"Main quest?..", Seijurou was left clueless with Satsuki's answer. He was well read with regards to all the information he needed for school, but never in his life that he had heard such a concept before. As he kept his confused gaze at the smiling Satsuki, it seemed that he shared the same concerns with his classmates who chattered curiously in the background.
"For those who don't know, which is basically all of you since these things aren't introduced yet to the first years..", Hayama cut the little interaction between Seijurou and Satsuki after a few moments. "A 'main quest' is a military grade term used to identify a mission given directly by a country's 'Server'.. in our case, the Shogun himself."
Another resounding and shocked reaction came from the rest of the class afterwards. "Eh…?!"
"What the hell, sensei?! Why didn't we get that kind of quest even if we got the highest marks?..", exclaimed Jax while suddenly standing up to protest.
"Yeah, we even beat that little witch in the preliminaries!..", added Gin right after.
"The quest was originally given to the 'Heirs' who attended this institution, but since Erida-san teamed up with Kinjou-san and performed remarkably well, he was given the recommendation..", Hayama rebutted immediately. "As for Baba-san's case, it was decided that she couldn't go on a quest alone, and even if she lost to you, Mizunoto-san and Igaraki-san, her performance was still enough to make her perfect for the job.. but I guess you already know that quite well, right?"
Mizunoto Gin almost exploded in fury in his seat, but was fortunately stopped by Keigo. The embarrassment they felt during the aftermath of their duel with the "Witch Build", Baba Himiko, still bothered Gin at that moment.
"What's Hayama-sensei talking about, Keigo?..", asked Jax, as he was confused since he did not get to watch his thugs' duel.
"The reason we're so fired up for autumn is because of that shameful moment, Jax-sama..", replied Igaraki Keigo, while he shook his head. "Himiko-chan used us samples to showcase her enchanted gear and mixed potions' abilities as if she was trying to sell them. I mean I get it that her family runs an alchemy business, but it was just pathetic that before we even got to land an attack, she quit the fight since she was done advertising."
Jax almost failed to stop his laughter, so that he wouldn't offend Keigo and Gin. "It's alright, guys. Just focus on your quest."
Seijurou could not help but overhear what Keigo just said. Judging by how the story went, for him, it was quite impressive to fight alone and hold one's ground against two very explosively mighty 'Berserkers'. However, as he looked at his new teammate, he figured that Himiko's alchemical skill must have been exceptional since she did not look like someone who had a warrior in her.
If Seijurou was considered socially awkward, Himiko must have been something stiffer. She always scowled at anyone and spent most of her time alone, which makes her ability for selling products all the more shocking. With her witch hat worn over her shoulder length blue hair all the time, even if she was wearing her school uniform, it was obvious that she was a witch apprentice. However, it also made it awkward since witches were supposed to look more deviously mature, but she just looked much younger than her age. In short, her appearance told of a child doing witch cosplay.
"I look forward to working with you, Baba-san..", Seijurou tried to be friendly, but Himiko seemed to have almost popped a vein.
"It's Himiko! Okay?! Himiko!..", exclaimed Himiko while surprising both Seijurou and Satsuki with the sudden blast of pent up energy. "A witch doesn't necessarily have to be old, you know!"
"I guess she's a little bit sensitive about her age, but I didn't say anything about her being old. In fact, I was leaning towards saying the opposite..", Seijurou thought, as he carefully avoided thinking out loud. "Oh, she must've misinterpreted her own name as 'baba' (granny).. I should be careful next time."
But of course, as usual, Satsuki just giggled at the circumstances. "Looking forward to working with you too, Himiko-chan."
Himiko then, scowled at Satsuki and shook her hand. "You'll do, 'Heiress'. You'll make my items look good."
After a few more moments of exchanging conversations about each team's quests, Hayama went back in front of the class to formally end the session. "Are there any more questions regarding the quests, class?"
Hayama was only met with silence. "None? Okay. Remember to meet your commanding officers any time before your quests begin, understood?"
The first years responded in unison. "Hai, sensei!"
Hayama took a breath before formally adjourning the class. "Congratulations on finishing your first term in FSG. Class dismissed."
Excitement filled the atmosphere, as the first years exited the main building to the front yard. Eager talks of being in the field for the first time lingered even if the last homeroom meeting of the first term had already ended. Cheerful voices of the youth told of how they were going to be the best in their class, while some chose to mutter words nervously as if humbly implying they were chosen to make the most of what they could do. However, there was one individual who split from the rest and went to the courtyard instead.
Seated on a bench in front of the massive "Octagon" stadium, Seijurou pondered on his thoughts about his unexpected assignment. "I know you must be upset, but I somehow got myself here just like you, Mama."
