CHAPTER 56: “GLOSSYDIAMOND_234, MAGE EXTRAORDINAIRE”

 

“So that means you agree to the deal?”

In the end, there was no actual need to track down LadyMaia. Scarily, when the two stepped outside the tower, the other mediator was waiting for them on the other side of the entry, grinning at them with a suspicious smile. Ai shuddered when he thought of the possibility that she had been following them all this time.

All of them quickly retreated back to the upper floor of the tower. Ai wanted them to go back to the garden, but the door had already disappeared once they stepped out and LadyMaia had assured them that there weren't actually a lot of players left.

The three of them sat near the window while LadyMaia’s partner, the archer LemonRush had disappeared somewhere to watch their surroundings in case of an attack. Morion sat nearest to the window. Occasionally he would glance out and scan their surroundings as well.

Ai cleared his throat. “N-not yet. I want to hear what you know first. Especially about Elain’s partner, the mage.”

“I see you’ve unfortunately got caught by the mage’s annoying spells.” LadyMaia tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I see…information. Yeah sure why not.”

Ai blinked. “O-okay then.”

Hearing the slight doubt in his voice, she chuckled. “Believe it or not, I know how much of a commitment a guild is. If I want you to join us, I’ll need to try a bit harder I guess. Take this information as another way to convince you that I’m not that untrustworthy.”

Her mischievous grin made Ai think that she was anything but trustworthy, but nevertheless he listened intently as LadyMaia told him what she knew.

Elain’s partner as they all knew was a mage. Unexpectedly the mage was the ultimate reason why Elain was so strong in the event. They were incredibly crafty, resourceful and knew how to work a spell. Elain was only the powerhouse of the two. The mage had a multitude of spells under their belt that easily weakened other players for Elain to then finish off easily.

The mage class itself was a tricky class. Classes like warriors or mediators have a very linear path in growth. Players learn skills, upgrade their equipment and their stats grow with them as they level. Mages however had a system called the [Crossings] systems. The system allowed them to mix and match the spells they already know to ultimately create a new spell. This was where the previous tracking fireball spell came from.

Even though the [Crossings] system was incredibly powerful, it was also incredibly wonky. To keep the class balanced, the [Crossings] system had a very low rate of success and not all the spells could be mixed to create a new one. Apparently, Elain’s partner was one of the very few mages that found much success in mixing and creating powerful spells that no other mage had.

Smirking, LadyMaia explained about the one spell that could be the key to their victory. A spell the mage cast called [Spiritual Joining]. It was a high grade and very rare spell that the mage only had. The spell required two players. It would create a special bond between them. The bond would increase both of their stats, allow them to share buffs and offer protection from lethal hits. 

Like all spells, however, it had a weakness. 

It allowed the players to share buffs meaning that if one player got a buff, the other player would too. This system however also worked the same with debuffs and other side effects.

“The [Mediation Session] skill…” Ai realized. “If we can bait one of them to break the agreement, we can defeat them.”

LadyMaia snickered and reached out to ruffle Ai’s hair. Annoyed, Ai swatted her hand away and gave her a tired look. “Looks like you’re pretty smart. Luckily for us, the mage has a terrible personality. Impatient, bad temper, bad loser. Perfect for falling for traps and baits.”

Ai tilted his head. “How do you know so much about them?”

LadyMaia froze for a split second before ruffling Ai’s hair again with a wicked grin, this time with both hands. “Why are you so curious? Join our guild and I’ll tell you~”

Ai pushed both her hands away from his head and scooted closer to Morion for protection. He glared at her but didn't comment on her dodging the question. He really wasn’t good at handling someone like her.

“So? Do you want us to help or not?” LadyMaia held out her hand for a handshake.

Ai stared at her hand and hesitated. “Your guild…are they nice?”

LadyMaia blinked then laughed out loud, enough to probably alert another player. “I assure you that the members are okay. Meh, at the very least.”

That wasn’t very comforting. Still, Ai held out his hand as well and gripped LadyMaia’s in a firm handshake.

“Welcome to Rose Eloquence, new member!”

“Only if we win.”

“Who says you haven’t already?”

