We tried explaining everything about Ayame to Fumiko, but she seemed confused. When she saw Ayame, she reacted like she remembered something but couldn't put her finger on it. The interaction went something like this:
We entered the mansion with Ayame. She was wearing her usual assassin outfit, cloak, and clothing from the lower-class people of this world.
We stepped into Fumiko's room; she was working hard, filling in documents.
"Fumiko, we are back!" she shot up and glanced at us. She paused when she looked at Ayame, and her eyes widened at her sight. She got down from her chair and ran straight at Ayame.
"You, you look familiar. Who are you?" Fumiko stuttered. Her movements slowed down, and she extended a hand toward Ayame.
"It's okay if you don't remember me now, Nanano. I am back, as I promised you in our old world." Fumiko paused; this time, she began gasping for air.
"Who is Nanano? And why do I feel so sad?"- Did Fumiko, or Nanano in this case, lose her memory? Or is her memory affected by the mana illness?
My theory is that mana illness has yet to be completely cured. Give it time, and Nanano should return to normal.
"Ayame, her mana illness, it's not completely cured. It might be blocking Nanano's memories, and she might still think she is Fumiko. I am sorry, but until we can cure her completely, I am afraid she will remain like this," I leaned and whispered to her.
"I already know, I seen it today, but, for me, it's enough that Nanano is alive and well," - She whispered back while taking a long look at Fumiko.
"Why?"- Fumiko began to cry, tears pouring down her eyes. She walked close and hugged Ayame. I don't know why she responded that way, but it's maybe a sign that Nanano is still there.
"It's okay, Nanano." We left Fumiko and Ayame alone for a bit and then came back.
We told Fumiko about our plan with Ayame and how we will proceed in the future if everything goes well.
"I agree with this. It's a step in the right direction. Ayame, first, stay here at all costs and only leave at night. Hikaru, Hana, you 2 go back on the quests that you have been tasked with doing, understand?"- Fumiko looked at all of us; we nodded and went back outside to finish the rest of the quests. I just remembered that I took new quests out of the guild.
At the guild a few hours ago:
"Hey, you two again. I know you managed to defeat the monsters. Here are some new special quests, same monsters, only better rewards, now, get out before someone sees giving the quests to you 2" – The exchange with the Black Fenrir was quick, and she didn't waste a moment on having us leave as soon as possible.
"Now, Hikaru, I suggest we kill either the Minotaur or the tree guardian first. What, so killing them a second, killing them a second, do you say? We already killed them once; killed them a 2nd time should be easy." Hana looked at me while showing me the paper on which the quests were written.
"Well, let's go then, it's night so there is a high chance we will find one of them now."
We headed to the forest and waited for monsters. A pack of about ten magi wolves attacked us.
"Hana, you take 5, I take 5."
"Understood." Hana drew her katana and sliced the head of the first wolf that jumped at her.
I waited for me to get jumped the first time, and then I pierced two of the wolves with my shadow tendrils and crushed the skulls of the third and fourth wolves with my shadow hand. The last one tried to run away, and my shadow tendril caught up with it and pierced its brain, resulting in an instant death.
When I turned around, Hana finished fighting the wolves; wow, she was fast.
"How did you kill all of the magi wolves so fast?"- I asked her while gathering materials from the wolves to bring as proof to the guild.
"Well, I used Godspeed to make my speed higher than usual and I was able to slash their heads clean off. Goodspeed is usually a short speed burst, but if you have mana like mine, you can mentain it for a bit longer and use it to augment sword slashes as well. It easy to do."
We can hear a growl all around us; this is bad. This growl isn't a wolf or magi wolf growl; no, it sounds different.
I turned around only to see a tree coming for us. From this far away, I couldn't make out any features.
!Answer: That is a tree guardian that protects the forest and what lives in it; once you disturb the forest, you unleash its wrath upon yourselves. This is the same tree guardian that has been killing and injuring adventurers for the past months. It's larger and more robust than the last one you killed. The previous tree guardian was about Hana's size, and you two easily took it down. This time, you must be prepared to fight for a bit longer or make a good strategy.!
