The trip to the citadel of the Yanxiong region was moving smoothly after the surprising sneak attack from the local master of the mountain roads. Wonder if there was any bounty for that guy's head? We wouldn't reach the capital before the next day, so it was up to me to find a place for us to camp.

"Hmm. Hhmmmm. Hhhmmmmmm!" - Mira

Which would be easy if there wasn't a sprite sitting beside me, making strange noises.

"If you keep that up, I'm gonna throw you back into the carriage." - Garami

"I was already thrown out by Marcus. He's really moody when he's tired." - Mira

Thanks for the tip, but could you rather give me one on how to get you silent? Know the answer to that one already. I looked at the System Window that Mira didn't even care about hiding while thinking like the Thinker.

=====================================================================

SKILL SHOP

Available skill points: 30.8

Search by word: 

Search by skill [Swordsman LV50]

Available skills:

• Class [Magic Fencer], 5 Skill Points + Swordsman LV50 + War Mage LV13
• Class [Swordmaster], 10 Skill Points + Swordsman LV50
• Class [Soul Swordsman], 13 Skill Points + Swordsman LV50
• Class [Chaos Templar], 15 Skill Points + Swordsman LV50

=====================================================================

That's right, our Mira has completed the Swordsman class! She didn't waste any time to evolve her [Sword Arts] skill, which also reached LV50 due to the bear, to the [Sword King Arts] skill. Despite it costing 3 skill points, she still had enough points to get two new classes if that was what she wanted. The question is, what should she pick?

I'll give a quick explanation about the first three classes: the Magic Fencer is available by using Swordsman and a magic class with a total of 40 class levels or more, and it allows you to turn your magic spells into swords. Kinda different from how Mira stores magic spells into her physical ones with [Magic Weapon], or how [Magic Sword Arts] lets her use special Arts that's a hybrid of martial arts and magic.

Then, there's Swordmaster. One of the real evolutions for Swordsman. You need the class at LV50, then have the [Sword King Arts], making this a class almost limited for those with Swordsman as their main class, unless you can get [Sword King Arts] some other way. If the potential with the sword to Swordsman was 100, then Swordmaster is something like 200.

Other evolutions include Magic Swordsman, where you need some Magic Skills instead of the king Arts, plus 200 or more MAG. Another one is Blink Swordsman, which needs speed skills instead, and 200 in SPD. We also have Swashbuckler, which needs stuff like my [Dual Weapon] skill and 200 in DEX. Probably some classes for the remaining stats as well. Using the example from before, these classes are 150 with the sword, and the remaining 50 goes to their secondary specialization. Still strong though.

Soul Swordsman is different. This class gives you the ability to create swords out of pure mana, dubbed Soul Swords. No magic formulas or anything, but pure mana weapons. The mana weapons can be used as projectiles, as a certain golden hero-king, or you can wield them as regular swords. This class is special, as only spiritual creatures can obtain it, meaning people like sprites, fairies, and spirits. A race-locked class, that's tempting enough for Mira to consider it, despite it making it impractical for her to use her real swords then.

Now then, before I start on the final class, let me have a small talk about the holy knight classes. It won't take much time, so play with me here:

Ehem, first off, when someone has both a non-evolved warrior-class and a priest-class, both at level max, plus having a ridiculous high positive Karma Value, they can trade both those classes for either the defense-and-healing specialized Paladin class or the attack-and-exorcism specialized Crusader class.

However, there exists a third holy knight, the Templar. This class does not need a priest-class, instead, they need at least one Element Skill of a basic and/or composition attribute of either Light, Order, or Life. They also need skills of the same attribute as the Element skill, with a total skill level of 50 or more, along with a positive Karma Value of 100 or more. They also need a connection to a god of a good lineage, so to say.

Their specialty comes from whatever their warrior-class is, plus those skills they have, so they are more of a joker than Paladin and Crusader.

Then, we have the Chaos variants. Easily said, they are the unholy counterparts of the holy knight classes, like how Chaos Priest is for Priest. In Chaos Templar's case, they need an Element skill of an attribute of Dark, Chaos, or Death, skills of the same attribute at a total level of 50 or more, negative Karma Value of 100 or more, and they needed to catch the eye of the more infamous gods.

