After we arrive in the clearing, Nina detaches from me and sets down her travel pack and quiver.
"Uh…Nina, don't you need those arrows for your bow?" (Mizuki)
She looks back at me, surprised, then waves dismissively.
"Oh, no, I can make as many of those arrows as I want. Those are just for show." (Nina)
As if to demonstrate her point, she holds her hand down by her side, and the earth rises to meet her hand. It takes shape in the form of an arrow like those she bought, and she nocks it in her bow.
I can't help but feel a bit of surprise. So, she can just make as many arrows as she wants on the fly? That would make the bow an incredible weapon for her. She looks back over her shoulder at me with a fierce smile on her face.
"Ready to see what skill I got from our contract?" (Nina)
Do you even need to ask? I smile and nod at her approvingly.
She turns back to focus on her bow and takes aim at a tree. She draws and releases, and the arrow goes screeching towards the tree, then…it turns!?
The arrow makes almost a ninety-degree course correction and slams into a completely different tree. However, instead of stopping, the arrow goes shattering through the tree and continues its rampage deeper into the forest until it's out of sight.
I turn back to Nina, dumbfounded. She's wearing a smug grin, and I can sense her satisfaction. Well, she earned it.
"Nina, what in the hell did I just watch?" (Mizuki)
Nina giggles excitedly.
"Do you remember when we fought, and you slammed me into the ground with that crushing invisible force? I think I acquired something similar after my contract with you. Now, I feel like I can change objects' movements or make them heavier or lighter." (Nina)
Aha! So, she gained a kind of intuitive version of my gravity spells. She must have altered gravity around the arrow to shape its flight path, then artificially inflated its weight before impact to generate that absurd damage I saw. Truly a terrifying skill for an archer. Seeing this reminds me of another question I had for her though.
"That's very impressive Nina. I was also curious, why didn't you get any armor from Percivil? Aren't you more susceptible to damage in that human body?" (Mizuki)
Nina makes a surprised face, like 'oh, you didn't know?'.
"Kind of, but in this form, I also have the ability to change how strong and durable my body is. I can enhance it to the point that I'm almost as strong and durable as my dragon body, but I'm more agile. It's not like those magic spells you use, though, it's just how I am. I also heal injuries pretty fast like this – it's just this form's natural regeneration." (Nina)
Huh, well that's kind of nifty. I guess this is another one of those mysterious divine abilities that is part of what the god of her old planet did to her ancestors.
So, between her equipment, magic affinity, Elder Dragon skills, and contract perks, she can use fire, water, and earth attacks, dark-class gravity attacks, body enhancement, and self-healing, all without incantations. That's almost as robust as me – truly impressive.
I look back at Nina in amazement, but she seems to be focusing on something in the clearing. She points over to the boulder I melted in my first training session.
"Hey, Mizuki, what happened there?" (Nina)
"Oh, do you remember that attack of mine that almost killed you when we fought? That's from the first time I tried using it." (Mizuki)
She begins inspecting the rock curiously, then turns back to me with a confused expression.
"Mizuki, this looks quite recent, though?" (Nina)
Oh, yeah…I guess she doesn't really know much about my old world or when I got here.
"Well, that's because it was. I only arrived on this planet a week ago, and I only learned that spell a day or two before our fight happened. Honestly, if you had fought me a couple days sooner you would have easily killed me. I didn't even know how to use magic until the day I practiced that spell there." (Mizuki)
Her eyes go wide in surprise, and I sense a swirl of emotions from her. She shakes her head in disbelief, then looks at me seriously.
"Mizuki, that's absurd. Are you telling me that you came to this planet without knowing how to use magic, and then managed to become skilled enough in a few days to kill an Elder Dragon?" (Nina)
"Well…it sounds weird when you put it like that. I came from a world with no magic at all, so I didn't even know that it existed. Azazel helped me out a lot and gave me a good book on magic, and he warned me that I might get tons of magic power when I came here. He also suggested that I might have a wide range of affinities. So, I prioritized learning it when I got here." (Mizuki)
Nina continues shaking her head with an exasperated look on her face, then hangs her head and sighs deeply. When she looks back up at me, she's all smiles again.
"You're something else, Mizuki. Alright, well for now I want to test my new equipment. Later, though, I expect you to tell me about this strange magic-less world you came from. Maybe we can take a bath together while you tell me about it, hmm?" (Nina)
She ends her proposition with a coy smile. I mean it's almost impressive how frequently she finds a chance to sneak her dirty mind into the conversation. I groan inwardly, but I don't shoot down the idea. I shrug and then wink at her. I sense a wave of surprise coming off her. I fix a smug look at her.
[Just as I thought, you were only teasing me and expected me to get flustered and say no, huh?] (Mizuki)
She makes an innocent face, like 'who me?', and then a mischievous grin emerges.
[Maybe, maybe…but if you think you can tease me like that and not follow through, I'm going to be very upset later.] (Nina)
Oh, no…I might've messed up. I can't help but laugh out loud at her, though, but she doesn't seem to think it's funny. Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I change the subject to distract her.