"Hana, get ready!" I extended my shadow tendrils towards the tree guardian. It was very hard to pull him down.
"Hana, give me a little more time. I am trying to do something here," Hana nodded and distracted the tree guardian.
I used my shadow hand to try to crush its legs. I tried many times until I succeeded, and after my 100th attempt, the tree guardian finally collapsed.
"Hana, now!"- Hana tried to slash off its head, but it didn't work.
"This is giving us a headache. Look, let's try together."- I used my shadow tendrils while Hana used her katana to kill the tree guardian.
!Hikaru leveled to level 27, and Hana leveled to level 20!
"Great, at least we got some levels out of it."
"Hikaru, let's continue. We cleared two quests in total, but we still have four more to go."- Hana and I continued to walk through the forest into a deeper part, where we found a sleeping Minotaur; it was an easy kill; I crushed its heart using my shadow hand and moved on. Our last battle was more intense, but we should enjoy a safer and more relaxed way to remove enemies. Now we have a few more Magi Wolves to kill and have completed all of the quests here.
"Hikaru, where are we going to find Magi Wolves Do they live this deep? And even if they do, wouldn't they be too high-level for us to fight?"- Hana looked around at an empty forest.
"Well, we will find them sooner or later. Now, let's go and wander around here until we find them; they are bound to show themselves." – My eyes scanned the woods, but the visibility was little to none.
Going to the forest at night feels creepy. I don't know what to make of it, but I feel like I am being followed.
We heard a loud wolf howl behind us.
!1 Alpha Magi wolf leading a pack of 20 magi wolves is after the 2 of you. The ten magi wolves you killed earlier were part of its pack. They tracked the scent you left on the kills!
"Fuck"
We fought against the wolves, well, mostly dodged and attacked where we could. There were just too many of them at one time coming at us. I don't know what to do right now. We only killed 5 of the 21 wolves.
I made my shadow tendril reach shorter to summon more of them. This helped me a lot while in combat. I could kill two or three wolves at the time on my side. Hana is doing fine—she is doing even better than I do. Her katana slashes every wolf that she can see. It took her a while to get used to their movements, but it paid off, as she was able to defeat them a lot faster than I could.
"Now, only one remains." We looked at the Alpha Magi wolf, and the two of us charged at him.
I let my shadow tendrils slither toward the world while Hana circles him with her Katana.
The magi wolf's mouth began to glow orange, and he tried to shoot a beam of light toward Hana; I quickly used my shadow tendrils to make a mini cage around the wolf. The projectile bounced back, injuring the Magi Wolf. Next, my tendrils wrapped around its legs and kept him pinned to the ground. Hana stopped circling the world and rushed at him; with a swift flick of her wrists, she managed to cut off the head of the Alpha Magi Wolf.
Hikaru leveled up to 33, and Hana leveled up to 22!
We went back to the guild, and the receptionist didn't say anything aside from
"Congrats. You are the strongest F rank that there are right now. Look, here is your payment. Come back another time."- The receptionist threw 50 gold coins on the table. That was the reward for all the quests combined. Plus, we had another 25 Gold from the other quests we had done. Gold is hard to come by, and we now have a steady supply. We have food for days, it seems.
We returned to the mansion, a little stronger than before. Now, we have the goal to evolve once more. We will see what is in store tomorrow with the new project to build a monster nation. I don't know much about it myself, but I can say that we will dedicate everything to make this world more equal, forget about revenge on Ifrit, and this world needs drastic changes to its core. If we become strong enough Demon Lords, then Ifrit ought to listen to us by her own will or fear. If push comes to shove, we will kill Ifrit. Why does my mind wonder about the peaceful solution to this bloody conflict? I don't know yet, but I hope I find an answer soon.
Now, I wonder, what will happen tomorrow? How will everything go down?