.
A quick reminder: Tiana is temporarily narrating in third person as if from Ryuu’s point of view.
Ryuu’s expression evolved rapidly from suspicion to anger to confusion. The pixie– Tiana– used the high-pitched toy voice to add, “Not much time left, Big Brother!”
He stopped his run in the middle of a bamboo stand at a point where he could see the village across the stream through the foliage. It seemed to be a very large settlement for a society that built bamboo houses with thatched roofs, and the crowd that had been on the beach had been in the hundreds.
Tiana’s voice continued in his mind as he inspected it. Please forgive me for the deception, Mr. Kowa. You have always deeply disliked me. I decided you would be more open to receiving training from somebody other than me.
He studied the village for a bit, then turned his scowl toward the tiny creature and asked, “Are you the same pixie who helped me against that god?”
The little pixie puffed up her non-existent chest and declared, “Pixie good tutor! Big help! Teach Big Brother!”
If you actually want to know if it was me assisting you against the Storm God, as well, she then answered mentally as he began walking along a path through the bamboo, apparently looking for a better vantage point, then yes, it was me. There really are wandering spirits who help trainees, but I decided to impersonate one and let my sister impersonate me.
“Do you really have to talk like that?” he wondered.
She tipped her head, “Talk like what?”
Forgive me, Mr. Kowa. I’m imitating a pixie friend who really talks like this. I already established the character, so I need to keep it up. I don’t want to tip Kanon off to the fact that I’ve revealed my identity.
He sighed and shook his head as he again stopped and studied the village, as if looking for the best way to approach it.
The mental voice continued, My sister thinks she can force you and Chiara to grow. I told her she’s overdoing it, and she thinks I’m being too soft on you guys. That’s probably why she won’t let me log out. It didn’t occur to me that my sister has never been a human being, so her common sense, her understanding of what is reasonable, is not good. So this could get a little hard, but we can get out if you can clear the stage.
Ryuu looked like he wanted to ask questions, but Tiana forged ahead.
As to what you were told about your tactics… we are in agreement that you need to work differently. It doesn’t matter whether you heard it from me or her. You need to change how you do things.
“How?” he asked while still staring at the village.
Please take care not to answer me directly, Mr. Kowa.
His eyes narrowed as he contemplated the pixie. “You call yourself a ‘wandering instructor’. Aren’t you strong enough to rescue her yourself?”
“Pixie beat enemy, no good! Doesn’t count, doesn’t count! No clear stage!”
“You can’t help?”
“Mmmm… help some, not too much. Mmmmm…” the pixie said, with her fist under her chin. She looked like she was really thinking hard about it.
You can be more flexible in your tactics, for starters. You know some level one spells. I’ve seen you cast [Fireball] before.
The pixie smacked her palm with her fist. “Pixie know! Pixie carry! Fly Big Brother to Big Sis!”
“You’ll what?” he retorted, looking at her with huge eyes.
“Pixie strong strong!” she declared.
She added mentally, I’m very restricted in my magic. I have very few spells I can cast in this scenario. But I’m as strong as when I’m full-sized. I really can carry you short distances. I’m pretty sure a small assistance won’t void the stage. I’ll have to carry you by your sword harness, though.
He looked at the little creature, showing uncertainty over whether he should trust her.
It would be impossible for Ryuu to sheath his enormous blade in a normal scabbard. It hung by its cross-piece from a pair of hooks behind his shoulder, mounted on a heavy plate of boiled leather lashed to his back with straps that wrapped around his ribs and criss-crossed his chest. It was indeed a good handle, but the idea of the tiny pixie grabbing it and lifting him was a bit wild.
For the moment, he put the matter on hold. Turning his eyes back to the village, he began muttering in a low voice. “Tiana criticized my [Spirit Shot], but that’s my main attack. My [Fire Ball] and [Magic Lightning] aren’t at all strong.”
The pixie flew into his line of sight, her hands behind her back and told him, “[Air Bullet]!”
He scowled, “That’s weak”
She shook her head. Not the way that you’ve powered up your Wind mana with [Spirit Shot], it isn’t. You can probably drill holes in trees with [Air Bullet] at this point if you can focus it. And you can keep the spell going continuously and even rapid fire it. Have you learned [Earth Bullet]?
“[Earth Bullet]?” the pixie asked, giving him something to respond to.
He sighed. “Catharine taught it to me, but my Earth mana is really weak.”
“Big Brother practice! Get stronger!”
“Well it’s not like I have any time to practice right now!” he snapped back.
You’ve been powering up your spiritual essence for the last year, using growth acceleration. Your pneuma and your spiritual energy have both increased, so all your manas should have improved somewhat. You should give it a try.
He scowled, looked around, then pointed his open palm toward a spot on the ground a pace away.
“[Earth Bullet],” he declared quietly.
The manifested mana struck the ground and ricocheted, blowing a large divot out of the path. He frowned and picked a more distant target, then fired the spell again.
A rock leapt into the air, tumbling end over end in a long arc.
“Good shot!” the pixie declared.
“I was aiming for the bamboo on the other side of the path,” he griped, shaking his head.
It was more than powerful enough to kill, though, Tiana noted.
He frowned, then looked back across at the village.