For Mira, it was the [Heretic Element]. The skill requirement was done thanks to [Heretic Immunity] counting as an LV50+ skill due to immunity skills is a resistance skill that's evolved after reaching LV50. She completed the Karma Value requirement just barely, and let's be honest here: being the kin of the Darkness goddess' Champion is equal to being a cardinal in her church.

"Master... Soul... Chaos... Hhhmmmmmm..." - Mira

And there you have it. With the safe choice, the choice directly connected to her species, and the strongest but most unstable choice, all before her, our resident sprite is in trouble with what she should choose.

Me? I couldn't help her. I was busy studying the Dragon Slayer skills. I had read about them once, but since the level of the skill never moved since when I got it, I forgot about what I had read.

And yes, I'm driving safely. I have one [Parallel Mind] keep a lookout through [Magic Sense]. The bicorns are smart enough to keep themselves on the road anyway.

"Why make such a big deal outta it? Just take the one you like the best and screw the consequences. All those three you're looking at looks like they all pack a punch anyway, so why stress?" - Garami

"Ugh... but they're all cool. Hey, Garami. You did something like counseling for adventurers when we were in Velantas, right?" - Mira

Ah, she's talking about my part-time spree during the two weeks we had to wait before leaving town. One of the works I did was to appraise and guide adventurers to skills and classes that would fit them the most. Got quite the nice slump of cash from that.

"Then, you want some advice?" - Garami

"*nod*,*nod*" - Mira

"Sure, why not," I said while putting down the Kigal-Note.

"But, it's gonna cost you." - Garami

"As long as it ain't money!" - Mira

Why you... relax. That's the least of your worries.

"Yeah, yeah. First thing first, the Soul Swordsman ain't something for you. Those Soul Swords drain MP faster than a Bloodrush Bull, leaving you without enough MP for the rest of your skills. And there are no new skills for regular swordplay, only stuff for those fancy swords. Meaning you won't get any better at swordsmanship if you only rely on that class, so I wouldn't recommend it for you.

"Swordmaster is a safe choice, as it's a direct upgrade of Swordsman with a capital U. The only downsides I can see is that there's nothing new with this class, and you'll only be able to either upgrade your sword-related skills or get new ones that you probably won't be using unless you're planning on taking up two-handed swords and bastard swords.

"Chaos Templar may sound sketchy at first, but its abilities will not only empower your swordsmanship-enhanced-with-magic style, but it also has less pleasing skills that could fit your Spy and Dancer classes as well. The demerit is that it will become more difficult to obtain the skills you could have as a Swordmaster and beyond, but it ain't impossible either." - Garami

Mira took some while to digest what I just told her. I had reduced her choices to two, one easy way that will turn stagnant after a while, and the other one that's riskier in both skills and looks, but will become incredible in the long run. Hmm, wonder if there's an Onion Knight class. Let's have Lily get it if there is. She's got space for some joke classes.

"......Ah, who cares!" - Mira

And with gusto, Mira slammed her fist on the System Window (not that she needed to). After a little while of silence, as she was busy accepting all the System Messages from gaining a new class, Mira looked at me with a hint of distress showing on her face.

"Garami..." - Mira

Oi, don't tell me something went wrong with obtaining the class?

=====================================================================

Mira Aureola

Race: [Water Sprite]   | Level: 38

Karma Value: -132

Skills: 42

Titles: 9

Skill points: 15.8

 

Main Class: Chaos Templar LV1

Sub Class: Spy LV17

Sub Class: War Mage LV13

Sub Class: Dancer LV6

Sub Class: none

 

HP: 165/165   | MP: 350/350 +20   | SP: 147/147

STR: 341 +100   | VIT: 216 +50   | MAG: 165

RES: 173   | SPD: 200 +50 | DEX: 167

INT: 130   | LUC: 95

=====================================================================

=====================================================================

SKILL LIST

Ability Skills: [MP Reduced Consumption LV13]   [MP Auto-Recovery LV7]   [STR Enhancement LV11]   [VIT Enhancement (Small) LV22]   [MAG Enhancement (Small) LV10] 

Attack Skills:  [Sword King Arts LV1] EVOLVED  [Magic Sword Arts LV14]   [Curse Attack LV1] NEW  [Mana Burst (Water) LV14] 

Magic Skills: [Water Magic LV17]   [Glacier Magic LV6]   [Heretic Magic LV1] NEW

Active Skills: [Magic Weapon LV3]   [Super Acceleration LV2]   [Espionage LV5]   [Silence LV15] UP1  [Aerial Movement LV5]   [Dried Earth LV2]   [Shadow Ganger LV1] NEW

