Chương 24: Chapter 21

Gentle Breeze. It is always amazing how your body first notices the differences when going from a developed area to a wilderness area. Then how quickly your body begins to yearn for both the creature comforts of society while also enjoying the open sensations of the great outdoors. When outside, everything is new and pleasant, at least at first. The air is crisp and clean. The woods are vibrant and green. Even the way grass feels brushing against your protected feet is a pleasant distraction.

Then you start to notice the problems. The sun is just too hot to be walking under directly for the entire day. If it rained recently, while there is a pleasant scent of vegetation immediately afterwards, that scent can apparently go stale when mosquitos and flies use random pools to congregate and lay eggs. Or worse, seeing what you first think is a deer sleeping under a tree. You know it is alive as there is a slight twitch to the creature as if it is having a deep dream filled slumber.

Yet, something is off, when you realize that despite making noise, the deer doesn't react. Then wondering if something is wrong with the creature as you see what might be a blood trail and only wish to see if you can heal said deer, you get closer. Only to realize that the deer is in fact dead and that the twitching is caused by maggots and larva that are actively eating the deer from the inside out. BLEH! I vomited, right into my mask, which only made matters so much worse.

Fortunately, thanks to my bloodline I don't really need as much water to survive and was thus able to use most of my water to both clean my face and mask before I ultimately decided on keeping the mask off, as every time I put it on, I was reminded of the vomit smell.

Still, if I wasn't certain before that this was not an Otome game, I was pretty sure that the image of the rotting deer carcass, along with the inclusion of annoying swarms of insects not directed by necromancers, and other creatures were enough to finally make me realize I was not in a video game. At least not a video game that would pass the PG-13 nature that this game was supposed to maintain. That's right, to actually view, or participate in the truly "adult" content, you had to first verify your age.

Create a biometric login, then activate a secondary link to view everything that was otherwise implied via a cutscene. Honestly, I rather preferred the detached nature of the true "romance" scenes as it let me just focus on the events of the game.

"You okay?" Marie asked, her voice pulling me from my own musings. Lifting up my head from the path we were following to look at her; I could see concern clearly written on her face. Just seeing her, I couldn't help but smile slightly, knowing that she truly was a good person, despite all the rumors about her.

"Yeah,""Don't worry, I too found the sight revolting, and know that I don't think any lesser of you for having such a violent reaction, to that sight," Marie states, and as she does, I can't help but feel lesser, despite her attempts to pick me up.

"Thanks," is about all I can say to that.

"Also, you can consider your debt for my joining in your campaign more than paid in full," Marie stated, gesturing towards my mask that was still in my left hand while we walked. Making sure to let the air try to get as much of the stench away from the mask as possible. I could only nod. This was our arrangement after all. Marie agreed to join us, but only under one condition. Namely, I had to take off my mask once while in her presence.

At first, I thought it was a joke, but judging by her expression and the way she keeps stealing glances at me, I think she might actually mean it.

"So, are you disappointed with the low price for your attendance?" I asked.

"Quite the contrary, I have found this to be one of the best deals I have made thus far," Marie states. Again, she is so sweet.

"Thank you," I begin and am about to say that I know she is just being overly kind, which is her nature as the saint. But then I stop myself before I can continue my thought.

"I too have to agree with Marie, seeing you without the mask has been well worth my time and travel as well," Rydel Drakerton said. Now I know he is just being kind, as I don't stand a chance with him.

"Flattery will get you everywhere," I state. All while he just smiles brightly.

"Come now, what man wouldn't give their right hand for such a chance. The class valedictorian for the Freshman class and the first Saint candidate in over a decade. And I am tasked with their protection and guidance, well it is an offer I could not refuse," Rydel says, and again all his charms come to life and instantly I feel the pang of what could never be.

"Great white buffalo," is all I mutter under my breath, a sign of what I imagine our relationship could be. Hell, I don't even care about anything truly physical, just him holding me would be enough.

"What was that?" Marie asks.

"Nothing," I state, realizing that I might have whispered too loudly to myself. Then finally after looking up, I look around and realize I've never seen this place before. I know part of it might be the fact that I'm not in that odd third person view that I normally see while walking around in a group of three people, the absolute minimum needed to explore. But there is something different about this place. Or rather, I don't remember this place.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Granted I will say that I mostly blacked out after the dead rotting deer scene and was mostly on autopilot following Rydel and his path, but still. By now something should be familiar. Even the attack sequences we had were mostly minor attacks. Rydel would take lead, set up a Flame Funnel that all the animals would be directed through and I would quickly cast Bolt repeatedly until the animals stopped squirming.