“Even if you really are strong enough to carry me to Chiara, you can’t carry us both out, right?”
“Mmmmm…..” the pixie replied, again deep in thought, then shook her head. “No good. Too much!”
Actually, it might be possible, but I wouldn’t want to risk it.
He shook his head. “I didn’t expect you to seriously consider it. So our only choice is to fly in and fight our way out.”
The pixie looked dissatisfied, while Tiana’s mental voice conceded, I want to say we need a better plan, but we’re running out of time. I predict we will fail miserably, but we can’t clear the stage without her. Running in to die with her is better than letting her die alone.
Ryuu nodded, his mouth a grim line. “Wait a moment.”
He unlimbered his sword, then undid the straps on his harness. A minute later, he had stripped off his shirt and re-equipped the sword and harness.
Gripping the shirt in his hands, he told the pixie, “Fly me straight to the platform.”
The pixie flew around behind him, grabbing on to the lower edge of the shoulder harness. It was a stiff piece of boiled leather armor, so she could grip it like a barbell. She rose up, and the harness tried to slide upward.
“Wait! Put me down!” he ordered quickly after he had risen several inches.
She settled him back onto the path, and he quickly made all the straps as tight as they could go. Then he nodded and they were shortly flying through the air.
What he couldn’t see as he flew was faint tendrils coming out of the pixie, wrapping around his chest to ensure that her grip didn’t slip. What he could see, once they passed over the village, was a larger crowd on the beach than he had expected. Not only fully-equipped spear-wielding warriors but also men and women clapping or using simple percussion instruments as they sang a warlike song.
It was an oddly young crowd. Except for a few old men, every villager seemed to be in their teens and twenties. A few children could be seen peeking at the festivities from within the village, but none were participating.
The crowd’s attention wasn’t on the naked woman shackled to the post at the beach at all. She hung there unattended, facing the sea and her oncoming fate alone. Instead, they danced in a circle around a trio of madly frolicking costumed dancers.
With everyone’s attention concentrated on the performance, Ryuu made it to mere paces above the platform before a woman noticed him and began yelling and pointing. Even then, he was on the platform before she could get others to notice. The music immediately changed to angry shouts, the crowd dissolved into confusion and the warriors began angrily shoving others out of the way in order to confront the invader.
As Ryuu began trying to free Chiara from the hook, the pixie flew around behind the post and yelled, “[Wind Wall!]”
A massive [Wind Wall] formed, just in time for the first spears hurled at Ryuu. He was able to ignore them and strain to pull the shackle off the hook. He discovered now why the pixie hadn’t rescued Chiara herself. At first glance, a pixie who could carry Ryuu would easily lift the woman by her shackles and fly away with her. It turned out the chain was somehow glued tight to the hook.
“Why won’t they come off?!” he yelled with his arm muscles bulging as they strained.
Chiara answered, “They’re magically welded, Ryuu!”
“Break chain, Big Brother!” the pixie yelled, then again yelled, “[Wind Wall!]”
A second shield of wind appeared, this time to the side of the platform, blocking warriors attempting to flank the first [Wind Wall].
The mages had already thrown attacks at the first shield without success. They were now blowing on conch trumpets as the crowd of people frantically evacuated the beach.
Ryuu retrieved his sword and stepped away from Chiara, who warbled, “Ryuu?” as she saw him drawing back the blade.
He commanded, “[Wind Edge!]”, enchanting his blade, then swung at the chain, striking inches above the fingers that Chiara reflexively drew into fists to avoid the weapon’s edge.
The sword struck home, and one half of the chain parted, freeing one of Chiara’s arms. The other half remained intact, still tethering her other wrist to the hook.
The pixie again yelled, “[Wind Wall!]”, and barriers now blocked the enemy in three directions, barring passage except from the sea.
Ryuu prepared to strike again, but Chiara shrieked, “Wait!”
He held his swing while she reached up with her freed hand and grabbed the chain. She chanted, “[Break Metal!]”
The chain links where she gripped shattered into powder. With relief filling her face, she repeated the spell while gripping the cuffs still circling her wrists.
“Why didn’t you do that before?” Ryuu demanded as he draped his shirt over her shoulders.
“These were mana restraints!” she protested as she rubbed her wrists. “I couldn’t use magic until you broke them!”
“Big problem! Look!” the pixie called out, and they turned toward the sea where she was pointing. A massive wake like they had seen earlier was incoming, blasting its way through the surf even though the sun was still above the horizon. The sea wolves, including the sea wolf boss, were on their way early.
“I think the conch shells are the signal to come for dinner,” Chiara said while she slipped her arms through the shirt sleeves. “The tribe has a deal with the wolf pack. The boss makes the pack work with the humans as long as they feed him a human every full moon.”
“I figured it was something like that,” Ryuu muttered, then looked around at the surroundings. Warriors now surrounded the pixie’s wind walls on all sides, but they were no longer attacking. They could see their ally incoming, and were backing away, leaving it to the monsters to deal with the problem. The non-combatants had all cleared the beach now.
He looked down at the woman beside him and told her, “Stay with the pixie.”
She nodded, and he jumped off the platform, down into the beach. The incoming tide had risen high enough for the waves to now lap against the platform stilts. He advanced into the waves, preparing to face the onrushing monster.
