Unknown Location
“Okay, didn’t expect this kind of setting,” I coughed as sand struck us from all sides.
“Long, any information now that we’re in here?” Lilith asked.
“Too much dissonance right now to get any solid data. Yuki, see what you can find out from the locals,” Zhuyu replied.
“You heard him.” Lilith glanced at me.
The sandstorm eventually subsided and I could see outlines of buildings in the distance. A bullet suddenly struck the ground near us. Hostiles already?
“Here’s the bullet,” Lilith said, handing it over to me.
I ran an analysis on the bullet and a warning message appeared in my grimoire page.
“They can’t scare us off. Let’s find a place quick,” Lilith suggested.
I raised a barrier to shield us from the residual sand still blowing in the air. Visibility was terrible but Shui spotted a sign eventually. I inspected it and saw “Visitor Center” on it. I knocked on the door.
“Visitors?” I heard someone’s voice.
A man, wearing an intricate gas mask, stared at us. He held a small device, with a digital display screen, in his right hand. Pointing it at us, there was a beep and he checked the reading. The man motioned for us to enter and slammed the door behind him.
“You’re from another dimension,” the man finally said, removing his mask.
I glanced over at Lilith and saw something glinting in her hand but it vanished seconds later. Shui bantered with the man for the next couple of minutes.
“So, why you here?” the man finally asked.
“We’re looking for a strong magical source,” I replied.
“Mana hunters?” the man pointed at us.
“They’re people who explore and search areas for magical items, mainly crystals,” Zhuyu explained.
“You have any places nearby that fit what we’re looking for?” I asked.
“There’s an abandoned mine but it’s pretty dangerous. Most mana hunters have never come back,” the man revealed.
“Sounds like the place we’ve been looking for. You have a map of the area by any chance?” I noticed paper pinned on the wall in the back.
“Right here. It’s a pretty small town. I have some supplies if you want them. It’s my job to help out people who come from other dimensions,” the man offered.
The man provided us with flares, a rough outline of the mine, rations, a medical kit, and rope. He also gave each of us a bag to carry our supplies in, telling us to keep it.
“You sure you just want to keep these?” I organized my supplies.
“It’s more useful in your hands. Good luck out there!” the man waved farewell.
Very suspicious we received so much free stuff.
“Everything works but it must be a set up. People are never this nice,” Lilith agreed with my assessment.
Abandoned Mine
“I’m surprised the lights are still working.” I saw a rusted mine cart.
“There’s a small magical line supplying energy to the mine,” Lilith explained.
“Won’t it eventually run out?” I approached the mine cart.
“It’s being replenished but I don’t know the source,” Lilith revealed.
“I hate places like these. I hope we see some green soon,” Shui commented.
“You and En really do love your forests and plants, huh?” I responded.
“Yeah, it’s easier on the eyes,” Shui answered.
Lilith walked over to a large rock and snapped her fingers. It exploded with a loud bang. “Sorry, I wanted to see if there was anything behind it.” Lilith walked through the rubble.
Shui and I followed her. There was a different path but the lights were dimmer. There were no railroad tracks, just a straight rocky path. What to do?
“Figuring out which way to go?” I heard Zhuyu’s voice.
“We haven’t heard from you for awhile now,” I said.
“I ate dinner and washed dishes. I’ll be here the rest of the way,” Zhuyu answered.
“Which path is the best?” I asked.
“I checked the topography and there’s a strong magical source down the railroad track. The path Lilith blasted goes there too but there’s a lot of variance,” Zhuyu answered.
“I don’t trust the mine cart but we have no choice.” I sighed.
We all climbed into the mine cart and I infused the control panel with magic.
“Please don’t break on us, please don’t break on us!” I muttered.
The mine cart lurched forward and we were off. Overall, not too bad. Shaky but not unstable where it would overturn. Eventually, the mine cart suddenly stopped and we were all thrown out. S***, everything looked the same here.
“That way.” Lilith pointed to the right.
The sounds of our footsteps echoed around us. Really unnerving. I glanced upward, noticing large crystals on the ceiling.
“They don’t reflect any light,” I observed.
“Then that could only mean….,” Lilith paused.
“Mean what?” I questioned.
“Magic absorption crystals. Worth a lot especially if they’ve been sapping magic for awhile,” Zhuyu answered.
