Chapter 35: The Forgotten Lands, Part Thirteen

Now that Rin could see what they were searching for, she was feeling far less confident than before. Even Rin could tell that the skeleton they were planning on fighting was different from the others, resembling the red-eyed skeleton from earlier. However, at the end of the day, they were going to have to do it.

So, she tried to summarize what she'd learned about these skeletons so far so that she could put it into practice against that monster.

[Well, the biggest issue when fighting these things is just how fast they are when it comes to dodging,] Rin thought. [Their own attacks are pretty easy to dodge, but it's hard to land a hit on them. Still, I can force a hit if I push far enough up, and that can help in fighting them. That red-eyed one from before,] Rin remembered, [it had some weird barrier that stopped Xhez's fireballs... But, I think it only worked when it wasn't looking at Xhez. If this other one has something like that, it would be good to keep that in mind.]

Aside from that, she tried to take their options into stock.

[We have some tools,] Rin thought. [Between the Spirit Flame and Xhez's magic, we should be able to deal with this thing… I still feel so nervous though.]

That was as far as she got before Xhez pulled her attention away.

"We are getting closer," Xhez let her know.

"Yeah?"

Xhez nodded, and Rin could see the anxiety weighing on her. The sprite was wearing her emotions on her sleeve, and from that, Rin could tell that she was just as nervous, if not more, considering the fact that she could actually feel this enemy's power.

"We'll be alright. Don't worry, we're ready."

Rin didn't believe her own words, but she felt Xhez needed to hear them.

"I understand… I believe in us," Xhez said with a forced little smile and Rin took a deep breath.

They, eventually, ended up in the very chamber the enemy was occupying. It was an enormous space, with multiple pillars laying out a path that led up to the skeleton they had come to kill, with the giant spiritual orb above it, suspended in the air. Those pillars were all placed in between piles of dead bodies, other skeletons who were currently in pieces.

"Are any of these gonna come alive?"

"No," Xhez shook her head. "Only that one will."

Nodding, Rin gulped as she rolled her shoulders, trying to stretch a little. She took that time to look around and saw banners showing what was likely the symbol that belonged to this town, a bird of some sort with flaming wings.

Now that they were in the same room, there were details Rin hadn't noticed before. The skeleton was wearing a black coat lined with silver, that even now, as old and faded as it was, seemed regal. At its side wasn't a sword, as Rin had expected, but a mace of some sort, accompanied by a shield with that same bird symbol on it.

Xhez and Rin were staring at it from across the room. They had paused once they were just a few pillars away, and for Rin, it felt like the skulls laying across the floor were watching her. It was as if they were daring her to take that next step.

The fire on her hands and feet crackled as Rin nodded to herself, turning toward Xhez.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes," Xhez replied.

"Well," Rin chuckled nervously, "if things go horribly wrong, I just want to say, uh, it's been nice getting to know you."

"Is that so?" Xhez smiled warmly at her. "I… I can safely say the same."

On that note, they walked forward, and almost on cue, the skeleton's skull rose up, and red, glowing eyes appeared in its sockets.

--

{Cara}

Finally, around a week and a half after Rin's disappearance, the Mages Guild had arrived at the Academy.

Currently, Cara was refreshing her knowledge on the monsters that could be found in the land east of Libera. Tomorrow, she planned to go out with Eve again and see if they could find Rin there. She needed to be ready. Of course, Cara knew she had the physical strength to defeat whichever low-tier monsters appeared before her, but she still wanted to know what to expect.

[Greysnakes…] She thought as her eyes landed on a drawing of a wide snake with four eyes and, as its name implied, grey skin. [They can use a poison spit ability that shoots out a glob of green, poisonous, liquid at enemies. Need to avoid those…]

Someone knocked on her door, and when Cara went to open it, she found two individuals out in the hall. Harriton was one of them, the other was a woman wearing a purple hood and a black cloak of the same color, with dark sapphire eyes. She had dark skin and her lips were painted black.

"Cara," Harriton bowed a little, "this is Sye. She's a representative of the Mages Guild."

Nodding, Cara stepped aside so that the two of them could enter her office. Admittedly, Cara had always found mages to be somewhat annoying. Specifically, the ones who spent more time studying than they did out in the field, and still called themselves "adventurers", as they tended to have an ego while performing very little work.

The Mages Guild were even worse in that regard, which was why Cara rarely engaged with them.

Still, due to the obvious question involving the manner in which Rin disappeared, this conversation was needed.

"In the interest of time, let us get right to it. We received word that one of your students was affected by a [Teleportation] spell, is that correct?" Sye asked. Cara nodded, crossing her arms.

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"Yes. I recognized the spell from when I saw it at an exhibition, around a month ago."

"You are absolutely certain the spellsign used was that of the [Teleportation] spell?"

"Positive," Cara replied, not taking her eyes off of the woman.

"I went over it with her, just to make sure," Harriton added.

"Can you perform its beginning stages, at least?" She asked. "So that I know you are certain."

"It isn't enough to know I was familiar with it?" Cara asked. "I have to know the spellsign too?"

"Of course," Sye replied. "If you are telling the truth, this will require a thorough investigation, as the implication would be that someone taught that kobold the [Teleportation] spell, and not that they developed their own ability. I need to have 100% certainty on this before I return to my superiors."

"… Okay," Cara shrugged.

Fortunately, she did know how the spellsign started. She had asked because the fact that her word wasn't trusted was somewhat insulting. Still, she performed it.

Putting up her index finger, she performed the fundamental portion of the [Teleportation] spellsign, which consisted of a pentagram shape. Sye saw this, and was seemingly convinced, as she nodded wordlessly.

"… This is troubling indeed," Sye replied. "I will write them a letter confirming your story."

"Thank…" Cara paused. "Write them a letter?"

"Yes."

There were a couple of reasons that surprised Cara. The first was that, well, if the problem was one at the Mages Guild, it would make no sense to leave them to correct it on their own. The second was...

"You… Aren't heading back to them?"

"No," Sye shook her head. "This conversation was only the first part of my work here. The second part is to assist you in recovering the lost student."

To say Cara was surprised to hear that would be an understatement. Her brows shot up to the ceiling as she blinked multiple times.

"… No thanks," she replied. "I'm good."

"Oh, Divine, it's starting," Harriton muttered with a smirk.

"I am not requesting this, I am informing you," Sye replied to Cara. "I will be heading out into the field to look for her. With your help or without it."

"But, why?" Cara asked, baffled.

"My superiors demand it of me. It is as simple as that."

"You're not even an adventurer though," Cara stated. "You'll get shredded out there."

"I may not make a career out of hunting monsters, but I assure you that I am more than capable of holding my own in a combative scenario."

"It's one thing to be able to fight another person, but fighting monsters is different. Entirely different."

"I am eager to discover how," Sye smirked at her. "Now, you may help me, or not. I do not care. I am telling you, though, that tomorrow I will be heading out into the fields."

Cara gave the deepest of sighs.

"… You mages are so stubborn," she muttered.

"I believe you're the stubborn one in this equation. I am offering you my assistance and you refuse to take it. Quite perplexing."

"Fine," Cara said. "I guess I'll make sure you don't get yourself killed out there."

"Perfect, I will be in the closest hotel to the Academy if you need me."

Without another word, Sye stood up and walked out of Cara's office. The adventurer groaned and let her face fall onto her desk.

"… Well, looks like you got yourself a sidekick," Harriton laughed.

"Just leave me alone already."

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