Book 3: Chapter 25: Majo: The Blue Demon Blades
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“Here we are! Let’s go get everyone else so we can finally go back” Maova announced as we reached the camp. It’s been a bit of a long walk and she was clearly bored throughout. The trio are fine as far as I can tell, if clearly exhausted.

Maova walked over to the building and went inside, no doubt calling out everyone in there to hurry up so we can all go back. The adventurers stationed here also walked over to us.

“Goes smoothly I hope” The spearwoman said as she looked at the group before her.

“Yeah, I’d say it’s good enough” I replied dismissively.

Waiting for a while I see that the others are now out of the building and walking along with Maova to group up with us.

“Okay then. Everyone. That was a good showing from the nine of you… Yeah nine of you. What did she fight again?” Maova began announcing then realized she had no idea what Ran fought against since she wasn’t there.

“Two goblins” I answered her dryly.

“Yeah that. I’ll make sure your achievements get recorded and hopefully get used at a later date. Now that today’s activity is over, let’s go back to the academy and get some rest… Actually the sun didn’t quite set just yet so the time we spent was thankfully not that long, anyhow let’s go back, I have to deal with a meeting tomorrow so I want to go back and prepare. The class is over!” Maova announced and noted. A meeting tomorrow… Ah, I do have a meeting tomorrow as well, it should be the same meeting, whatever it is about.

Everyone began moving and out of the forest. The walk is a bit long from what I remembered, hopefully it doesn’t take too much time.

 

#####

 

*Rumble*

Once again we’re on the carriage and sitting there waiting for this thing to bring us home. I am with the same group as the coming trip. From the looks of it they all look relieved with themselves.

“So, from the looks of it you all did pretty well aren't you? Those skepticism from before seems unfounded doesn’t it?” I said cheering them up a bit.

“I guess” Mitsuka replied, sounding a bit embarrassed by the praise.

“I couldn’t have done it without you” Yumi noted humbly.

“Same here” Ran followed.

“The one in vaguely eastern clothing helped us a lot actually. Mitsuka forgot to mention it” Kioshi suddenly added much to Mitsuka’s chagrin. Seems everyone here gets some help from someone.

“I see… Anyway Floria what do you think of this?” I commented then asked Floria, wanting to know her feelings on this.

“It was fine, and boring” She answered. That wasn’t many words but definitely got her point across. Anyway that was all I wanted to ask about. Time to just wait about and for the ride to be over.

 

#####

 

“Here we are!” Maova announced as she got out of her carriage before we did. Walking around announcing so. The sky is setting and I think everyone involved wants to go back home and rest up already.

Everyone gets out of the carriages and groups up one more time.

“Alright then you four, you can go back now. You nine trainees, go back to your dorm. As for you two… Well doesn’t matter, just that you specifically will come with me tomorrow to the meeting. Anyway. Dismiss!” Maova announced as she walked away, and the four adventurers went their own separate ways.

“Well that was the end of it. Let me take you home Floria” I said to Floria as everyone else went into the academy. I reach out my hand to her.

“Very well” She replied as she took my hand.

*Zoom*

And with that we’re back in her room. The same old and boring room within the guild building. It’s devoid of life and style.

“Well. I’m glad you were there with me, but let us part for now” I said as I turned my back towards her. 

“But we’ll meet again won’t we?” She asked, sounding very much real. She’s genuine with her question.

“Of course” I said very firmly, looking at her one last time before-

*Zoom*

Teleported back to my room. Now I’m alone on an almost dark day. I have to go to the castle tomorrow, thankfully there’s a time designated on it and what to do once I get there, and hopefully it doesn’t take too long. I would be able to approach the two people who I feel like are more integrated with the situation at hand more than anyone could think. I need to find a way to talk to them and get some sort of clue. Maova is fairly easy to talk to, but that Hero fellow… I don’t know how much information I could get out of her, but it would be nice to at least know her deal… After I’m done with that I have to talk to Floria as well, I want to make sure she opens up and deals with everything that bothered her.

…Is there anything else I can do today? It’s still some time before I need to go to sleep. Yesterday I slept early because I drank quite a lot, and a day after that I was getting comfortable. Today I really don’t think I have any excuse I can come up with myself… Well I could go outside without anyone knowing and maybe just check out the world at large, I think that’ll be fine… 

*Zoom*

So yeah I just teleported out of the city, what was I trying to do? Well in games this would essentially be the free roam, and sometimes you can find something about the game on your own if you use this section correctly. If you have freedom you use it, that’s just what I am doing.

*Float* *Fly*

I fly through the sky and look around. The sun is almost done setting and letting the darkness take hold. I think I’ll maybe explore some area of this world and then go back after some time. 

…Maybe that forest is a good place to start? It’s not the same one that we just went to this afternoon, and it’s not too far from the capital as well, relatively speaking.

*Land*

I landed near the forest, what could possibly be in the woods at such a time? I have no idea, but I’d rather be cautious if all possible.