“How can you tell how much magic it’s absorbed?” I noticed some crystals were shinier than others.
“Their transparency. The more solid a crystal is, the more magic it’s storing,” Lilith explained.
“Hey Zhuyu, could it be any readings we’re getting from this place are just these crystals?” I questioned.
“It’s possible but Ace’s data isn’t off. I don’t know the exact details but anything related to Lau should have a special pattern different from other high magical readings,” Zhuyu answered.
I heard flipping pages as he spoke. Filtering magical readings? I had no idea how to even do that.
“Your grimoire should have samples from the previous times you participated in past weapon retrievals. Take that data and cross reference it with any magical readings in the mine,” Zhuyu directed.
“You sure?” I placed my hand onto the grimoire.
“Yeah. Tess wrote about it before,” Zhuyu answered.
“Okay, I’ll try it out,” I agreed.
“I can help you.” Lilith walked over to me.
With Lilith’s assistance, I adjusted how my grimoire interpreted magical readings in the mine. I checked the map and saw three flashing spots.
“I got three spots,” I reported.
“How close are they to each other?” he questioned.
“Two are close and the last is far away from the other,” I replied.
“Check the one far away first. There’s a possibility those two are creating a false positive. If I’m wrong, you can just go back,” Zhuyu suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” I said.
Lilith stared upward at the crystals protruding from the ceiling at our first suspicious spot.
“These aren’t magic absorption crystals.” She knocked one of them down.
“They’re made of water.” Shui poked the crystal when she handed it to him.
“Let me test something out!” Lilith swept her gloved hand in the direction of the ceiling.
A chain of small explosions knocked all of the water crystals down to the ground. A hole, large enough for us to enter, opened up in the corner. I stared into it and saw water.
“We are still in a mine, right?” I asked.
“This mine has secrets,” Zhuyu remarked.
“Lilith, the magic line you mentioned before, is it possible that it’s being restored by something down here?” I speculated.
“Possibly,” Lilith responded, running her finger across the water.
All three of us dived down, swimming for awhile. The water felt clean and had a soothing effect. When we finally emerged, I saw items scattered across the ground. Worn backpacks, rusted tools, and other exploring material. noticed a worn journal on the ground and picked it up.
“Anything useful?” Lilith asked.
“Something about a soothing melody that calls upon the soul. Sirens?” I predicted.
“Are they responsible for this mess?” Lilith pointed at the abandoned equipment.
“Gotta keep going to find out,” I replied.
I turned around and Lilith and Shui weren’t there anymore. A dark shadow descended and swooped down on me. Something hard struck my head. I swung my sword at the adversary but I was already blacking out.
Damn, who the f*** ambushed me? My vision was still blurry as I woke up. I was chained to a dark wall. Something slithered towards me. What the hell? It resembled a snake but its tail was spiked. All of a sudden, the creature was frozen and ice shards struck my chains.
“Yuki, thank goodness you’re safe!” Shui defended me from incoming projectiles with an ice wall.
“You know what got me?” I incinerated the remaining projectiles with flames.
“Happened way too fast to even realize that we got jumped. I only got out because they sealed me in something water based,” Shui revealed.
“Where did you come from?” I questioned, shattering the frozen enemy with a stomp.
“It’s like a sewer. I came through a gate over there,” Shui resopnded.
I heard the slow gurgling of water. Bubbles formed on the surface and the water was an algae colored tint. Uh, was this even safe? There was just static as I contacted Zhuyu. Shui led the way until we arrived at a large gate, water gushing out from it.
“Can we dive past it?” I asked.
“Over here!” Shui directed.
We dived down and passed the gate. And there was just… more water. The static finally cleared up and Zhuyu’s voice came through.
“Finally got through. I’ll connect you with Lilith,” Zhuyu informed us.
“You get hit in the head too, Tomo?” Lilith asked.
“Yeah. Where are you right now?” I questioned.
“I’m near a ladder. There’s a metal plate with a weird scribble, it’s hard to describe,” Lilith answered.
I decided to let my grimoire plot a path for us. The two of us trudged through the water, following it.
“Kind of spooky,” Shui remarked.
“Hope we find Lilith soon. What do you do for work?” I asked.
“Wash cars. You’re working with Zhang now, right?” he revealed.
“I thought you worked at the deli,” I recalled.