Seijurou stared at the massive architectural marvel that he once had a love and hate relationship with. Reflecting back on how he pledged to not get involved with fighting, he realized that his fate was inescapable and was bound to the people closest to him. All he ever wanted from the very beginning was to finish school and work with his father. But that as well, in the end, changed.
"Why do I suddenly want to do this?..", said Seijurou to himself while looking at the sky this time. "What a drag.."
"What's a drag?..", asked Satsuki out of nowhere, which caused Seijurou to jump in surprise with his arms flailing.
But before Seijurou was able to answer, Chizuru appeared suddenly and embraced Satsuki. "Satsu-chan! I'm so glad you're out and well!"
"Thank you, Chizu-chan!..", answered Satsuki, as she hugged back. "The 'Healing Ward' discharged me really early this morning, so I can prepare for homeroom, you know."
Seijurou stared at his two friends with a blank expression, while they chattered and giggled. "Don't you two know the meaning of personal space?"
"Don't give me that loner crap, Baka-jurou..", Chizuru shot back, as she glared at Seijurou. "Besides, it's been a while since we had Satsu-chan here with us. So, it's you who should be giving us this moment."
Seijurou just stared wide eyed at the two girls who shared laughter that came after that. He could not help but smile faintly at the thought that their little group was back as always once more. However, at the back of his head, something told him that things were about to change making these trivial but joyous interactions become one of the last.
Satsuki flashed one of her eye closing smiles to Seijurou, as they made brief eye contact. For some reason, it was as if she knew exactly what Seijurou was thinking about at that moment. He suddenly felt at ease, as the gesture from her comforted him. After a while of being in deep thought, his mind became clearer.
"Yeah, I think I want to go through this..", Seijurou thought while smiling endearingly, as he watched his two closest friends cheerfully interact with each other. "Everything's going to be fine."
The days after the conclusion of the first third of Fujiishima Sentai Gakuen's school year came in slower than usual. With some of the first years' teams' quests awaited to commence, most of the class of year 2022's students went on to train with their teammates. No academic activities or the usual school work meant longer rigorous hours of ability improvisations under the heat of the summer sun. However, even if it was a daunting task for fifteen to sixteen year olds, it was still the perfect time to focus on enhancing their skills in battle.
"Come at me, loser!..", yelled Jax, as he relentlessly took damage from Kazuma's elemental spells. "That's nothing compared to Keigo and Gin."
Kazuma just grinned while hurling another ice spell. "Then why don't you invite them over? Besides, you're the one who's about to be a loser with your dwindling 'HP'."
Jax was exasperated, but he kept struggling, as he approached his training partner. "This is nothing."
From a distance, Chizuru trained her "Serpent's Sense" further, as she sat down cross legged and eyes closed. She frowned the moment she heard all of her teammates' shouting. "Ugh.. so noisy. What is that hentai up to?"
After a few minutes, Kazuma stopped casting his spells. He chuckled, as he shook his head. "That's enough, Jax. You've less than ten percent 'HP' as of the moment. Taking all that magic until my 'MP' reaches its limit is just impossible right now."
Dropping to one knee while plunging his enormos axe on the ground to lean on, Jax opened his "console command" to check something. He squinted and growled the moment he saw what he was looking for. "Not yet! I need more 'EXPs'!"
"Just what are you trying to achieve at this rate?..", Chizuru asked while approaching the two. "You'll die if you continue with this. Go take a 'Health Potion' and rest."
"I'll get less 'EXPs' in 'Elemental Magic Resistance' at full health, Taneda-chan..", replied Jax, as he continued to pant on the ground.
Chizuru squinted, while she looked intently at her teammates. "Why are you even obsessing about that particular skill, anyway? It's not like we're going to charge at an army of mages, Jax."
Even if Jax blushed a little with Chizuru calling him by his first name, Jax still kept his serious look, as he answered her. "Because I need to be better than that otaku in every way to be worthy of being a part of a 'main quest'."
Kazuma snickered while preparing another hand gesture to cast a spell. "This again? All well and good, my friend. But let's just focus first on our current team, shall we?"
Chizuru shook her head, as she smiled awkwardly. "Fine. Just don't kill each other. We need every member in Hayama-sensei's unit."
Meanwhile, in a small mountainous forest section south of Fujiishima, Shinazugawa Kasumi's squeal resounded, as a crossbow arrow hit her "Holy Aura of Protection". It was shot almost two hundred yards away. Even if Kasumi hid herself well in the shrubbery, Sendou Kaguya was on target.
Kaguya removed her goggles to put it on the top of her head, while she laughed deviously. "Combining 'Hebi no Me' (Snake Eyes) with 'Sniper Vision'.. executed successfully.. but it's still nowhere near Chizuru-sama's ability.. however, I'm close. Just a little more and I'll be able to send my love to her with my arrows."
Suddenly, a hand axe's blade was dangerously pointed towards Kaguya's neck. It was the very sharp end of the weapon of Fukuoka Kanae who was sneaking up to her until she took position to shoot.