 

***

 

It was decided that the four of them would split up into two groups. Ai and LemonRush would go after the mage while Morion and LadyMaia would go and distract Elain just in case the strong player would come to the mage’s rescue. Although setting up the trap would be better if Ai and LadyMaia were together, their offensive skills were pretty low so it was best that the offensive power was equally divided.

Before they parted ways, Ai had stared at LadyMaia’s sword. He still couldn’t understand why she used that sword even though she couldn’t use it properly. LadyMaia had clicked her tongue and wagged her finger.

“Your first mediator lesson from your senior.” He didn’t know when she started treating him like her school junior. “Mediators must be resourceful. Though I can’t use the sword, it has a passive that gives me an advantage in battle.”

It was then she dropped a simple but shiny sword into his hands and gave him a wink. “Good luck!”

As Ai and LemonRush walked through the forest to track the mage down, Ai studied the sword in his hand. Right now it wasn’t equipped since that would decrease his walking speed by a lot. Like all his weapons, he would only be able to equip it in his sub slot instead of his main slot. Equipping weapons in sub slots decreased its stats but because he intended to only use the passive, it shouldn’t matter.

Passives…why didn’t he think of that.

LemonRush observed Ai’s thoughtful expression and gently tapped his shoulder. “Sorry about Maia. I know she's…a lot.”

Ai felt like that was an understatement but he nodded anyway. 

LemonRush gave him a smile. “She means well. She’s just excited at the idea of a new guild member.”

That, he understood. Though LadyMaia was energetic and a bit…unpredictable, to say the least, she’d been nothing but nice to him which made him not as nervous about the idea of joining a guild.

Ai put the sword back to his inventory and continued to focus on walking.

LemonRush had been able to track the mage’s whereabouts before the four of them had decided to work together. They were a hard person to track since their traces disappeared quickly, presumably because of another one of their spells.

Along the way, the two of them made many stops where LemonRush would draw a simple rune on the trees. The runes would glow subtly and the archer would know where to go.

“A simple tracking spell. It can detect spells that have been cast in the area.” LemonRush had said proudly when Ai asked. “It was a hard earned quest reward.”

The two of them continued further into the forest and closer into the edge of the arena map.

“Makes sense why they would use the edge of the map. Easy to corner you against the map barrier there so most players won’t take their chances.”

The edge of the map didn't look at, well, the edge at all. It looked like the forest stretched beyond the map. The nearer he got though, the more Ai could sense something preventing him from going even further. This should be the system that’s preventing players from going out of bounds. 

“The tracks end here.” LemonRush had drawn another rune on the tree trunk, but it didn’t glow like before.

Ai took out the sword LadyMaia gave and tried not to look stupid as someone who had never held a sword in his life.

The two of them looked around to find their target but the area was suspiciously empty. Then Ai caught a movement just in his peripheral vision. There was a small silhouette on one of the tree branches, its legs swinging back and forth in joy.

LemonRush saw it too. He placed a finger against his lips then gestured for Ai to approach it slowly. Meanwhile, LemonRush blended smoothly in the shadows and attempted to go around the silhouette to block off potential escape.

Ai did as told and began to creep up to the silhouette slowly. As he got closer, he could hear the sound of swords clanking. Was that two players battling one another?

He could see it clearly now. Two warrior players were fighting one another, their swords clashing and stabbing their opponent with great vigor. Ai frowned. Something didn’t feel right.

“Illusion magic.” A childlike voice came from above the trees. Ai flinched. The mage knew he was near. 

The voice hummed a song that seemed familiar. It reminded him of the children's song that he’d heard in passing. How young was this player?

“Very strong magic. Limited use though and I can’t use it for some classes.” The voice continued. “But these two were perfect. Lower leveled than me and warriors too! Easiest class to fool.”

Ai glanced at the two players again as they stabbed one another and disqualified one another from the event. He realized now that the two were partners and the so-called illusion magic had made them take out each other.

He gripped his sword even tighter and looked up. The mage was staring at him now. The face of a little girl with a cute smile.

“I believe you’re looking for me.” The little mage swung her legs joyfully. “GlassyDiamond_234, mage extraordinaire!”