“I used to but things got really busy with school. My uncle owns the place so I’m helping him out during the summer. I’ve had a lot more free time to do other stuff like join clubs at school and meet new people,” Shui elaborated.
“I heard you’re a pretty good singer,” I brought up.
“I’m not that good,” Shui denied.
“Wasn’t your senior project a mini concert?” I teased.
“It wasn’t anything that crazy but it was pretty fun. My friend who plays guitar helped me out,” he revealed.
“Must be nice to have a good voice,” I complimented.
“I’m not that good,” Shui responded, shaking his head. “Which way?”
I checked my grimoire and pointed to the left path. Shui hummed an old song as we walked. A couple of minutes later, my mind went blank as a soothing melody played. I stopped moving, mesmerized by the sound.
“Yuki!” Shui’s voice shattered my trance.
I glanced in his direction and saw a masked creature encased in ice. What the f***? Shui cleared his throat and sang. I was impressed by the strength of his voice and the emotion it carried. More masked creatures plummeted from the ceiling. The water elemental user trapped them in ice. He concluded his song with a snap of his fingers.
“That was amazing!” I clapped.
“This is nothing!” Shui shook his head.
“You’re too modest, Shui! Where did you come up with something like this?” I checked the area to make sure there were no remaining enemies.
“It’s a little something Tess had me and Steph work on. I’m testing out a prototype that changes sound into magic. Lucky that my singing was good enough,” Shui revealed, pointing at the portable mic tucked underneath his shirt.
“Seriously, your singing was crazy good. You ever try auditioning before for a competition?” I pointed at him in excitement.
“No, no, you’re exaggerating. Come on, where do we go next?” Shui tried changing the topic, his cheeks a little red.
Was he embarrassed? Kind of cute. It was a stellar rendition of the song and I hummed it as we continued forward. Eventually, I heard sloshing footsteps and paused.
“I knew I heard a familiar voice.”
“Glad to see you, Lilith. I thought it was more sirens,” I heaved a sigh of relief, lowering Mirror’s Rend.
“You really should be more cautious, Tomo. How do you know I’m not a fake?” Lilith warned.
“You’re definitely the real one, I can just tell,” I confirmed.
“Don’t come any closer!” Lilith raised her right hand and pointed at Shui.
A thin layer of steam appeared around us. I saw wires, arranged in the shape of a spider’s web.
“I found something interesting.” Lilith dispersed her wires and led us to a ladder.
I checked the map but saw this ladder wasn’t marked on it. However, there was a match to the signal given off by the other seals. We climbed upward, arriving in a small control room. A man, wearing a tattered poncho, stood in the center. Underneath him, a dim magical circle pulsated every few seconds. He raised his revolver at us in silence.
“You’re the one who sent us that message?” I held up the bullet from before.
A white mask covered half his face. He nodded in response.
“We’re kicking your ass then!” I declared.
“Yuki, you’re fired up today,” Shui commented.
He fired his revolver again. An ice wall shielded me from his bullets. Lilith dashed upward, her gloved hand glowing.
“Setup for explosions. Don’t move!” she informed us.
I glanced at the revolver barrel, seeing only six spots for bullets. Wait, there were a total of twelve bullets fired at me!
“Any ideas of how to handle him, Zhuyu?” I asked.
“Jam his barrel,” Zhuyu suggested.
“Shui, you heard him!” I shouted.
“Lilith, trigger the absorption crystals above you,” Zhuyu commanded.
The man seemed intent on targeting me, allowing Shui an opportunity to jam his barrel. A chain of explosions rattled the ceiling and the crystals shattered after striking the ground. I summoned Mirror’s Rend and charged it up. Shui fired off icicles into the barrel of the revolver. Our adversary grimaced as the icicles transformed into scalding hot water. I swooped in and slashed at him. He avoided my attack but jumped straight into a burst of explosions. Lilith knocked our opponent out and dragged him away from the magical circle. Shui stepped into it but nothing happened.
“A false lead. This isn’t the one.” Tess appeared out of nowhere, standing next to me.
“Tess, you have to warn me before doing that!” I stared at her.
“I don’t understand?” Tess played dumb.
“Never mind,” I sighed.
“Despite this location not yielding any results, this was a good training experience for everyone involved. Yuki, you’ll assist Kuan next,” Tess decided.
I returned home and immediately collapsed into my bed. Time for a short nap!