Passive Skills: [Sword Mastery LV7]   [One-Handed Swordsmanship LV25]   [Warrior's Knowledge LV8]   [Swordsman's Knowledge LV11]   [Riding LV9]   [Magic Talent LV17]   [Battle Continuation LV7]   [Dodging LV38]   [Dancer's Knowledge LV8]   [Sand Walk LV5]   [Hiding LV26]   [Swimming LV16]   [Fishing LV11]  [Charming Movements LV5]   [Golden Ratio] 

Resistance Skills: [Water Resistance LV27]   [Poison Resistance LV15]   [Charm Resistance LV16]   [Heretic Immunity] 

Perception Skills: [Appraisal Blocking LV9]   [Night Vision LV15]

Racial Skills: [Mana Conversion LV26]   [Demonic Vault LV2]   [Lewd Demon LV18] 

Elements: [Water Element LV32]   [Heretic Attribute LV1] 

=====================================================================

...? It's there alright, and it gave her a power-up I wish I had. What's the problem?

"...I think I stopped being normal." - Mira

...Not like you were normal from the beginning, so why care now?

---

It's the day after the bear incident, and we were aiming to reach the capital by today. I and Marc took a look at the Boulder Bear, but the difficulty of dismantling a rank C monster is a little too much for us, so we're giving that job to the dismantlers at the Adventures Guild. 

It's past noon now, but we should see the first signs of civilization any time soon. I hope so. I'm done and tired of campfire cooking. Even if Marc's quite the good... cook? Whoaaaa...

The carriage had passed a corner on the mountain road, and I could see a massive bridge covering an equally massive gap between the two mountains it was built on. And let me tell you, this bridge ain't something to sneeze at. It looked like it was made partly of solid rock, and the rest was made of clear rubies. 

I'm not talking about some small gems fitted together to make a bridge. It's more like one ridiculous large ruby was made to build this bridge that spanned more than a 1-kilometer, and the remaining parts were filled out with regular rocks. Did they meld tons or rubies together, or is it some kinda ruby alloy? With the capital that gives out the Alchemist license, it's not too strange for that to be possible.

Anyway, the sight was so breathtaking, that not only me, but also the bicorns pulling the carriage, and Levi who was walking beside us, all of us paused in awe. That's London Bridge quality, alright.

"Hey, why did you stop... wow." - Marc

The other three who were sitting in the carriage came out to see what was happening, and they had the same impression as the rest of us.

"It really is as great as the green and white one." - Mira

Yeah... huh? 'The green and white one'?

"Did you already know of this bridge?" - Garami

"Didn't I tell you? My home country is just west of these mountains. I traveled through these mountains to reach Avalar first, then I went south to Velantas after I gathered some rumors about the fraud cult there being connected to the guys that attacked my uncle." - Mira

So this is her second time here then. The eyes of Lily and Marc was practically screaming that she should have spoken up before now. By the way, Marc already knows that we're hunting the criminals that attacked blacksmith Wayvol, but we kept the 'Disaster'-related info a secret. The less he knows, the lower chance of being targeted after all. 

Mira, noticing the gazes of the two, started to explain about what she knew of the city.

"Well, the town's name is Baoshi, which means 'gem' in the local tongue of the Migrant guy who founded the place. And the only entrances to the town are four gates in each cardinal direction, and they are connected to large bridges like the one we see in front of us. The gates are made through the use of alchemy to transmute several gems into a massive gate, and the bridges are made on the same principle. Other materials were also used, as the bridges were way too big to be made with gems alone.

"The gates need to be closed at certain times, often over several days, due to them being part of something called a 'Feng shui magic formula'. Not sure what that is. However, due to the need of having to wait several days, many shops and inns have been established in front of each gate, so travelers can rent a room there while waiting to be allowed access to Baoshi.

"Oh yeah, the four bridges and gates are named after who the guardians are inspired of. I think this one is called the Zhū Què Bridge." - Mira

The guy that came to these mountains sure didn't hide his nationality. Wait, this is the south gate, made with red rubies, then... probably not. What's the odds that would-

"By the way, each gate is represented by a color and a guardian that protects the bridge connected to the gate. The two I traveled through, the east- and west gates had respectively a Loong and a tiger guarding the place. I'll bet we'll see a different one here." - Mira

"...I think I can see a big bird on top of that bridge." - Lily

...I stand corrected. Both me and Marc's having some difficult faces digesting this.

