After discussing the differences in grimoires Nick took distance away from the two. "Now to practicals. Mages have different kinds of Grimoires. Figuring that out is key to defeating them. Now I would like you two to figure out what kind of Grimoire's mine." He said as he brought out a book and made it hover mid-air. He then took out a small vial filled with golden dust. He scaterred the dust on the grimoire, then it shone as it was incased in a golden sphere filled wit hblue runes. "Obviously I'm not going to make it that easy." He said as he slammed his palms together and a magic circle appeared from the ground, enveloping the area around him. The arena floor rumbled as bits of sand gathered on the golden orb as it hardened and formed an almost humanoid shaped golem. Setsuna raised her eyebrows, "I'm pretty sure the extent of Magitech's knowledge isn't that profound." Nex nodded her head as she scratched her chin, "As much as I'd like to stay wary from those fucks. They're not tha
Nick cracked his knuckles, "Alright that was a nice attack. That caught me off guard." He cracked his neck and body as his fists were covered in flames. He started hopping up and down and started changing his relaxed posture. He raised both his fists his entire torso started bobbign up and down. He then kicked off the ground as He charged towards Nex and applied constant pressure by barraging her with burning jabs. She was evading all of his strikes however each time he strike it felt like it was getting faster and faster. Setsuna tried to come and help. She turned into lightning and struck down, however Nick was once again replaced by the golem. Setsuna clicked her tongue as she glared at Nick. She looked towards Nex, "I handle Nick, you handle the grimoire." Nex nodded her head as she wielded her hammer and aimed it towards the golem. However the Hammer didn't budge. No skulls lit up. It weighed just like a normal hammer. HEavy and cumbersome. She then dropped it as she covered her
Nex and setsuna looked around after being kicked out of the arena and saw nothing but the bustling streets of Cor Aureum. "Fucking Bastard..." Nex clicked her tongue as she started walking towards the nearest restaurant along with Setsuna. They sat down and ordered some food. While they were waiting they checked out the book that was handed to them. It was a book in all red, pristine and not worn down unlike the book Nick showed earlier. > Setsuna started flipping through the pages seeing if she could understand a word. Surprisingly it was translated into galaxia. Nex on the other hand rubbed her chin and summoned Nova. He popped out of her shadow and stared at the book in her hands. She dangled the book in front of Nova, "So can you use this?" Nove narrowed his eyes trying to scrutinize the object. [Hmmm... Maybe. The mana traces are faint but it's enough to give you a small boost in strength. Besides that's not the main point. Although faint, it's still a co
Blair woke up Nex at an ungodly hour, "Blair, what did I tell you about being punctual." Blair tilted her head and said with a monotonous voice. "I shoudn't be. But I didn't listen. Just like you." Nex groaned as she massaged her face. She stared at the nearby bed where setsuna should be only to find it empty. The door swung open and Setsuna entered whilst wearing somthing unlike her usual punk styled clothes. It was a greed uniforn that wierdlt fits. It's neat and tidy and it made her look sharp. "What the fuck are you wearing Setsu?" She said as she sat up on the bed earning her a shrug. "Adventurers Guild Uniform. They sent it earlier. I think this uniform is more of a formality for the assessment later." She said as she sat on Nex's bed. "So Freshen up. We have an early day today." Nex sighed and stood up reluctantly as Blair prepared her clothes, "I mean seriously, you gotta stop Blair from catering to your every whim." Blair however tilted her head, "What do you mean Miss Sets
Setsuna found herself in an unfamiliar place. She looked around and saw nothing but a seemingly never ending forest. The trees looked crooked, and littered with both scratch and bite marks. She looked up and saw nothing but a ceiling of rocks littered with glowing minerals that light up the entire area. She clicked her tongue as she narrowed her eyes. She looked through the purple leaves and saw glaring red eyes peeking through. She cracked her neck and her shoulders while grinning. "Perfect I can loosen up with this kind of bastards."She dashed through aiming right at the heart of the forest. Thick webs made of silver barred most of her path. She narrowed her eyes and clicked her tongue, "Fuck, goddamn spiders? Seriously?" What crawled out of the trees were half spiders and half humanoid. It had the face of a spider and lengthy arms with razor sharp claws.Setsuna had goosebumps as she stared at the monster crawling out of the thicket. The Arachnosapiens roared as they jumped toward
Nex snapped her fingers to remove the green blood from her chains. She stared at the corpses of the Arachnosapiens that rushed towards her. The Ice knights she conjured were mangled into peices, yet she alone stood tall unblemished from all the infighting that just occurred. She looked around and saw nothing but the craggy interior of the cavern illuminated by blue minerals that pop out of the cave's interior.Then a rage filled screech that shook the entire cave echoed. Nex frowned as she looked towards the only pathway leading towards the innermost part of the cavern. She looked towards Nova who was hovering around the knights. [That doesn't sound good. I think you just woke the queen.]Nex cracked her knuckles, "Ain't that a good thing? The sooner we kill her the faster we get out of here." Nova shrugged his shoulders, [I'm not gonna stop you. Suit yourself. These creatures are filled with exquisite mana.]Nex repeatedy balled her fists as she was filled with vigor. She channeled h
