" muttered by Rio.
A white beam soars away from Rio's hand magic circle, the circle was in yellow, there were also mini triangles with circles on it's side. The mini circles rotated to each other, like a mechanism.
Kaboom! The white beam struck the far away Ravine. The explosion caused a big smoke to appear in the sky. Rio turns to Sen and said
"That was just 30%. I can't charge it any further if I don't have any projectiles. So, would you like to be my projectile, Sen-kun?"
"No... i think... I'll pass.." he said as he slowly backs off with his hands shown to Rio. The shockwave finally reaches them, the two's cheeks got caught with a few Demon Dust, burning it's skin and suddenly rehealing. They were wearing the white uniform of the Oracles.
"You maybe the most Overpowered Oracle here, but that doesn't mean you're always guaranteed to win" said by Rio
"I know, i know. That always happens to me back then. Me and Ryuu are gaming buddies, remember?"
Rio chanted again for another attack. Leaving Sen in a nut.
Back to the underground standoff.
Sen deliberately stomps at the chest of the elf, making her groan in pain. He said fiercely to the elf, "You" She held his foot that locked her in the ground, he continued
"You're a Black Operator, aren't you?"
"You're part of /Elvian Special Forces/, aren't you?"
Black Operators. Covert Operators that conduct espionage and assassinations and blaming it into an object or another human being.
They stared to each other's eyes fiercely. She held in silence to herself as she grips the foot of Sen.
"Answer me!-"
A long object that resemble an M18 Flashbang was thrown horizontally from the door entrance, it's pin was off. It was colored in silver.
BANG! The grenade exploded, throwing him to a wall. White light blinded him, and his ears rang, however, his eyes and ears was protected by his Uniform Hood. He fell on his left arm and covered his ears from the ringing caused by the flash bang.
"You're late!" yelled by the elf. Three men, hooded with black began walking in from the entrance with their hands forwarded and held with their other arm, armed with Red magic circles. The inner mechanism of the Magic Circle is now on it's second phase, ready to fire.
'If that second inner circle makes it way to the third mechanism, it'll shoot a hell of Magic Elements, if that happens, the wall near me will get damaged!'
The elf quickly stood up and yelled "Kill him! He's dangerous!". She stood up and ran towards them, yet Sen's grainy phantom was already behind them, there he slices off of the hooded heads of the three men. The headless bodies fell unto the ground, splashing the water below them.
"Answer me, you spy" he said softly as he sliced the air to remove the blood on his sword.
The female elf opened her pouch inside her hood and grabbed what looked like an M18 Smoke Grenade. A black long grenade similar to the Flashbang with it's pin still pinned.
Blades crossing each other echoed inside the underground room, Sen asked the elf "You ordered them to attack the priests and children on the church, didn't you?" Rather, his tone was calm, instead of angry
"It wasn't my idea. They deviated away from my plan. Amateur soldiers." she said. She pulls the pin and throws it to the entrance and ran towards Sen, barehanded.
Meanwhile, on the surface.
The Oracles arrived the Central City of Cenaria, which it's name dictates itself.
Even at night time, the market is bustling with people.
"Is the presence of the Royal Family residence the one that separates this city from the last one, General Charlotte?" asked by Hiroki
"Yes, Hiroki-sama"
"Class system, huh." he muttered
The carriages came to a stop, the Oracles each stepped down on their footholds on their carriages. Outside, they sought the view of the King's castle, Holy Castle of Cenaria.
"Cenaria everywhere, ah?" said by Kei
"Since when the Cenarian Dynasty start, General Charlotte?"
"Since the dawn of time, but Kei-sama, what is... Dynasty?" said by Charlotte as she stands near Masao.
"There we go, the answers already given. Cenaria has been the only family that ruled over this kingdom." said by Kei
They walked in to the Palace, red carpets lead them to a big door guarded by two heavily armored men with spears and swords. Their armor covered them, tip to the toe. Their were also more of them alongside the hallway where the Oracles and the General walked in. Each of them, standing and gazed their eyes on every footstep of the Oracles.
