.
Continuing in third person from Ryuu’s point of view.
The village warriors and mages held their siege line around the pixie’s three [Wind Wall] shields, content to wait for the incoming monsters to arrive. They left no escape for either their original prey or the interloper.
“Ryuu?” Chiara called. “Get up here! You can’t do anything down there in the water!”
“I’m going to kill that big bastard before he touches you!” he declared.
As the black hulk in the surf reached the shallows, it began running on its two forelimbs while riding the incoming breaker onto the land. Its massive webbed feet threw huge gouts of mud and water backward as it bore down on the hero.
He raised his sword above his head and roared, “[Spirit Shot!]”, then swung it downward in a mighty arc toward the sand.
The Wind attack ripped outward and struck the monster, but it had already answered with a [Water Wall] that blunted it. The [Spirit Shot] shattered the defense, but the boss sea wolf took only moderate wounds.
“[Wind Edge!]” Ryuu yelled as he brought the massive blade back for a swing, but he had already convinced the boss to change tactics. The monster braked and reared up while sending out a [Rogue Wave], causing the sea behind him to surge forward and rise up, contrary to the now retreating ocean wave. It then followed the waters that were crashing down on Ryuu and interrupting his swing. He managed to switch to a lunge, driving the blade into the monster’s oncoming maw to thwart its attack.
The wounded creature drew back, letting out a contrabass snarl. Multiple underlings came riding the next wave inward, using the same method of running on their forepaws as they surfed the wave with their tails.
They swarmed the hero. He managed to fatally wound three before the others tore him apart
# # #
“What were you thinking, facing sea monsters in their own element, Mr. Kowa?” the observation sphere wondered.
Ryuu shot it a dour look, then addressed the pixie who had roused him from sleep as he climbed to his feet.
“Let’s go,” he said, and took off for the village, casting [Persistence] on himself as he ran.
While it followed, the sphere asked him in an amused voice, “You’re ignoring me now, Mr. Kowa?”
“I’m focusing on what’s important! Pixie, can you carry me to the village from here?”
“Mmmm… too far!”
He shot the tiny creature a dark glance, clearly communicating his doubt.
You are correct, Mr. Kowa, came Tiana’s mental voice. I can certainly carry you that far. The problem is whether it constitutes helping you too much. Only you and Chiara are subjects of the scenario, technically. I need to avoid doing too much.
His mouth twisted in dissatisfaction. That answer didn’t set well with him.
The sphere asked, “Do you have a better plan, Mr. Kowa, or are you going to just repeat your previous mistakes?”
“I’m thinking about it!” he retorted.
As it turned out, he really didn’t have much more of a plan than last time. He had the pixie fly him directly in from the east once she agreed it was close enough, again dropping onto the platform and freeing Chiara, but this time he attacked the villagers while the pixie put up barriers against the sea threat.
In the end, he only saved himself from being torn apart by the boss sea wolf. Once the warriors defeated him and the mages destroyed the pixie’s barriers, the mages concentrated on keeping the tiny annoyance from interfering while the warriors fatally wounded the sacrifice to keep her from running.
# # #
“That pixie is already performing level three magic, putting up [Wind Wall]s in three directions,” the sphere noted. “You are asking too much, requiring her to defend against both the sea monsters and the village forces.”
Ryuu ignored her and stood once more, then once again took off running toward the village.
The pixie flew along beside him as he ran. She asked, “Make change? This way no good, no good!”
Please tell me you will come up with something new, Tiana’s mental voice followed.
“You have a better suggestion?” he demanded.
It’s a difficult problem, she admitted.
He glowered at the little creature, then set his jaw and watched where he was running while thinking furiously.
“How about this? You carry me right over the dancers and drop me in the middle of them. I can create a huge panic while you fly over and get her free.”
“No good, no good! Can’t break!”
“I’m having a lot of trouble believing that, you know.”
I have to limit how much I help, Mr. Kowa, the mental voice insisted.
After conceding that he would have to go free her himself, he decided to go with his plan anyhow. He fell into the middle while roaring “[Ground Slap!]” and punched the ground with an Earth-loaded fist as he landed. It was the landing method he had learned from Graham for jumping from cliffs and low-flying beasts.
He immediately unlimbered his sword and called out, “[Flame Sword!]” while coating his blade with Fire mana. The blade burst into flame as he attacked one of the village mages. He killed his first opponent while the panicked crowd surged away from him, then proceeded to slaughter several warriors, but in the end he was unable to retreat to the platform to rescue Chiara before the remaining defenders overwhelmed him.
Left intact on the sand this time, he once again had to watch in frustration while ‘dead’ as Chiara went through the sacrifice ritual.
# # #
He sat up and brushed away the pixie who had been grabbing his collar to shake him awake, then sat staring out at the ocean waves while ignoring the sphere’s comments and the pixie’s urging. With his jaw set and his mouth in a grim line, he clenched his fist and contemplated it.
After he sat like that for several seconds, he grumbled, “This so-called fishing village is way too strong. Those warriors can parry magic sword strikes with wooden spears!”