"Hey, Nina, I had something I wanted to practice as well. Didn't you want to try imbuing your arrows with fire or water element?" (Mizuki)
My reminder seems to jar her from her thoughts about bathing, and she smiles and returns to practicing with her bow enthusiastically. Perfect, now it's my turn.
I apply my body enhancement spells, seeing how far I can push it since my contract with Nina. I get into a runner's stance and launch off across the clearing. The forest's edge seems to blur into proximity, and before I know it a tree seems dangerously close to my face. I try and avoid it, but I already have too much momentum…I take the tree straight in the face and shatter part of its trunk.
Nina looks over at me with an amused expression after firing another arrow.
[Fufufu…too quick for your own good, Mizuki?] (Nina)
[Tch…maybe, but I'll figure it out. Don't you worry.] (Mizuki)
Returning to my task...yup, she was right. I may have superhuman speed now, but I'm processing things like a regular joe. If I can't find some way to improve my perception speed, I'm at my limit. Hell, the enhancements might even be a liability at this level.
Hmm…thought acceleration, maybe? I have no idea how I'd facilitate that, though. With my body enhancements, I'm just supplementing the force generated in my muscle fibers. However, my neurons are already firing electrical impulses quickly, and it's not a matter of altering the force. I'm not sure how to just speed them up, or even if that'd even make me perceive things more quickly.
There's another possibility, one that is more intuitive to me, but sounds more practically difficult – time manipulation. Space and time are part of the same fabric of reality. If I can teleport, then I should also be able to manipulate time. If it works how I was taught, I'll never be able to stop time because it would require infinite energy, but I can slow it. With my power level, I might even slow it to the point that it's useful.
I turn my attention to Nina shooting her bow. After watching a few practice shots, I can tell that the arrows are practically blurs. So, if I can get to the point that I can follow they're trajectories in detail, I can call this a success.
I close my eyes and focus on the feeling of 'touching' the fabric of spacetime around me with my magic, like I do with teleportation. This time, instead of imagining it moving towards another location, I imagine it turning to syrup. After a moment of pouring my magic into this space, my body begins to feel sluggish, like something is pressing against me from every direction.
I open my eyes and see one of Nina's arrows moving at the speed of a tossed baseball. It's working! I focus on pouring more magic into the surrounding space, willing spacetime to 'thicken', and I see the arrow slow to the pace of a dandelion drifting in the wind.
At this point, I can feel the strain on my magic, and I've started sweating. I have to see how combat appropriate it is, though. I take a step forward to see if I can run and grab the arrow. Rather, I try to…but my body seems to be barely moving, like I'm surrounded by sand.
I strain for a few moments, trying to move, until I can't keep time slowed, then I release all my spells and collapse on the ground.
It may have been a conceptual success, but it was a practical failure. What good is slowing time if I'm still moving at the same relative pace to everything else? I take a few minutes to mull over the issue, while I recover from the magic strain of my spell attempt.
Hmm…maybe I can try to nullify that syrupy state around my body only?
After a good rest, and feeling mostly recovered, I restart the time spell and once again try to move – there's the familiar resistance. This time, I imagine the syrupy space 'thinning' around my body as I try to move.
I feel the resistance slowly drop, and eventually I can walk with a little effort. I spend a while getting used to the feeling of altering the thickened spacetime around me, until I can move normally. Finally! This might be useful now.
I drop the time spell and rest again. This spell is crazy draining, even for me. I suspect that I currently can't use it for more than five minutes at a time, from my own frame of reference.
After I recover, I search around for a small rock to throw. I toss the rock as hard as I can at a tree that's across the clearing, using full body enhancement. The second it leaves my hand I apply the slow time spell, and the rock slows to about jogging speed. I crank up the magic power going into the spell, and the rock slows to a crawl. I run ahead of it, then grab it out of the air and drop the time spell. This is definitely practical.
Alright, time to play a little game with Nina.
[Hey, Nina, I'm finished practicing what I wanted to work on. How would you like to pit your bow skills against my new spell in a wager? If you win, we'll have that bath you wanted tonight, and if I win, I'm off the hook.] (Mizuki)
Nina turns around to look at me and smiles wickedly, but I can also sense caution mixed with her anticipation.
[Oh? I like the sound of that. What kind of wager are you suggesting? I have no intention of going easy on you, by the way.] (Nina)
I smile to myself. Yeah, that sounds like Nina.
[Simple. I'll stand right here and won't move my feet from this spot. You get to fire a single arrow at me, and if it can damage me even the slightest bit, we'll call you the winner.] (Mizuki)
I plan to grab that arrow right out of the air – it'll never get a chance to hit me. Nina raises her eyebrows, like 'are you insane?', but she shrugs.
[Suit yourself, Mizuki. I hope you're ready for that bath. Here it comes.] (Nina)
She takes up a bow stance about ten meters from me and nocks an arrow, then she closes her eyes and I sense magic power flowing into the weapon. I don't plan to let it hit me, but I apply max body enhancement just in case. Fearing how fast the arrow may be released, I also activate the time spell at low power.