*Shine*

While I could try that technique that essentially gives me night vision, I prefer doing this more traditionally, besides it could attract whatever is in here to come and play. Having a ball of light floats about so I know what’s in front or around me. Using night vision spells really irritates the eyes, so I don’t like using them. Of course my eyes are also generally used to darkness already, but I’m no supernatural creature that can just see everything as if it’s in broad daylight.

…I continued to walk about in the darkness with the ball of light being my only companion. Certainly not a place any weak-willed can come, forest in the dark is generally seen as pretty scary to say the least.

*Rustle*

Rustling, clearly something is close by, but what exactly? I look about and only see some small creatures. Not looking like there is anything particularly dangerous around.

…This is a surprisingly barren forest, where the heck am I? This is no normal forest that much is certain… Yeah this is concerning. If this is so barren and abandoned then there must’ve been something very dangerous on here, I need to check out what said danger is, in case anyone came here, in case the class needs to come here… Well maybe not the latter but probably the former.

Just what is truly here? Demon? Powerful monster? Something else?

…I need to maybe take a less straight path, which there isn’t any in the first place, maybe some clearing but that’s it. Walking through a forest is just something I do a lot of times. Now where is the big bad of this forest. Where you are?

*Shine*

I brighten the ball of light and see if anything nearby will react to it, I see a few small creatures jumping and about but absolutely nothing else, further in I go I guess.

…Continuing to walk inside the silent woods… There are certainly not many things about… This is turning boring, where is the thing that causes the place to become so desolate?

…Oh? Now this is interesting. Marks on the trees. They’re like a mark from a blade of some sort, isn’t that crazy. People were definitely here, some of the trees are marked with dried out blood, some sort of battle took place here, and whatever that battle was, from the looks of it the people didn’t come out victorious.

*Shine*

More shining as I most likely got closer to whatever is at the core of this place, whatever actually exists in this place that made it so eerie… Where is the thing that I have been looking for at? Should I make another burst of light?

*Shine*

I think that helps, I think I saw a clearing nearby, that must be where the big bad is at, where I will finally understand the mystery of this specific forest.

*Shine* *Groan*

I can hear what is a groan as well as a silhouette of someone, yeah, someone and not just something. A clearly feminine shape, a demon perhaps, groaning in a voice of a woman.

*Shine* *Groan*

Instead of simply moving the ball of light towards the woman I simply flashes the ball at her again, just to mess with her a bit, that and I am not approaching someone who is clearly dangerous, I’m going to provoke her from afar and not up close, I’m not stupid.

*Shine* *Groan*

Her groans sound a bit more aggressive. Was she just sleeping here and gets annoyed that I’m waking her up with a light spell? Now I really can’t approach her.

“Hey! Can you hear me!” I shouted out to her in the darkness, now the ball of light is by my side and dimmed, with the darkness now concealing the figure. Before the darkness settles I can see the person’s aesthetic. Dark blue hair tied in a short ponytail. Her torso is only covered by bandages, her lower body is covered by the dull colored and puffy pants, and she has sandals besides her.

I can see the silhouette slowly moving from the log she’s sleeping on. She’s not saying anything and simply moved her body and looked at me, that much I can see from the dark, meanwhile she can see me clearly.

“How foolish are you to come here?” She asked, sounding plenty menacing. There are no weapons near here that much I know, of course that doesn’t mean she isn’t dangerous at the moment.

“How am I supposed to know?” I replied, being sarcastic about it.

“Hmm… Just who are you exactly?” She asked no doubt being cautious of someone who went into a forest as the night creeps, not something that people usually do.

“Me? I’m but a traveler from a completely different land altogether” I replied, not giving much information at the moment as there is no need to.

“And a mage on top of it” She noted, with her eyes reflecting the light from the ball.

“Indeed, well I’m more known as a witch but let’s not talk about that. Regardless now that I have answered your question, how about you answer mine fair maiden?” I replied with a bit of grace at the end, in which she scoffs it for some reason.

“Guess you don’t see what I looked like with how little lights there are” She noted as she stood still watching me, not moving at all.

“I can fix that easily” I noted in return.

*Shine*

“Gah! That was stupidly bright” She commented as she reacted to the light ball shining a few times stronger. She shielded her eyes for the moment the light flashes.

Now her appearance is extremely clear, and one thing I can see for certain is the weird bulge in the bandages. Clearly there is something up with that.

“Nothing bad so far, in fact the fair maiden point still stands does it not?” I teasingly said so getting a good look at the person in front of me.

“Hah!? What’s wrong with you?” She almost shrieked just due to my compliment… Wait did I just try to charm another person? What the heck is wrong with me? I need to make the house bigger again doesn’t I? Well at least for now no one in particular wants to go with me, and the one in front of me especially I’m not sure at all since I met her literally like only a minute ago.

“Was that compliment not to your liking, my apologies. Anyhow I cannot ignore someone living alone in the forest with many, humans or otherwise, dying mysteriously in this barren forest” I replied a bit teasingly, then bringing up the point I want to make in the first place. Her face clearly tensed up whenI brought that point up.

“What about it?” She asked, sounding very cautious. I could keep this up but I don’t think I’m willing to do that at the moment.

