Chapter 59: Chapter 52 – The traditional fetch quest

“Beautiful Monsters” is a touching and frequently humorous look at a family of Mavolog, gentle giant reptiles who live in tightly-knit family units. A scene in which inebriated Mavolog juveniles indulge in fermented fruit is one of the highlights of the documentary.

―A. Bodelsen, “Monster Documentaries You Should Be Watching Right Now,” Kraej Weekly Entertainment Magazine

Asteria

I was excited to join the hero on his first quest.

The shield spell was activated by a large artifact that was at the heart of a maze under the forest. Unfortunately, the artifact had been damaged by an earthquake hundreds of years ago. Parts of it broke off and Sofia’s ancestors had been negligent in noting down where they had stored the pieces. In addition, the maze was infested with embercats - small, fast feline monsters with a weak light attack skill they used to blind their enemies.

We needed to find all the missing pieces and repair the artifact.

“Do you really think you can do it?” asked Sofia.

“We won’t know until we try,” said Oren.

Time was of the essence, so we immediately went into the maze after discussing our strategy. The maze corridors were narrow so we were going in single file. Oren, as the strongest front-line fighter, would be in front, with Sofia behind him since she knew where to go. I would be behind Sofia while Katja would bring up the rear in case monsters came up from behind us.

Oren’s link and fire artifacts were equipped to his new sword. Katja was using her usual link and earth artifacts while Sofia had a heal artifact on her staff. I had a wand with a bolt artifact, but this time I planned to use my shield artifact, too.

“Shield is useless,” said Oren.

“It’s not useless. Maybe you don’t care, but Sofia and I don’t want to be clawed up by the embercats,” I said. “I’ll cast bolt when I have a clear shot at them, but it’s hard to hit small, fast-moving targets.”

“Okay. You have your cure and heal artifacts, too?” asked Katja.

“Yeah, I can slot them into my wand, but Sofia should be fine soloing as our healer.”

“Let’s bring flashlights,” said Oren.

Good idea. There were lights in the maze, but an adventurer can never be too prepared.

The underground maze was accessed through a secret trap door under a rug in the temple library. The entrance was guarded by two tall, imposing marble doors. Blue light came from ancient artifacts embedded on the walls.

Once inside, I cast an air shield spell over the party.

“Shield.”

Oren laughed when the air around him semi-solidified into an air shield. “We haven’t even been attacked. Don’t waste your anima.”

He raised his arm and gestured for us to get behind him. We got into the formation we’d agreed on.

Katja jumped when she moved. “What the heck is with this shield?”

“Hmm?” I checked my shield. It was working normally.

Oren’s eyes widened. “Wait, this isn’t a shield spell!”

“Asteria, what did you do?” asked Katja.

“I cast a shield spell. What’s wrong with it?” This was the first time I’d cast shield on other people. Oren, Katja, and Israfel had all said shield was a waste of anima.

“It’s moving! Shield spells don’t do that,” said Katja.

It was my turn to laugh. “You guys must not have worked with a really good magician before. Of course, shield spells move. If shield spells stayed in one place, they would be useless.”

“But it’s true! I’m a magician and I know shield spells stay in the place where they’re cast. Long-range fighters stay behind them for cover,” said Sofia.

“I’ve never heard of a shield that does this.” Katja moved her arm up and down, observing how the shield stayed one foot away from her moving arm.

Oops, I’d made a mistake. The shield spell in this world must be different from the one I knew from the game.

“I didn’t know that. Well, you guys know I’m self-taught,” I said.

“This is incredible!” Sofia sent me a look of amazement and admiration.

“Won’t this make my attacks weaker?” asked Katja.

“Nope, it only dampens inward force. The shield doesn’t affect outward force,” I said.

“What happens if I punch myself?” asked Oren.

Katja, Sofia, and I laughed.

“Try it!” said Katja. “Hit yourself where it really hurts.”

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She playfully aimed a kick at Oren’s groin which he deflected with one hand. “Stop it. Stay away from the family jewels.”

“You didn’t use the artifact, did you? This must be a special skill,” said Sofia. Her big green eyes were shining with excitement. She took my hand and moved my wand closer to inspect the shield artifact.

She caught me out. “Yes, I have a lot of special skills, but I don’t normally use them because people say it’s weird.”

“How many special skills?” asked Sofia.

“A lot,” I said.

Katja and Oren gently pulled her a few steps away from me. Katja whispered, “Don’t ask her.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “I know a lot of skills because I was in an avalanche with my parents when I was seven. My father died, and my mother was unconscious so I had to keep us alive.”

Oren and Katja already knew about the accident that had killed my father so they’d find my explanation reasonable.

I said nothing more, and the subject was dropped. Fighters had ways of acquiring special skills involving years of learning from a mentor, but for most people, special skills were gained when their unconscious will to survive took over during a dangerous situation. For me to learn an unusual shield spell while my life was in danger was considered normal in this world. However, asking someone about a past trauma was considered rude.

“Sorry,” whispered Sofia to me.

“It’s fine. It was a long time ago,” I said. I felt bad because I’d lied about it, but it’s not like I could tell her the truth that I was an OP reincarnator. Hiding my special skills was necessary because most people didn't have more than one. For example, Israfel learning and mastering one special skill was what got him promoted to A-class.

“I was wrong. This shield will be useful,” said Oren. “Let’s get going. Forward!”

The maze wasn’t particularly big, and Sofia knew how to get to the center of it, so we made fast progress. A few embercats attacked us, but Oren had become so fast and skilled with his sword that he could slice them in half with one swing. The ones who attacked our rear ran away yowling when Katja’s kick sent them flying off.

This must be an easy starter quest.

“It’s just ahead,” said Sofia.

In just a few more steps, we reached the center of the maze. An ancient artifact made of dusty, weathered grey stone was in the middle of a small room. Bits of it were missing.

“The storage room is underneath,” said Sofia. She pressed a place on the wall behind the artifact that seemed no different from the area around it. A section of the floor slid away soundlessly, revealing a set of stairs leading downward.

We went down into the curiously clean storage room. The air here smelled stale which made me realize that there must be air circulating in the maze above since the air there didn’t have this closed-in smell.

“The pieces are probably somewhere here,” said Sofia.

The room was filled to the ceiling with various eccentric objects like mummified pieces of monsters, scratched crystal balls, rocks, pieces of wood, books, metal tools, and rusted weapons.

“There’s so much stuff!” Katja poked a pile of small objects. “Hey, look! Do you think this is a real gold bracelet?”

Oren took it from her and scratched it with a fingernail. Gold paint flaked off. “Nope.”

This was the unglamorous part of a real-life quest. We slowly and methodically sorted all of the objects until we’d found the pieces of the ancient artifact.

“Three small pieces and one big piece,” said Oren. “And one link artifact.”

“This doesn’t look like it’s enough to repair the artifact,” I said.

“Yes, there are just the ones that the previous priests were able to recover,” said Sofia.

“Where are the rest of them?” asked Katja.

“The embercats took them, but I don’t know where their nest is,” said Sofia.

“Why would monsters take the pieces?” asked Oren.

Sofia took a piece and did something to make it give off a white light. “They like the light it gives off.”

“Let me try!” I said.

I took a piece and examined it. The anima it contained was weak, but activating it to make it light up was child’s play.

“Where do you think the embercats’ nest is?” asked Katja.

“We’ll have to search the entire maze, but I have a feeling it will be where monster nests always are,” said Oren.

“Where?” asked Sofia.

Oren sighed. “The sewers.”

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