"What, are you bad with birds Marky?" - Lily

"No, not that..." - Marc

"Don't worry. They won't attack you unless you break the law." - Mira

Some confidence you have there.

"Are you sure? If that thing is the same as the bird back on my world's mythology, then..." - Marc

"No biggie. Remember what I said about the guy who founded the place? He was the one to name the four guardians. Probably from the same myth you were talking about. And the guardians are all Automatas." - Mira

What did she say?!

"Automata is those golems made with parts, was it?" - Lily

"Wait, you got robots in this world?!" - Marc

"I don't know what 'robots' are, but yes, Automata can be considered golems made of different parts instead of being an animated mud doll. But let me tell you, the more advanced Automatas are practically unrecognizable from living beings they're based on. The only way to be sure is to check if their skin has a natural warmth, or through some Perception skills." - Mira

"...Is that alright? From what Marc said, those guardians sound like they are big shots back in his world." - Garami

"Why not? Those are Deus ex Machinas after all." - Mira

Ah, I didn't wanna hear that. I thought I had read wrong when I found that page in the Kigal-Note.

"Excuse me, what did you say they were?" - Marc

"Deus ex Machina. A type of Automata that is made to have the aether signature as a Celestial." - Mira

"There's also something called Diabolus ex Machina for those with demon-aether signatures." - Garami

"Now I've never..." - Marc

Marc, who looked more ragged than ever on this trip, shambled back into the carriage while mumbling something about resting till we reached the bridge. Poor newbie. Mira, obvious to Marc's troubles, kept on yapping with a look of pride on her face for some reason.

"And guess who was asked to create the fifth Machine Guardian to protect the city of Baoshi itself? You got it, my uncle Wayvol!" - Mira

So that's... wait a sec.

"Don't tell me that the thing that your uncle created was for..." - Garami

"Oh, that? It was only for a prototype. The name was something different from before uncle had to scrap that plan." - Mira

"So, there are only four guardians?" - Lily

"No worries. The real one was finished before... you know... the attack. It's called Qilin, and it looks like a dragon-deer hybrid. It's stronger than any of the gate guardians, and... What's wrong." - Mira

"Nothing. Just wanna take a break in the back. Mind taking the reins?" - Garami

"Su-sure..." replied Mira, taking over the driver seat after I jumped down. After a while, the carriage started moving towards the bridge again. 

ARRGH! The thump-thump is the thump-thump of this world's Huang Long! You gotta be shitting with me! I didn't sign up for this! I thought it would be the level of a failed Frankenstein experiment, so why do I have to deal with something of these levels?! 

Now that I finally have a better idea of the dimensions that this Disaster belongs to, I'm glad that the thump-thump piece in my possession is probably one of the weaker ones. Better get my priorities for visiting this city under control here. 

First, getting materials necessary for the Dungeon, from auctions, black-market, or whatever.

Second, fixing Raoul and Orimaru. This should be the highest priority, but getting a safehouse (the Dungeon) will benefit them as well.

Third, the Alchemist exam. I wanna clear this one as fast as possible before the Balos gang gets more info on us. Having someone with that class should help us understand how to deal with the thump-thump.

Which leads us to reason number four: getting a dedicated crafter to our team. Someone that would rather be thrown into the cauldrons in hell than leaking any of our secrets. I just need to keep in mind Tyrus' advice in mind...

---

In a cave in the mountains, not too far from the Zhū Què Bridge

"Brethren! Its time! Time for us to take what's rightfully ours!" 

*MHEEEE!*

In the cave, a large number of goat monsters were holding an assembly.

"The plant men and the living rocks have agreed with our terms, all thanks to that man who reached out his hand of salvation!"

*MHEEEE!*

The goats bleated again to what their five leaders' declarations. 

"The bird of vermillion has fallen asleep thanks to that man. Now's our chance to show our dominance over the humanoids!"

*MHEEEE!!*

"Now, to war! For the glory of monsters!" 

The goats heard their masters, the five demons with goat heads and jet-black wings, and started on their march to meet up with their allies by the bridge of the humans that they considered nothing else than prey.