After a moment, I see Nina's fingers release the bow string and I crank my time spell to the max power that I can currently tolerate. I watch the arrow fly from the bow in slow motion and start making its way towards me – it's about the speed of a paper airplane. Given how slow her other arrows looked by comparison, this one must be absolutely blistering through the air in real time.
The arrow seems to take a path left of me, where it won't hit. Clever…is she trying to loop it around behind me for a back shot? I smirk in the slowed time.
I'm definitely not going to let that happen. I spread out my magic sense in a series of cages instead of the typical web, and I set it to detect any solid matter larger than air molecules. Meanwhile, I continue looking at Nina to avoid tipping my hand.
When I sense that the arrow is a little over a meter from my back, I whip my head around and lean to the side. The arrow slowly glides past me, where my body was a moment ago, and I reach out and grab it. After I have a firm hand on the arrow, I drop my time spell and look up at Nina. Her face is in complete shock.
"Fufufufu…that was truly exceptional, Mizuki! I cannot believe how fast you reacted! You'll have to tell me how you did that." (Nina)
I give her a smug smile. I'm about to make a joke to her, but then I notice she doesn't seem very upset by the outcome. Before I can say anything, she continues with thought communication.
[However, I would never underestimate you again…so, you'll be telling me how you did it from our bath tonight.] (Nina)
She flashes me a wicked smile, and at the same time I feel an enormous release of energy from the arrow I'm holding. Before I can react, an intense explosion sends me flying sideways into the woods, with my body acting like a wrecking ball to all the trees in my path.
When I finally gather my bearings, I sit up on the ground and notice that I've been launched about 20 meters into the forest. I notice Nina running up to me with a smile on her face, but then I sense mild annoyance emerge when she gets closer.
"Tch…you're just ridiculous, Mizuki! I put an amount of concentrated fire element into that arrow that scared even me, and that's all it did to you?" (Nina)
I look down to my hand where she's gazing. There is a slight burn on the hand that was holding the arrow, but I'm otherwise unscathed. I quickly heal it then look back up at her. When I meet her gaze again, she's back to a huge smile, though.
"However, that's all I needed to win our wager. So, I look forward to our bath tonight." (Nina)
Crap…the realization makes me tense up. I let out a deep sigh and hang my head in defeat.
"Tch…yeah, you win. A deal is a deal, and I will honor ours." (Mizuki)
I wear a frustrated expression as I initially respond to her, but then I meet her gaze and smile warmly.
[Plus, it's important to me that you know I'll keep my promises to you.] (Mizuki)
Her eyes go wide, and I see a little more color than usual in her cheeks. Then, she quickly begins smirking, but I can sense deep appreciation and happiness from her through our connection. Good, she knows I mean it.
"Alright, Nina, how about we make our last stop at the guild to get you registered?" (Mizuki)
She smiles softly at my question, then nods her approval. She helps me up off the ground, and we go collect our things.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
As we enter the guild, it's about an hour until sunset. Adventurers are already starting to pile up in the guild hall, and most of the tables are occupied. Drinking seems to have started in earnest, and several people notice our entry. Remarks towards us can be heard as we make our way to guild reception.
"Ho ho, hey there little lady! Do you need a personal tour around the guild?"
"Aye, bean pole, introduce me to your big sister there!"
"Oi kid, if you needed a babysitter, you didn't have to bother that young lady. We could've helped you out!"
I honestly find the last one borderline considerate, and it makes me smile softly as we approach the guild reception. In contrast, I sense Nina's agitation steadily increasing at the suggestive remarks towards her. However, she seems to be keeping her anger in check, until…
The burly adventurer that once harassed Ilina walks over and slings his arm around Nina. I guess he didn't learn his lesson.
He begins talking to her, ignoring me, with a surly tone.
"Well now, aren't you a pretty thing. Why don't you ditch that worthless brat and come…"
He doesn't get to finish his sentence. I sense a spike of rage from Nina, and immediately cast a max time slow spell to assess her reaction.
I look over, and her fist is already most of the way to his chest. Nina, I know he's scum, but that will kill him! It's going to be such a pain for us if he dies!
I quickly cast a max body enhancement on the burly man and leave it in place until Nina's punch connects, then remove it as he goes flying. After all, crashing through a few walls shouldn't totally do him in. I've got to be fair to Nina, you know?
The burly man flies about seven meters into the entry door, and I use gravity magic to move the one person he would have hit. He slams into the door and shatters it, then lands on the ground outside unconscious. Nina looks down at her fist in confusion, probably wondering why it's not covered in his blood.
She turns to me with raised eyebrows.
[Yeah, you caught me, sorry. Killing him would have really inconvenienced us. I let him feel the pain of crashing through that door, though!] (Mizuki)
Nina glares at me in response, but I do sense a trace of amusement. Then, she turns to address the guild hall. The whole place has now registered what happened, and the room is dead silent.
"The next one of you that even thinks about touching me like that, or insulting Mizuki, will be dead before he gets to plead for his life!" (Nina)
After a tense pause, one brave fellow calls out.