"It really creeps me out when you suddenly get talkative whenever you're alone..", said Kanae while slowly releasing her axe indicating her victory in their little sparring. "But you're right. It's nowhere near Chizuru-san's art. You couldn't even see me coming from behind."
"That's Chizuru-sama!..", upset how Kanae addressed Chizuru, Kaguya lashed out momentarily to her teammate's surprise. "If I had worn my 'Bunny Ears', I would've detected you from a mile away."
"But you didn't. Why is that?..", asked Kanae, as they both packed their gear away to go to Kasumi's position.
"With the nature of my art, combining it with enhanced hearing can cause sensory overload..", answered Kaguya reluctantly while strapping her crossbow behind her. "It'll fry my brain."
As they began trekking towards Kasumi's direction, Kanae smirked at her teammate. "It's okay, Kaguya. You did well today."
With all the students of FSG currently in training or in an ongoing quest, it seemed that the city of Fujiishima was bursting with energy. Youthful vigor fueled the citizens' eagerness to continue their once usual and same as always livelihood, as the teenagers displayed their unrelenting enthusiasm to complete tasks. The sound of metal clashing from different parts of the land resounded with them doing skirmishes against criminals or by simply sparring. Apprentices in shops also gave renewed tenacity in selling and making products, which caused an increase in income for the already exhausted owners.
However, it was not usually the case at a small and almost abandoned dojo in a remote location within the city's walls. As two young questing "Player Characters" reopened an old training center, only one of them seemed to have given the old relic of a place its long lost liveliness.
"Really, Kinjou. Did you have to wake me up so early just to go here?..", a grumpy "non morning person" Seijurou asked Satsuki, as they trekked on a small hill on the outskirts of Fujiishima. "This is the very reason why oyaji decided to move to the city center. It's so far and high up."
But Satsuki just found the current situation hilarious and laughed after. "Just a little more, Erida-kun! I can see the dojo!"
"I haven't had breakfast yet, and this is just way too steep. I'm dying here. How do you expect me to train like this?..", lamented Seijurou while breathing heavily in exhaustion.
"Yah!! One hundred points! This is exactly why we're doing this..", Satsuki pointed out cheerfully, as she skipped and dashed towards the decrepit old place. "This is training already. Time to get in shape!"
As Satsuki unlocked and slid the front door open, they were greeted by an image that somehow blasted them into the past. Even if they both have not been in this place since the "Swordmaiden's" passing, the interior looked exactly how they remembered it. But almost exactly at the same time the memories flooded in, a smokescreen like dust cloud engulfed them, which caused them to sneeze and cough in intervals.
"It's filthy!..", said Satsuki in between her coughs.
Seijurou coughed as well when he entered the dojo. "Well, what do you expect? It's been years."
For the first time in more than two years, Erida Masako's dojo received light from the outside world. As Seijurou and Satsuki went inside, they were momentarily blinded by the sun's reflection from the corner of the room. When they approached the small glint, they cleared the cobwebs over it to reveal something priceless to both of them.
"The Shield of Athena..", whispered Satsuki, as if she was about to sob. "It's your mother's prized artifact, Erida-kun."
"I know. It even looks like it's in good shape..", smiled Seijuro while getting a feel of the shield's owl symbol engraving. "I'm actually surprised that we didn't bring this home."
Satsuki looked at Seijurou endearingly, as her partner lifted the shield up with his arm. As Seijurou proceeded with a defensive pose to test the old piece of armor out, Satsuki noticed something. "Its whirring sound is gone. What could've happened?"
"Someone must've disenchanted it if what you're saying about the whirring is true..", said Baba Himiko, as she appeared out of nowhere.
Seijurou freaked out with arms flailing causing Satsuki to giggle sheepishly. But he immediately settled down by rearranging his glasses with his fingers. "It seems you've caught us by surprise. How did you get here instantly?"
"I was here the whole time. The 'Heiress' gave me a key, so I came in earlier..", replied Himiko in her monotonous unfriendly voice, while she stood up to grab her broomstick. "But she looks undaunted. I don't get why you didn't notice me."
"I have bad vision, and you're wearing black clothes, Ba.. Himiko..", said Seijurou while feeling the weight of the shield. "Anyway, you're right. I disenchanted this."
Satsuki's eyes went wide upon hearing Seijurou's small confession. "You did what, Erida-kun? Why?"
Even the blank faced Himiko showed a little bit of a shocked expression after learning of the artifact's history. "Disenchanting an artifact from before the 'Blank Century'.. how crazy you are, Erida Seijurou."
"It was part of my mother's last will..", answered Seijurou, as he continued to "shadow train" with his shield. "It's not like we know of its enhancement, anyway. I don't know why, but I felt nothing changed when I disenchanted it."