“Let’s put away all the pretense okay? I know full well you’re the culprit for this forest’s condition, you clearly don’t want to deal with people, and I am intruding” I noted, just getting straight to the point much to her clearly perplexed face.

“Then why are you still here?” She asked, unable to stand my reasoning… Before that…

[Appraisal]

 

Name: Rumel 

Gender: Female

Age: 22

Race: Human/Uliozward

 

Level: 177

Class: Sword Demon

HP: 33,487/33,487

MP: 2,101/2,101

Strength: 1,332

Magical Prowess: 1,337

Dexterity: 1,339

Agility: 1,341

Luck: 1,202

Vitality: 1,322

Magical Resistance: 1,340

 

Weapon Proficiency

Sword: B+

Brawl: D+

 

Race Trait: [Sword Morph (Arms)]

 

She’s definitely not stronger than me, but what gives me pause is that race of hers. Is she perhaps modified into what that is? Half races and hybrids aren’t uncommon but from what I know it’s possible to achieve the same thing.

‘Did I experiment on people to get that nickname? No! I mean I could’ve done that with my partner here but she has better ideas…’ That's what she said before revealing the much more uncomfortable method. 

“Frankly speaking, you can’t beat me, and I have no intention of beating you, so battle is out of the question. I cannot be feared of you, nor do I plan to make you fear me, it’s best for us to just talk it out” I said very tactlessly to the one in front of me, if the reading is correct she could create a sharp object from her arms to cut a massive portion of my health, but that’s implying she could even get a hit in, and the massive difference in power means the otherwise lethal attack wouldn’t be one.

“Tch. What makes you so confident?” She asked, scorning at me crossing her arms. 

“Sorry, but it’s just the fact of the matter. Anyway how about we just stop with these aggressive looks and let’s chat?” I replied trying not to sound condescending and actually got this over with without any problem. She looked at me clearly skeptical of my claim. Considering her clearly abnormal ability it’s understandable for her to think that she should be stronger than any humans, unfortunately I’m anything but ‘any’.

“...What’s your plan exactly?” She clearly asked, still being skeptical about my approach, and that made sense, as I am not exactly doing what people might consider normal.

“Exactly what I just said” I replied sounding very much serious and rather not let her drag this out and possibly misunderstood my intention. My sudden change of tone caused her to back off slightly, almost jumping at what I said as I glared at her for a second.

“S-Seriously?” She asked, looking pretty intimidated as she clenched her bandages.

“Yeah, just that” I said with a less harsh tone, walking closer to her as she still seemed a bit taken aback by my bold approach. I do believe it’s best for us to just talk it out and nothing else. Her face is very much that of confusion, unsure of what to do or say, it’s shown very clearly on her face.

“I… You can’t be serious!” She said in denial. Yeah I don’t blame her, but still I am serious about it.

“I very much am and I will get what I’m here for” I said a bit teasingly as I walked over and very close to her, still paralyzed in confusion, sliding my finger on her chin teasingly and perhaps a bit too close for her comfort. Her face is red and clearly mixed with many emotions.

*Rip* *Swing* *Evade*

“Well that was a bit rude” I casually said as I stepped back seeing her retaliating. Her bandages are ripped to shred and what is revealed is definitely not of this world. Two strange and crimson arms, and in the place of a hand are two blades, so that was what the sword morph is all about.

She has four arms, one pair normal and human looking, another pair demonic and dangerous.

*Dash*

Guess she snapped, no matter, I’ll just deal with this quickly.

*Swing* *Evade* *Swing* *Evade*

She keeps swinging at me and I keep dodging, it’s of no problem for me whatsoever.

*Swing* *Evade* *Swing* *Evade*

Yeah this is of no problem whatsoever, easily dealt with.

“[Accel-Self: Quintuple]” I chanted as I stepped away out of her range.

Now the world is five times slower, or rather I am five times faster than it, I need to deal with this quickly before the backlash becomes too strong.

I quickly dashed over to her side as her movement is nowhere fast enough to attack me when I’m right beside her for an instant. Her face clearly was that of shock as it seemed like I appeared before her at unimaginable speed.

*Tickle*

Yeah that’s what I did during that small frame of time. I quickly run out of the way and dispels it quickly.

“Pff- Hahahahaha!” She’s unable to contain the burst of the sense of touch I gave her- Ow... That was definitely painful, if I use it for even a few seconds more my bones would’ve probably cracked or turned into dust. All for that tickle to calm her down, it’s a bit of a weird way to do it but using force would’ve been too mean spirited and not doing anything would’ve just made this whole thing way too long.

She almost collapsed from the skillful finger work of mine, then looked back at me with a less serious expression, then back to a more perplexed one, then just looked overall unsure as well as embarrassed.

“Ready to talk?” I said walking over to the log she was sleeping at while also feeling a bit bored of the whole deal trying to get her to see my intention clearly, then settled on sitting on said log.

She stood back up trying to not lose any more dignity… Looking at me for a few seconds in silence… Sighing and clearly trying to make up her mind…

“...Fine” She sighed in defeat as she walked over to me and her blade arms turned to something more normal. Well now we finally get somewhere.

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