"Hey, yah know I always said that John's wandering hands were going to get him killed one day! I just thought it'd be by his wife. All the same, I say he had it coming."
The guild hall erupts in laughter, and they quickly seem to carry on with their afternoon. That's adventurers for you, I guess. Seriously, though, somebody married that scumbag!?
I reach over and squeeze Nina's hand briefly, and I sense a flutter of surprise and excitement from her. She turns back to me and smiles. Good, looks like she's forgotten about dropping bodies for now.
I turn to face guild reception again, and the day receptionist, Melanie, is just managing to clear the shock from her face. It's being replaced by annoyance, and I'm guessing that's because of the damage to the guild hall. It's best if I'm proactive about this.
"Hey, Melanie, I'm very sorry about the damage and the commotion, I know you don't appreciate this kind of trouble when you're working. Will this cover the repairs, and you can take whatever's left for yourself as an apology from us?" (Mizuki)
I place two gold coins on the counter, and Melanie's eyes fly open in surprise. After taking a moment to recover, she sighs deeply and picks up the coins. Then, she meets my gaze and smiles wryly.
"Well, welcome back, Mizuki. I was going to give you a truly undesirable lecture, but between that guy's behavior and you being so nice, I guess I can overlook it this time. What can I do for you two?" (Melanie)
Good, that was a close one.
"We're here to have Nina register as an adventurer, and we'll be forming a party as well." (Mizuki)
Melanie smiles and nods. She then hands us the standard form I got. I tell Nina privately to put 'human' as her race, which she did not like, and 'village' as her place of birth. I also told her to put '25' as her age, which she found very funny. She put 'bow' as her weapon of choice.
She hands the form back to Melanie after finishing it. Nina has the same eyes as me, so I should deal with that preemptively. I message Nina to play along, then address Melanie as she begins to read over the form.
"Melanie, you may recall that there was some confusion over my answers on the form, and I suspect that you'll find the same concerns on Nina's. Let me assure you, we grew up in the same village together and I can attest to all those answers being accurate. We were two of only a few kids that recovered from the illness I mentioned, so we've remained quite close." (Mizuki)
Melanie looks surprised, but I see only passing suspicion on her face. She smiles and addresses Nina.
"Very well then, Nina, let's begin your magic assessment!" (Melanie)
Melanie pulls out the large crystal that determines class affinity, and places it on the table.
"Now, Mizuki may have already mentioned this to you, but this item will determine what class of magic you have an affinity for. Just place your hand on it, and it will turn white first, then turn another color that tells us your class. Red is elemental, green is alteration, and blue is dark. Please go ahead whenever you're ready!" (Melanie)
Nina puts her hand on the crystal, and it begins to glow white. I am somewhat curious what color it will turn. I predict it turning one of three colors, depending on how dragon skills and skills acquired from our contract count in the testing.
If neither count, it will be red. If all of them count, then it will be white. If I'm right, and her contract skill that is derived from my gravity spell is the only extra one that counts, then it will turn purple.
I watch the white glowing crystal with anticipation, and after a couple of seconds, it changes color. Melanie is the first to react.
"Huh, purple!?" (Melanie)
She looks obviously confused and doesn't know what to say. After a moment, she's still flustered but has recovered enough to speak.
"Uhm…I'm very sorry, I'm not sure what to make of this. It's never happened before. The guild master has already left for the day, or else I'd consult him, so perhaps we should postpone your registration." (Melanie)
Well, that's not going to work for us, and it will only cause a bigger scene. Nina is looking at me like she doesn't understand.
[Mizuki, why is this human so confused? Does she not do this test all the time?] (Nina)
[Essentially, Azura's humans never have more than one class of magic, so they don't know that the test produces other colors. When you learned your new skill from our contract, it gave you a second class of magic other than earth elemental, so you got a test result they normally never see. I'll fix it, don't worry.] (Mizuki)
"Melanie, perhaps I can offer some assistance in that regard. From what I recall, the guild has exactly two historical records of a color other than red, blue, or green being produced by this test. One of those individuals also produced a purple color, like Nina, and it was the result of them having both an elemental and dark affinity. We'd rather not drag out this process, so would you be willing to continue with the affinity test for elemental class to confirm my theory?" (Mizuki)
Melanie looks shocked and skeptical, to say the least.
"T-Two classes!? Mizuki, are you sure!?" (Melanie)
At this point, her shrill remark catches the attention of other adventurers, and some whispers can be heard. I sigh deeply, and nod at Melanie to address her question. She gives me a strange look, but she obediently pulls out the smaller crystal for the elemental subtype affinity portion of the exam.
"P-Please place your hand here, Nina." (Melanie)
Nina nonchalantly places her hand on the crystal, and it glows green and then shuts off. Melanie makes a surprised face, and then she looks at me amazed. She pulls out another small crystal and swaps it with the last one.
"Here, Nina, please place your hand on this one as well!" (Melanie)
Nina complies, but after a few moments the crystal does nothing.