“They live in a world where primordial monsters like that black beast roam the sea, as well as the land,” the voice from the sphere pointed out. “Even without the boss, that wolf pack would be an extraordinary hazard. They’re only able to fish in this ocean because they were strong enough to force those beings to accept the compromise of a sacrifice per month in return for sharing their hunting grounds.”
“How realistic is this scenario?” Ryuu wondered.
“Absolutely realistic,” the voice declared. “This scenario was developed from a real case of a tribe that was capturing passing travelers so they wouldn’t have to sacrifice their own to exactly this monster and pack. When no strangers passed by, they had to sacrifice their oldest members. Perhaps you noticed how few people over thirty were in the crowd?”
Ryuu’s face was wrinkled in disgust as he heard the back story and he shook his head.
“That’s how ugly the world became for those who chose to leave our civilization and set off to live according to their own lights. We did reach out to help them when we discovered severe cases like this.”
He twisted his mouth, mumbling, “Villagers who were as tough as senior adventurers…”
The sphere wondered, “Are you ready to take a different approach, Mr. Kowa?”
“I have been taking different approaches,” he groused. “Do you have any better ideas?”
“Lady Chiara is capable of magic once she’s free from the shackles,” the instructor noted. “Shouldn’t you involve her in your plans more?”
“She’s got no focus and no weapon,” he answered while shaking his head. “A human without a focus or a magic circle can only cast magic on things she can touch. Only fairies, elves and dwarves can cast magic at a distance using just their hands.”
The fact that Ryuu himself could do so was a mystery that the court magicians had attributed to his origin as an otherworlder. Generally, for pure humans, his statement was true.
“Hmm. You left out merrow,” the sphere noted.
Ryuu frowned. “So?”
“There are good reasons merrow are called ‘sea elves’ in many languages, Mr. Kowa. And even including them, you weren’t entirely correct. The half-blooded children of all those species are also capable of casting magic at a distance without a focus, provided they have sufficient training.”
“What difference does that make?” he demanded.
“It seems that your girlfriend neglected to inform you that she’s half-merrow,” the sphere chuckled. “Her mother is a mermaid.”
He stared at the sphere, his eyes narrowing, and flicked a glance toward the pixie.
It’s true, Mr. Kowa, Tiana’s mental voice confirmed.
His mouth twisted, then he stood.
“Let’s go,” he told his tiny partner, and took off running toward the village again.
What’s your plan this time? the pixie asked as she flew beside him.
“You’re going to drop me between the platform and the crowd,” he told her. “I’ll panic the crowd, then jump up and free Chiara. Then the three of us fight our way out of there.”
“Mmmm…” the pixie pondered. “Too many!’
Tiana’s mental voice added, It may still be too many opponents. I’m not allowed to deal any damage, so it has to be only you and Chiara attacking.
“Even though you can throw those big [Wind Wall]s around?”
“Too many!” the pixie repeated.
Careful, how you respond, Mr. Kowa, the voice chided. She’s listening to us. To put it in terms you might understand, I can only cast support magic. No DPS.
An English-speaking gamer would understand ‘Damage Per Second’. Whether or not a Japanese-speaking gamer knew the same initials remained unknown, because Ryuu didn’t reply to it.
“That’s the plan anyway,” he declared. “You protect Chiara as much as you can. Don’t worry about me.”
As it turned out, Tiana’s assessment proved accurate, although it seemed to succeed at first.
Ryuu landed using [Ground Slap] and used [Flame Sword] on his blade to slay the two nearest warriors before they could react. The massive flaming blade created general panic in the crowd in the process, just as he planned. As the stampede prevented the other warriors from responding, he used magically-enhanced strength to jump up onto the platform and free Chiara.
“Run that way!” he ordered her, pointing back in the direction he had come from. “Use your magic on anyone in your way! The pixie will shield you!”
“But…” she wavered.
“Don’t worry about me! The goal is to get you out of here!”
With him fighting the rear guard defense, she was able to make it out of the village. He continued holding the village forces back until the mages called in the sea wolves. As the warriors forced him seaward, the boss came up the beach to end his struggle.
# # #
He stared up at the sky with a grim expression, his mouth twisted in frustration. After several seconds, he sat up and stared out to sea once again.
“How’d she die?” he asked.
“Does it matter?” the voice from the sphere wondered.
He glowered at it, then looked at the pixie. “When she got free, she had a good chance to make it to her goal and clear the stage. She’s not some helpless damsel in distress. She’s a knight and a mage, and she had your help.”
“Too many!” the pixie insisted, and Tiana’s mental voice added, They were determined to not let her get away, Mr. Kowa. Without your help…
“That’s what it is, isn’t it?” he asked. “This isn’t about Chiara clearing the stage at all. It’s about me clearing the stage. I can’t stay behind to stop the pursuit, to allow Chiara to escape, because we fail the stage if I die.”
“Mmmm…” the pixie pondered, but Ryuu interrupted before she replied.
“Never mind whatever you’re about to say. It’s time for you two to give it up. I no longer believe it. The ‘Chiara is stuck in her scenario and you have to rescue her’ story is a lie and so is the ‘I can’t log out’ story. Does Chiara know that you two are using her to train me?”