"This is my personal opinion about the Palace's security. I doubt that morale will increase if they're always wearing heavy armor like that, or is it they're doing it because of us?" asked by Gatekeeper(Masao)
"Yeah."
"They're doing because of, You" replied by the General.
Sounds creepy, is she trying to kill me?
This is already a double kill! The tension and anxiety is already choking me! Like we've just killed a Destroyer a while ago! Everything's happening so fast!
"Oi, Gatekeeper, is our temporary embassy safe?" said by Hiroki
"Yeah. Aslong as Sen's team is in there."
"We're ready" said by Masao
The door is pushed by the two heavily armored soldiers to open.
The Oracles formed their square lineup:
Hiroki in the center front,
Tamotsu in the left,
Rio on the right,
Ryuu near Tamotsu,
Kei near Rio,
Ryuu is followed by Masao and Yuki,
Tamotsu followed by Kenji and Kaede. On the middle, is empty, where Sen was supposed to be.
They walked inside, with General Charlotte leading them. Inside the big room, was full of people, nobility and soldiers. There were a red carpet that stretched to the King's Throne, there an old man with a crown sat, alongside a Queen, and Princess Zenesia that sat alongside him.
The general kneeled, the Oracles followed so, their eyes looking down and fists down.
"You're Majesty. I have brought here, the band of Heroes on the other side the Princess has set off to."
"….." The King stared at silence, with his cheek supported by his hand, he stared.
"However, one Hero was unable to attend due to some 'unexpected' circumstances."
The king spoke up, "Let's cut to the chase shall we?"
"My daughter, if you will?"
The Princess stood up and pointed to the Oracles,
"I'm going to make this blunt, are you Elvian Spies?"
The Oracles raised their heads, with confusion. "HUH?!" Thus, they yelled.
"Sorry? But Elves?" said by Masao
The main door opens and began rushing in with heavily armored troops, alongside with the Mages that was seen with the General by today's morning.
"What? Elves? Do you have any reasons for that, Princess Zenesia?" said by Masao with a confused tone.
"Well then, how was a village erected at the East? The east was succumbed into the Demons Fifty Years ago! How can you explain that? How is there a paradise at the other end of the corruption!?"
"Ask the gods about it, not us." Muttered by Kenji
"Also, the technology that we found at your garrisons was Ancient Magic, and only… Elves can use that magic!"
"Some Oracles came down on this world with the ability to manipulate Ancient Magic, while some do not." said by Rio as she kneels down.
"The unique weapons that your footsoldiers have, there is no doubt that that thing is made out of Elven Technology!"
"Your Skills, your Magic, even your missing friend demonstrated feats only an Elf can do!"
'I created those rifle series by the pigment of my imagination, not elves, dummy' said by Yuki as she faces down with her eye almost shut off.
"Not to mention, that missing person right now, attacked a Faceless Being!"
"Who in the world, would attack a Legendary Descendant of a Faceless Being? Only a madman would do that!"
The nobles muttered to each other with confusion and each raised their own magic circles, colored in red yet the Magic Cast Circle's inner triangle phase hasn't yet moved, with only one dot in the edge of the triangle, instead of three. The soldiers raised their spears to them, their arms shaking and sweating, because they know that not all of them won't survive if they challenge this mysterious group of people.
"Or perhaps… You people are impostors trying to deceive us!"
"There's no way we won't doubt you, or whatever your agenda is, that you're elves. You fake Heroes." Said by the accusing princess.
Hiroki muttered silently as he looks to the princess with a cold gaze, "Zenesia-san...You traitor"
He stood up among the group and said without flinching an eye to Zenesia, his eye shocked, he said, "Artificial Intelligence is getting smarter and smarter. It was a mistake of getting you Non Player Characters self aware."
"Yet Mankind.. created another sin"