"Mizuki, you were right! She has an earth elemental affinity but no known subtype affinities for alteration class. If the class color wasn't red, she probably has a dark affinity, too! That's incredible! We'll have to let the guild master know!" (Melanie)
That's going to be a pain…I can just feel it. I groan internally. I'm about to say something, but then Nina speaks up.
"Fufufu…why so much fuss? Were Mizuki's results from your tests not at least as impressive?" (Nina)
Ahh, shit. That's an oversight on my part. Melanie delivers me a bewildered look, like I've been trying to swindle Nina or something.
"Err, no Miss Nina. Did Mizuki not tell you? His test results revealed that he can't use magic." (Melanie)
Nina raises her eyebrows and gives me a dumbfounded expression, like 'why is she saying something so stupid?'. I suppress the urge to laugh, and I quickly send Nina a private message.
[Sorry, Nina, I forgot to mention. They don't fully understand how their test works. When someone possesses an affinity for all classes of magic like I do, the test result looks like someone has no magical abilities at all. So, I'm registered as a weak adventurer without any magic. I'd like to keep it that way, so please play along!] (Mizuki)
Nina's face turns into one of surprise, then she smirks. I can sense her amusement.
"What Melanie says is true, Nina, my magic test results were negative. I thought I mentioned it, but I guess not. I'm very sorry for the oversight. Is that okay?" (Mizuki)
"Oh, yes, that's alright. Hu…err, I mean Melanie, you can continue with your registration." (Nina)
Melanie looks back and forth between us several times, like she can't believe that this wouldn't be a problem for Nina. However, she collects herself eventually. Then, she reaches behind the counter and pulls out the thermometer device. Oh boy, I can imagine that this will cause a fuss in the guild hall.
"Alright, Miss Nina, grab the rounded end of this device, please. Whenever you're ready!" (Melanie)
Melanie is watching intently this time. Nina grabs the magic thermometer, and white light fills the base of the device, then begins to rise up the stem. One…two…three notches, and still rising. When the light passes the fourth notch, I glance at Melanie. She's already started going pale, poor lady.
The light passes the fifth and final notch, then hits the end of the stem. The light begins to intensify for a few seconds afterward. Fortunately, the light fades before damaging the device like I did. If that device had more notches, I'd guess that was over a 6, probably a 7. So, about…oh, a hundred to thousand times more magic power than the next person in their records?
I look at Melanie, and she's white knuckling the counter with trembling hands, like it's her only support to keep from falling over. She also appears to be in a cold sweat, and she's muttering unintelligibly.
"I-I-It was at the t-top…the top…" (Melanie)
The result has now also drawn a lot of attention from the adventurers in the room.
"No way man did you see that! I saw it pass four notches!"
"Did anyone see how high it went!? I lost sight after three notches!"
"That can't be real, she definitely cheated on the test!"
I decide it's time to move this along, so I call Melanie's name sharply to get her attention. After a moment, she comes to her senses and looks at me expectantly.
"Melanie, I understand that this is a lot to take in, but could we hurry and finish Nina's registration? You see that the crowd here is becoming more aware, and I'd like us to avoid a fuss." (Mizuki)
Melanie glances between us, conflicted.
"W-Well you see, Mizuki, I really think that I should have Nina meet with the guild master first. A-After all, we don't actually know what to put for her magic power level." (Melanie)
She's barely meeting my gaze as she says this. So, that's how it is, huh?
I'm guessing she knows that the guild master will want to make sure they can use Nina for things the guild wants help with. Ransoming her guild registration under the guise of an unknown magic power level is just an attempt to force that meeting ASAP. Not on my watch.
I cut Melanie a very stern glare.
"Now, Melanie, you know that Nina's magic power level was at least five notches, so you can just put that value on her registration. I seem to recall that you skipped my power assessment altogether. With Nina's assessment results, can you give me a single valid reason why her registration might be rejected?" (Mizuki)
Melanie is now having trouble looking at me at all.
"I-I still think…" (Melanie)
I cut her off. That's an obvious 'no'.
"You know, I'd hate for Nina to get the impression that you're trying to ransom her guild card to force her to meet with the guild master on your schedules. Something like that might just make her lose trust in you, and she might be unwilling to cooperate with personal requests in the future." (Mizuki)
Upon hearing this, Melanie's eyes go wide in surprise. She glances at Nina, who nods menacingly. Melanie goes a little pale again, then begins nodding quickly.
"O-On second thought, I think we can go ahead and get you registered, and we can just set up a meeting with the guild master later!" (Melanie)
There we go. I smile at her approvingly, and Nina and I nod to her in agreement. Melanie then heads to the back to prepare Nina's guild card. After Melanie leaves, I hear footsteps walking towards us. Nina and I look over at the same time.
There is a tall, handsome guy with jet black hair and brown eyes walking towards us. He's early 30s and well-muscled, is wearing a black tunic and dark brown trousers, and carries a massive broadsword on his back. It looks expensive enough that I'm guessing this guy is the real deal.
His disposition seems kind and non-threatening, and he greets us with a warm smile and a wave as he approaches.