Of course, seeing the animals in their death throws only caused me to remember the violently moving skin of the deer. And I would be out of action for a bit. Fortunately, Marie was there to cast Cleanse, and Rejuvenate on me, making me feel better despite being so disgusted. Still, being here I couldn't help but notice that something was off. As there seemed to not be any creatures here for a while.

As I looked around, I wondered if there was a major predator, something that would denote a reason for animals to not just be quiet, but to avoid the area entirely. Then looking around, I began to see the signs of intense magic. I'm not certain if this is just my enhanced training taking over, or if this is a side effect of being exposed to a similar situation with the library, but I thought I saw another safe zone. Crack, creak. Rydel noisily strode forward, seemingly unmindful of the fact that I had stopped.

Though for her part Marie did stop immediately when I began to look around and scan the area.

"Wait!" I call out, my left hand instinctively going up in the sign of the closed fist. This was the physical command that needed to be given to make other group members stop, so it was only natural that I did so here.

"What is it?" Rydel asked, but I just unclenched my fist and waved two fingers to denote that I was focusing. That was when I began slowly walking towards the faintest trail of energy. Almost like two sheets of light were draped over each other and nearly perfectly aligned, but they just had enough difference to show a slight crease that could be entered. That is the best I could describe the place, when viewing it from a distance.

However, the closer I got to the area, the more I noticed the telltale signs of mana markings. Again, just like the library, here there were subtler signs of mana markings, though these were drawn on the underside of tree branches. So, the markings wouldn't disappear with rain and were able to continue pointing towards the direction.

"Do you see that?" I ask, pointing to the magic paint that clearly pointed towards the disturbance area ahead.

"See what?" Marie asked, a note of confusion in her voice. I turn to Rydel who also looks at the area that I am indicating, but then just looks back to me like I am mental. Seeing both their looks of confusion, I clarify.

"Okay, so neither of you see the odd pink paint that is all but pointing towards the disturbance area ahead?" I ask.

"Disturbance area?" The two ask at once. Hearing them, I feel slightly flustered, but then decide to go forward. As I get closer, I see more and more hidden markings that all point towards the area. In fact, I had been lucky, had I not seen it from the exact angle I did, I likely would have missed this area entirely. As things were, I managed to see the oddity first, and then the oddly familiar magical paint. Again, there was something going on here, and I was sort of curious as to what.

While the spot in the library likely would have been kept clean of clues, due to the fact that anyone could wander into the intense magical area. Here I had a feeling that the odds of someone running into this pocket area were drastically different. Meaning the person who applied the paint, might have left more clues about their intentions. Finally, we got to the point where we were right in front of the area. It was a small but oddly clean stone area.

Now that I was right next to it, I could once again see right into the structure as if it was an old stone house that had long ago been deserted, but for some reason had not been completely destroyed by the ever-encroaching vines and wild plants of the forest. Also, a bonus was the fact that all life, including insects, seemed to be repelled from the area.

"You two really don't see that?" I ask, this time pointing right to the opening, that would be more than big enough for all three of us to rest in for the night, should we need to. There were also signs that someone else had been here recently, if only by how clean everything looked.

"See what?" Rydel asked. I was about to wonder if they would call me crazy, but fortunately Marie was here. As she came forward and grabbed my free hand, the one still holding my mask and said three words that filled me with confidence.

"I believe you," Those three words, along with the intense stare of her eyes into my own, were enough to cause a shiver to run down my spine. Hearing her, I nodded, then half pulling her forward with me, I guided her into the safe spot of the zone.

"What, where did you go?" Rydel shouted, running forward and stopping a few feet away from the entrance.

"Come on in!" Marie shouted, but Rydel for his part looked like he couldn't hear a word we were saying. That is when I reached out my hand through the magical veil and grabbed hold of Rydel's hand before pulling him in with us. Rydel's face was priceless as he went from complete shock, to fear, then finally to awe as his eyes seemed to take in the safehouse that we were now in.

"What is this place?" Rydel asked, staring around the area and not taking another step forward. Before he turned his head to see through the magical layer of protection that separated this shelter from the outside world.

"Good question," I reply, and it was. I was going to say that this was another mana fountain area, but quickly stopped myself. Instead, I decided to take the moment to look around and see if there were any markings of the Ancients around here. After spending so many months in similar facilities, and being part of similarly protected rooms, I just sort of instinctively knew where to search by now.