A sigh of relief came out of Satsuki upon hearing the full story. "It's good to hear that you were able to fulfill one of your mother's wishes. I actually thought you underwent an experiment gone wrong at first."
"And why would you think that I would irresponsibly play with enhancements like that?..", Seijurou shot back at Satsuki, but she just laughed.
Satsuki was only able to reply with a growling stomach. She then giggled to herself in embarrassment. "Oops! That was embarrassing. Can we eat first?"
The three looked at each other, which caused them to realize that no one brought food.
"How do we eat if we don't have food, Kinjou?..", Seijurou desperately suppressed his hungry and angry self upon realizing his grave mistake of not eating breakfast.
"Simple. We'll find food in the wilderness..", answered Satsuki while still smiling despite the situation. "Hunt and gather.. it's all part of training."
While the two long time friends exchange some hilarious banter, Himiko grabbed her broom and walked towards the door. "If you consider that as part of training, better start now. I'll take care of everything else."
"Oh, wow. Thank you for your initiative, Himiko-chan..", Satsuki answered while bowing a little to Himiko. "You even brought your own broom for cleaning."
"This is not for cleaning, Heiress..", said Himiko while letting the broomstick lie on the ground, which caused it to suddenly float. She rode it like a bicycle afterwards. "This is my ride. When I said about doing the rest.. it actually means me training by gathering alchemical ingredients."
"Eh?..", said Satsuki and Seijurou at the same time as Himiko flying out.
As she flew out, Himiko thought of what Seijurou said that got her a little interested. "Learning from disenchanting depends on the alchemy skill level and the 'PC' level. And using an enchanted item should also be within the level of the user. Otherwise, it's just useless."
When Himiko spotted a small stream of some metallic liquid, she immediately landed to gather some in a vial. "Erida Seijurou.. of course, you won't be able to learn that artifact's enhancement.. you even might not within your lifetime.. it's just well beyond your capabilities.. at least, not yet."
Translation Notes:
Sniper Vision – a magical enhancement that allows the user to magnify images from afar. In this chapter, Sendou Kaguya enchanted this on her goggles.
Honorifics Guide:
-sama – used to address someone considered as someone well respected or a higher up, or someone dear to the addressee. In this chapter, there were two examples. First was Igaraki Keigo addressing Jax as someone he respects. The other one was Sendou Kaguya referring to Taneda Chizuru as someone she adores (in her own "unique" way though).
-baba – an insulting but can be a playful way to address an old woman. In this chapter, Baba Himiko mistook Seijurou for calling her this and lashed out with the misunderstanding, but the poor protagonist was only calling her respectfully with her family name.
Monogatari Concepts:
Shield of Athena – although not exactly implied as the same shield the Greek Goddess used in their war against the Greek Titans, it is a mysterious and legendary artifact that Erida Masako gave her son as an heirloom. It is believed that it was crafted before the "Blank Century". However, some old folk still believe that it was actually used by their world's version of the goddess of wisdom, Minima.
Minima – the goddess of war with regards to wisdom, strategy, and resolution. She is the embodiment of peace and was created by the Almighty to bring balance to the chaotic nature of the world. She is the twin sister of the other god of war, Maximian, who also shares a single seat with her in the "Revered Seven". She is also considered as the patroness of warlords, generals, admirals, and other world leaders.
Maximian – the god of war with regards to valor, battle skill, and conflict. He is the embodiment of change and was created by the Almighty to tip the scales of stability bringing forth adaptability through chaos. He is the twin brother of Minima, who also shares a single seat with him in the "Revered Seven". He is also considered as the patron of the common soldier.
Character Description:
Taneda Chizuru – Seijurou's closest and childhood friend. In fact, they've known each other for as long as they can remember. It's most probably because their families live close to each other. I really like this character because if not for her, our dear protagonist would've been dead already. She's like Seijurou's savior, and I think I already made it obvious that she really cares for him, even if she usually calls him an idiot.
She stands about 167cm (yeah, she's quite a tall young lady), but I probably wouldn't tell her weight since it's rude to say a girl's body weight (48kg. shhhh! It's a secret). She has short brown hair that grows a little past her ears (to avoid obstructing her view when shooting), round eyes and a small face. She's a little rough around the edges but can be really adorable too with her rosy cheeks, especially when she blushes.
A tomboyish character is usually what she projects, but she really is a girl by heart. Extremely talkative and loves to tease, some people might misinterpret her, but she's just really friendly to everyone (very evident with her calling everyone with their first names). Hanging out with friends is her favorite thing to do, but she's also very diligent with training, making her one of the best in her class. She can be obsessively protective of Seijurou, but she's very levelheaded actually. She loves the color brown (and other earth colors) and a lot of leather. She's a big fan of "BL" manga and shoujo anime. Her favorite food is maki.