"Hello there, new guild members, my name is Kent! I hate having to say it for recruitment pitches, but I'm the strongest A-ranked adventurer here, and the leader of Elmesia's top ranked party. I know you two are new, but how would you like to join our party? It can be on a trial basis, of course, but pretty much every talented newbie ends up with us!" (Kent)
He is friendly towards us both, and he makes sure to glance at me periodically as he talks. His words also seem to include me, and yet…all his true focus seems to be on Nina. He's being polite, but it's obvious he could care less about whether I join his party. Nina is the one he's after. Truthfully, I don't think that's anything to judge him for. I think I'd do the same in his position. Seems like a nice guy to me.
Before I can decide how I'd like to respond, Nina starts being Nina.
"Fufufu…that's very funny! Why would I ever do something like that and give up my alone time with Mizuki?" (Nina)
As Nina says this, she once again walks up from behind me and places her arms around my neck affectionately. I'm only a couple of inches taller than her, so she's still making eye contact with Kent over my shoulder.
To say that Kent's expression was one of confusion…I honestly think it would be less so if Nina had just recommended a slime to become king of Elmesia. However, he recovers quickly and smiles apologetically.
"Well, I'm very sorry to hear that, of course, but you understand that I had to give it a try. Mizuki, you seem like a lucky guy, and Nina, please do let us know if your priorities ever change. Best of luck to you two!" (Kent)
After that, he casually looks me over for a few seconds. He's smiling, his face is warm and relaxed, but his eyes…don't quite match. It's like they're glinting with a hint of…disgust. Before I can think on it more, Kent turns away with a friendly wave to us. On his way back to his table, he calls out to the rest of the adventurers.
"Sorry everybody, I gave it my best shot, but they said neither of them is joining another party! Leave them alone for a while, okay? Don't go harassing either of them!" (Kent)
A round of dejected groans ring out from the guild hall, but nobody else bothers us. I guess Kent has quite a bit of sway here. Nina detaches from me, and after several more minutes, Melanie returns. She's seemingly back to normal.
"Here you go, Nina, your very own guild card! Guild fees are one silver coin per year, and they must be paid within one month. You'll also find everything you need to know about our guild rules in this handbook. For any other questions, I'm sure Mizuki can answer them, or you can ask me. Best of luck!" (Melanie)
Melanie hands Nina her guild card and handbook, and I go ahead and pay Nina's guild fees. Nina smiles at me, seemingly amused by her guild card. She seems happy, though, so I smile back at her. We both give our thanks and farewells to Melanie, then prepare to leave.
Behind Nina, I notice Kent sitting next to a couple of adventurers, and they all seem to be watching us discreetly. Kent is focusing…on me. He has the same strange look in his eyes as before.
I don't have a good feeling about that. I hope I'm wrong, but even if it's a small chance that I'm not, I'd rather deal with this now.
[Nina…don't react to this message. I believe our display here today might have garnered some unwanted attention. I don't know for sure if it will be hostile in nature yet, but I'd like to find out. I'm going to set a little trap to try and lure them out, and I just need you to play along. They seem to be focused on me, and after seeing your test results, I don't think they'd try anything with you around. So, we'll need to separate briefly. Are you willing to do that for me?] (Mizuki)
Through my connection with Nina, I sense surprise, then agitation, then disappointment. After a few moments, she responds.
[I guess so…it won't take long, will it?] (Nina)
[No, I promise to keep it to within an hour. I'll give you the key to our inn, and you can head back without me. I'll make a big show of it, so they know I'm alone. Also, make sure the receptionist at our inn sees your face when you get there. As soon as I get back to the room, I promise that we'll have that bath, too!] (Mizuki)
At the mention of the bath, I sense her spirits lift considerably.
[Alright, I'll be looking forward to it! Don't make me wait too long, Mizuki!] (Nina)
I smile at her and nod my agreement.
"Alright, Nina, you ready to go?" (Mizuki)
She smiles and nods in response to my question, then we begin walking towards the door. Most of the way there, within clear view of Kent and his friends, I pull out the room key and present it to Nina.
"Hey, Nina, I just remembered that I left some of our gear just inside the forest. Why don't you head to the inn, and I'll pick up the gear and then meet you back in our room? The gates will be closing in the next hour, and I don't want to leave our stuff out here overnight!" (Mizuki)
"Sure thing, Mizuki! Don't be too long!" (Nina)
We wave our very public goodbyes, and I wait a few moments while Nina heads out of the guild. I put the dopiest sucker-looking grin on my face that I can, and I stretch dramatically.
Is this entrapment? Well, yeah, I guess. If they take the bait, though, I'm not going to care. I won't be unfair if it comes to that.
After a few more moments, I walk leisurely out of the guild and start making my way towards the city gate. It has already started to dim within the city. I extend my magic sense behind me in a thin arc to detect magic signatures exiting the guild. Then, I just keep walking towards the city gate. After a minute, nothing happens, and I begin to think that my worries were unfounded.