It wasn't in the first obvious place, that being right near the first archway that served as a stone roof to protect from the elements. Fortunately, all it took was a quick touch and swipe at the light switch, at least that is what I called the area. It was a flat section of the wall at roughly the same height where a normal light switch would be. Then swiping my hand up, I felt a slight tug of mana that turned on the magical lights of the area.

"Whoa," the two exclaimed but I was still looking around. Then being able to see and move to the back, I found the name of the place in the back.

"Academy Southeastern Observation Post," I say, finding the slab and translating it almost as quickly as my mind can recognize the symbols. Only after I say the name of the location that we are in, do I realize that I might have made a mistake. This is mainly because of the way that both Marie and Rydel are staring at me like a couple of fishes slowly bubbling for air.

"You can't really expect me to believe that, can you?" Rydel asks, his tone incredulous. His words hurt, but I could see why he would say something like that. I mean this was after all the epitome of a semi-modern observation mountain house that was placed at the top of a mountain. In fact, now that I read the name, I remember why this area seemed so new. As this was either the expansion lands, or part of the paths that were unobtainable while I was playing.

There were hints and rumors that this southern mountain range would eventually open up as part of additional content that could be purchased, but it never became available. Then I remember, there was a fire that happened regardless of running CRETs in the sophomore year that made this range completely unassailable. It is this thought that makes me realize that I might be missing something. There was a reason that this place became untraversable, an explosion, or an eruption, something.

With Rydel coming through here the idea of an explosion didn't seem to be too hard to believe, but I don't think it was Rydel. In fact, that was something that was never covered during the main game, and something that seemed to have been casually glossed over for no real reason. Yet, this finding was amazing as it meant that I could, once I got my Teleportation activated and practiced enough, that I could come here even with the main path blocked.

This was fantastic, and a great reward for working so hard to get ahead so early in the plot. Marie for her part just looks completely shocked and almost seems to have her eyes turning white, the sign that she is going to receive a vision from the Gods. This is good, as it means that she is still favored by the Gods and has not deviated from the path of the Saint just yet. Stagger. Then I see her begin to stagger as her body begins to wobble due to how her body is completely locked up.

"Grab her," I shout, pulling Rydel out of his stupor and unwillingness to move, while I lunge forward and grab hold of Marie, letting her fall on top of me. Rydel quickly runs over to help, and together we manage to drag her to one of the five beds that have recently been made up. Five, once again the size of a full party. Also, the same number of rooms that were in all Ancient facilities, even the one that I spent three months straight training in.

Placing her down, Rydel just begins to breathe heavily, as the tension of the situation seems to be getting to him.

"What is wrong with her?" At this, I point to her milky white eyes and state, "this is the sign that she is receiving a message from the Gods. When she awakens, we must let her speak about what she spoke, otherwise the main parts of this message will be lost,""Right," Rydel states, staring at me with a note of confusion on his face. Pausing, I realize that Rydel is apparently going to take a moment to process his thoughts. During this time, I look down at my hand, only to realize that I somehow dropped my mask.

Well, dropping the mask was rather self-explanatory, as I was wrestling with getting an unconscious Marie into bed. Looking around the ground, I saw that somehow the mask had slid under the far table. A table that looked oddly out of place, especially given the normal layout and design of the Ancient facility. It took a second, but then I realized that the table seemed to be too large to adequately fit into the corner that it had been shoved into.

It wasn't until I reached down to grab my mask that I soon understood two things. First, the table had been moved, and apparently recently. The second thing I realized was why the large table had been moved.

"Hey, help me move this table," I shouted. Rydel for his part looked confused, but then quickly got up from his spot at the foot of Marie's bed to help me move the large wooden table. At least I thought it was wood, but it might have been sandstone given how heavy the table was. Fortunately, with Rydel's help I was able to move the table and finally reveal a small cache of goods and weapons of war. Seeing the stockpile, it was clear that the weapons and armaments were new.

Furthermore, I recognized the designs and insignias on the equipment as belonging to the invaders.

"What is that?" Was all Rydel could ask, as he reached in and pulled out a long magical staff. A staff that I knew all too well, as it belonged to the Devourer Queen, one of the final bosses for when the invaders finally made their push to conquer the land and wrestle its control away from the twelve kingdoms.

"Let me see that," I said, as I reached out to touch the staff. Glow. The moment I touched the staff I knew I had severely messed up, as it was that moment the staff seemed to come to life with an unearthly power.