"Did you really not know about the giant, gaping crack?" Mana asked, trying to reiterate the fact that the wall was nearly in half at the section in question. She was having an extremely hard time believing that the city was clueless.
Mana and Viktor had left the hospital soon after the embarrassing fiasco of Viktor seeing her exposed butt, and were walking down the sidewalk towards the Koro guardsman headquarters. Her parents were already there waiting on her to finalize Gairma's passing, before being able to receive her ashes to bury.
Her mother, before heading to where her other daughter lay, had brought Mana her go to outfit, a simple pair of short, blue denim shorts and a green tank top with 2-inch-wide straps. She felt free, but secure; no more accidental exposures.
Luckily, she was able to at least save her brown boots; her mother, despite what they were covered in, insisted on scrubbing them herself. She had to scrub them of the blood of both Mana and Gairma.
Mana only had the 1 pair that she often had her sister repair for her, using simple spells whenever needed because she couldn't find them anywhere else. Gairma was always happy to help her, which was the main reason she had learned the simple trick to begin with.
"Guardsman honor," Viktor replied to Mana's slight interrogation, raising a hand up with his palm out and his other against his chest. "When we say that no rotted had been seen in that forest for as long as the eldest person can remember, we mean it." His voice lowered, "and for the first rotted to be Neya..."
"You knew her?" Mana questioned. Viktor was young, it was more than obvious. Even with his beard he still didn't appear old enough to know her personally.
"Of course not," he chuckled, "look at me, do I look over 40?" He glared at her jokingly. "I'm only 25."
Mana remembered the letter that her sister had shown her just before they were attacked, knowing the guards had already seen it as it was on her person. "Do you know who H.T is?"
"H.T?" Viktor copied, "Hm, I know where you've seen the name, but I don't know who it could be off hand."
"I need to see them; can you take me to Midflora?" Mana demanded as nicely as she could. She was ashamed, and she didn't want to see her sister dead again, she already had to witness it first-hand.
The handsome guardsman understood what she meant; he had seen plenty of death throughout his life. He had somewhat gotten numb to the feelings of someone who never experienced it. "You have to fill out travel paperwork first, and then apply for the contract."
"Contract?"
"Yes, one of the few we actually carry out. The other guilds already have so much on their plate, and it keeps us ready for nearly anything that may happen; like today." He stopped in his tracks, causing Mana to take a few steps ahead of him before stopping herself and turning to face him.
Her face was soft, and her eyes were bright. Her beautiful pink hair flowed around her face, curling around her shoulders, falling gently against her back. It was hard to believe that only a few hours prior she was at death's door. Had it not been for that light that had healed her and guided the guards to her location, she would be lying next to her sister waiting for incineration as well.
Mana tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, "I'm sorry about what happened to you and your sister," he apologized solemnly, his voice low and saddened. "We have begun construction to fix that part of our barrier and should hopefully be done by tomorrow evening."
Just as he finished his sentence, alarms began to sound throughout the city, blaring over everything to where all the other sounds were mostly silenced. Viktor's face changed to panic instantly, and he immediately began darting towards the northern part of the city; the gap.
Mana quickly grabbed her new weapon from her waistband before equipping them and instantly feeling a rush of power overcome her. She followed close behind Viktor, dashing through the mob of people that were frantically trying to get into a building for safety.
Viktor was communicating with the other members of the civilian guild through the emblem he had on his chest, changing directions frequently as the monster moved about.
Soon it became clear where they were heading; Gino's home.
Gino was 33 and worked as a blacksmith at Tier and Smith's Blacksmithing. He didn't love his job, but he didn't hate it; he only wanted to stay inside the walls after what happened to his parents all those years ago.
He wanted to, however, do anything in his power to be sure the ones that were on the front lines had reliable weapons to protect themselves with.
It was Neya, Mana thought to herself upon seeing the dark figure once more, standing in front of Gino's. There was a crowd of guardsman around her as she stared at them with her red eyes and wide smile with teeth like razors.
None of them were at Neya's level, and the high-level guild members were on their own missions. Mana triggered her stat mode, proceeding to look at Viktor who stood strong in a defensive stance, his shield at the ready and his flail already swinging. Viktor was level 75, but he was tanky and wouldn't be able to take her on by himself. The others were no more than 20, and herself? Only 5.
"Mana," Viktor whispered back to her.
"Hm?"
"I've been dying to try something if you're willing to try," he smirked, looking over his shoulder. She tilted her head slightly in confusion.
He slowly stopped swinging his flail, before wrapping the chain in between his fingers so he could reach into a small satchel he had clipped to his side. He rummaged around it for only a second before pulling out a small vial of clear liquid that had a singular violet spark swimming around inside. "Is that...?" Mana began.
"Yes, the legendary max up potion," he smirked as he handed it to her. "You may not be able to fight, but with you at level 100 and having those beautiful monstrosities," he peeked at the knuckles, "you and I, we will be able to kick some ass."
Mana couldn't help but smile as she popped the small cork off the 4-inch-tall vial, instantly consuming it. She watched as her stats instantly skyrocketed to level 100, her weapon leveling with her. Her green eyes began to glow as the temporary power coursed through her veins
"As I thought," Viktor huffed excitedly. "Now remember, she may have been your sister's biological mother, Mana," he said more sternly, catching her attention, "but she is not a human anymore. She is out to kill."
"I know," Mana replied, giving her fingers a quick stretch before closing them in one last time to make a tight fist. "Now let's be quick. I only have 10 minutes."