A few moments later, however, I sense someone leave the guild. Then, two more people, all a few seconds apart. They turn towards the direction that I headed, and after another minute I don't sense anyone else leave the guild.
Hmm…could that be Kent and his two friends taking the bait? I can't help but smile.
After several more minutes, I'm almost to the city gate and the three people have continued following my path. I expand my magic sense and tune it to gauge their relative power levels.
One of them is the second strongest signature in the city, while the strongest signature in the city is elsewhere. If the latter is Ilina, that would make this person following me the strongest local. So, probably Kent.
I make my way out of the city gate, and when I'm once again in view of the presences I'm tracking, I begin jogging at a normal pace towards the forest's edge. After a moment, the presences pick up pace as well. Oh, yeah, no doubt. I've got pursuers, and the only question left now is what they may want.
After a few more minutes of jogging, I make it to the forest's edge and bend over like I'm catching my breath. After the presences get a little closer, I slowly walk into the forest until I'm out of their sight. Then, I apply full concealment spells and wait.
Eventually, Kent and his two goons enter the forest.
"Either of you see where he went?" (Kent)
"Nope."
"Nah, boss."
Kent and the goon squad continue looking around for me and start walking deeper into the forest. I watch the direction they're headed, and then I run to get ahead of them on their path. When I'm sure that I'm out of their line of sight, I drop my concealment spells and start walking back to meet them. Just in case, I apply a max body enhancement spell.
After a minute, they come into view. The sun is starting to lower behind the tree canopy, and sunset won't be too far behind. Time to earn my Oscar.
I put on my best impression of someone totally clueless.
"Oh, wow, Kent is that you! That's so wild, what a small world. What are you doing out here?" (Mizuki)
Hearing my voice, Kent approaches me with a warm smile on his face. His goons trail a few feet behind with smirks on their faces. So, still in character, huh Kent?
"Oh, hey, Mizuki! Well, we heard you were heading out here, and since it's so close to dark we got worried about you. We try to look out for new recruits, yah know?" (Kent)
As he says this, he's scanning the forest intently, as if looking for threats…or witnesses.
"By the way, Mizuki, are you alone out here? You didn't bring Nina with you?" (Kent)
God, could he be any more direct? I chuckle internally. I guess two can play at that game. I raise my eyebrows in surprise, like it just occurred to me.
"Yeah, she went back to the inn without me! In retrospect, I guess that was kind of silly of me, huh? I mean I'm so isolated out here that if I twisted my ankle or something nobody would even be able to hear me calling for help. It's really lucky that you guys showed up!" (Mizuki)
Kent seems to smile happily at that statement, then nods his agreement and responds.
"Oh, for sure, us adventurers have to stick together, you know? Hey, speaking of which, I didn't really hear you give your opinion earlier when we spoke. For times like this, don't you think it'd be better if you were part of a larger party? Maybe you could try talking to Nina and convincing her you guys should join us. I'd hate to see something happen to such nice young people." (Kent)
That's very clever of you, Kent, you smooth talker. Now, if all you came out here to do is try and talk to me alone, that's no problem. Hell, I'd overlook a little intimidation so long as you gave up. However, if you're in the habit of hurting people…we might have a problem.
I'd like to find out where on the spectrum of persuasion, coercion, or serious hostility he falls. Persuasion…check.
"Ah, gosh, I don't think I can manage that, Kent. I appreciate how cool it'd be to join you guys, but there's no way she'd agree to it! Crazy as it is, she just prefers hanging out alone with me. Truth is, I prefer it, too. So long as we're adventuring, I think she'll want to do it alone with me. I'm a lucky guy, huh?" (Mizuki)
Kent maintains his gentle appearance, and nods as if contemplating something.
"Oh, for sure, Mizuki, I said it from the start. What if you just insisted that you guys join a party, and you didn't budge? She'd be forced to join, too, right? I know that sounds mean, but if it keeps you both safe it might be worth it, wouldn't you say?" (Kent)
Hmm…that feels like coercion…check. I bet if I agreed here, he'd settle for that. However, if there's any chance that he's truly horrible, I want to know, so I'm going to make this really simple for him. I respond with my same dopey smile, acting oblivious.
"Oh, nah, I would never make demands of her like that. Truthfully, so long as I'm breathing, she'll never want to be in another party, and I'm not going to make her!" (Mizuki)
Kent smiles and nods like he understands. Then, he looks at me one last time, and all pretenses drop. His face loses its warmth, and a look of disgust is plainly apparent now. So, this is the real Kent?
"Tch…well, I tried to play nice with you, Mizuki. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm going to have to hurt you now. You see, we want Nina in our party, and I always get the talent that I want. It's how you stay on top around here. So, if I told you that I could beat you senseless right here, or you could convince Nina to join our party, which would you choose?" (Kent)
Hmm…this is tough. If he's only willing to rough me up, that's bad, but I can't justify killing him. I also can't just overpower them and leave witnesses. I'll have to run away if he's only willing to rough me up. Then, I can handicap them in a surprise attack later, so they'll assume that Nina did it after I told her. She'll have an alibi at the inn to protect her, and the secret of my strength will be safe.
As I'm thinking over how to respond, one of the goons interjects.
"Boss, should we really risk him mentioning this to his girlfriend? She could be a problem. Wouldn't it be better to just kill him like that…" (goon 1)
Before the goon can finish, Kent cuts him off abruptly.
"Shut up you idiot!" (Kent)
Ahh…so they've done something similar before, and they were willing to kill. Even if they wouldn't do it to me, that's all the justification I needed. I can drop my façade, too.
A smile spreads across my face, and I start laughing out loud. I smirk and direct my gaze at the interjecting goon.
"Hahahaha…oh man, thanks for the slip up, dumbass. So, you've killed before to get what you wanted, huh? In that case, I can kill you without any regrets. Here I was wondering what to do if you were only willing to rough me up a bit, but you've made things easy for me now." (Mizuki)
The goon looks shocked, and then angry. Kent, however, looks shocked, but then his eyes narrow suspiciously. He seems to get a bit more on edge.
Good instincts, Kent, but they won't save you.
"Hey, what the hell did you say to me you little brat!? Are you stupid, or just trying to bluff? We are an A-ranked party, and Kent there is the strongest guy in Elmesia. We already know about you, you G-rank magicless loser." (goon 1)
I ignore the goons and talk to Kent.
"Well, well…Kent, I must say that I'm impressed. You're a little smarter than your lackies, huh? You don't seem certain that I'm dumb or bluffing, do you?" (Mizuki)
Keith eyes me carefully.
"What's this about, Mizuki? Are you a guild agent or something? Even then, you'd be stupid to face me alone, much less all three of us." (Kent)
I smirk at him and chuckle once more. I'm really going to feel better when this piece of trash is gone.
"Oh, don't worry, Kent. I plan to answer every question you ask tonight. However, you should know that there is nothing you can say or do that will change my mind…you'll all be dying here tonight. So, shall we get started?" (Mizuki)
I teleport all three of us into Nina's clearing…I don't want evidence close to town. Noticing the change in scenery, the three of them look around in bewilderment.
Kent is the first to act – after muttering a quick incantation, he pulls out his broadsword and launches at me with breakneck speed. So, he must be alteration class.
I add a mild time slow spell, and I watch as he tries to hit me with an overhead slash. I grab it with my bare hand, then smile at him around the blade. His eyes go wide in shock.
"My, my, is this the best you can do? Don't worry, I'm in a hurry so I'll be making this as quick and painless as possible. Even though that might be more than you deserve." (Mizuki)
I slam him to the ground with his weapon, then apply a gravity spell on him and his two goons that pins them to the ground. I walk over to the first goon.
I pull out my katana, and I stick it through the back of his neck, near his brainstem. One down. Kent screams out at me from his vantage point. However, I ignore him and repeat the process with the second goon. Two down. Mostly painless, I hope.
"Sorry to freak you out, Kent, but I'm about to destroy their bodies and equipment. Say a prayer or whatever now if you want." (Mizuki)
Kent does not say a prayer for them…very inconsiderate in my opinion. Although, I guess they don't really have religion here.
"GAAHHHHH! Screw you!" (Kent)
I focus on the second goon's body, and I imagine a variation of my gold-making spell. I will all his body and equipment to turn into oxygen for the atmosphere. After a moment, his body starts to disappear, and a huge rush of air begins blasting the area. After a few more moments, there's nothing left. Keith seems confused.
"What the hell did you do!? What are you, some kind of monster!?" (Kent)
"Ah, yes, I did promise to answer your questions, didn't I? Very well. I'm human, believe it or not. I'm just from a different world, and I happen to be very strong. That's it…nothing more, nothing less. As for what I did, I turned their bodies into air, like what you breathe. I figured they'd at least be useful this way, as a kind of penance." (Mizuki)
As I answer his questions I walk over and repeat the disposal process on the first goon. After it's over, I turn to Kent again.
"Alright, you can ask one more question if you want. I promised Nina something soon, so I can't hang around much longer." (Mizuki)
I release the gravity spell on Kent, and he climbs up slowly. It looks like he's pretty hurt. Maybe I had the gravity too intense.
"DAMN IT! I'm going to kill you now, you worthless little twerp!" (Kent)
He's staring at me, and his eyes are burning with hatred. I sigh deeply. That's not a question Kent, what a waste.
Before Kent can move, I teleport behind him and stick my katana through the back of his neck, then kick his body back to the ground. I wipe my blade on his clothes and sheathe it, then I dispose of Kent's body and equipment the same way as the other two.
I look around at the scene. There are a few bloodstains left, but this location is isolated, and it's not like this world has DNA testing. There should be no risk of me being implicated. As far as everyone is concerned, I'm just a weakling after all.
I smile sadly at the turn of events, but I'm not too bothered, honestly. What does that make me?
They were trash and it probably needed to be done, sure, but I didn't flinch at all with the actual killing, even though it was my first time. After a few minutes of reflection, I shrug at the night air, then I teleport back to the inn room where Nina is.