Setsuna left the large forest ecosystem in tatters. It was filled with scorchmarks and countless charred bodies of the Arachnosapiens. She then found the edge of the forest and saw nothing but crags and glowing minerals.There was no pathway what so ever. She turned into lightning and surveyed the area only to the the vast forst area and no enrty nor exit point. She clicked her tongue as she removed the headphone from her head and turned the loud music off. She slowly walked around the edges of the forest cavern with her eyes closed. She put her palms on the craggy walls as she traced them while walking around.After a while a strong sound of flowing wind entered her ears. She stopped moving and her hands stopped along with her as she stared at the particular wall infront of her. She tilted her head as she stared at it. "Illusion magic? How? I doubt these creatures know how to cast this kind of magic."She gathered lightning on her hands as she was about to smash the rocks apart she r
Nex and Setsuna gawked at the hulking mosntrosity before them as it screeched shaking the entire area along with it. "This was supposed to be a test right?" Nex said as she looked towards her companion. Setsuna nodded her head dumbly as she scratched her head. "What part of this is for B-rank adventurers? Are they even human?" She said as they watched the quen come out unscathed from the barrage of attacks Nex and Setsuna delivered. "What kind of fucking standards does the guild expect from adventurers if their rank up quests are like this." Nex said as she put her hands on her hips. The two looked towards the queen slowly approaching them thinking of them as nothing but prey.Nex sighed, "Well we're already knee deep in the mud, no use whining now." She brought out a couple of blue vials and and handed them towards setsuna. "Let's make use of Nick's stash." She said maiking Setsuna raise her eyebrows."Where the hell did you even get these?" Nex grinned and snapped her fingers. She t
The trio circled back towards the entrance while celeste blabbered on about the buildings architecture and defenses. "Since you are guests of Sir Nicholas, I bet you already know that msot of the artifacts here are the real deal relics from the age of gods, the age of magic and so on and so forth."She said not notocing the glint on Nex's eyes. "Most of these artifacts are have actually been used to fend off the invaders during the war. Some were even personally used by the twelve." She said as she pointed towards a large golden shield and a golden spear with its tip burning with blue flames.
Celeste carefully trotted along as she approached both Nex and Setsuna. The slowly hid behind the bookshelves as she peeked through the books.While doing so she listened in their conversation. Nex picked up books on whatever the hell caught her interest. However her eyes never stayed on one book for too long. She sighed as she closed another dusty tome. "If Nova was here I'd already fed him everything in this library." She said shocking Setsuna. "Feed him? Feed him how? like a fish?"Nex scratched her cheeks but before she could answer she spotted a fresh pair of eyes staring straight at them with unconcealed interest. Her eyes gleaming in curiousity as she leaned in the shelves much closer forgetting that she was concealing herself."Well... for starters nova eats for some reason like the rest of us who needs energy to survive. I remember him telling me he's converting the innate mana residing on things to fuel his energy reserves or something. I don't know. I'm not too sure on how
Nex peered over the gilded gates widely open as they could be. She scratched her chin as she looked around only to see gigantic shelves that towered over her containing various amounts of books. Rows of them that seemingly span towards infinity warding of any sane person who would wander the halls of vast knowledge.Ranging from dusty tomes to the more wierd and eccentric stuff like a crystal ball that could help them see the original owners memory. All of it were guarded by armed guards patrolling and keeping an ever watchul eye filled with vigilance.She turned around and saw various items incased in glass, while also engraved in glowing red magic circles. Setsuna stared at Nick once more and tilted her head as she eyed all the thing all around them. "This place is a library right?"Nex on the other hand approached the desk as her eyes darted all over the place seemingly impatient to just out right steal the things that caught her eye. Nick sensed this as the facepalmed and stared a
Once the golden Barrier disappeared the entirety of the Hidden Grand Library of Alexandria was unveiled to them. Golden sparks of light scattered across the air creating a majestic sight to behold. A huge Fortress lay before them gilded in all its glory. Unblemished, Untainted, and Unseen by the unworthy. A towering drawbridge slowly lowered in front of them.What awaited inside was a large plethora of knowledge awaiting to be seen by curious eyes. NEx coudn't help but whistle in surprise, "You mages really know how to go all out." Nick coudn't help but scratch his nose in embarassment from her words. "Well, Faust can be a little eccentric but that man knows how to make things a little more grand than what they should appear." He said as he led the two inside the castle in the middle.Setsuna looked around and saw huge watch towers and wyverns chained beneath them. Gigantic ballistas that watch over the cosmic skies, ever watchful of potential intruders. On the pathways were infantrym
"One of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. Created by the nine goddesses of arts themselves. Regarded as the capitol of knowledge and learning. The central gathering of all the most rare and mysterious books in the world. Not only that everything in that place is disaster proof, especially fire!" Nick said as he stared the the two slacked jawed women. "I welcome you two to the Great Library of Alexandria!" He said as he spread his arms wide. He then slowly panned towards Nobody who was nodding along at the grandeur. "Can we find records of you in there?" Nick asked as he crossed his arms scrutinizing every movement of Nobody. However he just shrugged, "You'd be extremely lucky to find it when it's buried in all these books. However I'm fairly sure you've read most of the library's contents don't you Nick?" Nobody said as he tried to step inside however a huge golden barrier suddenly appeared out of nowhere barring his entry towards the library. Nobody fr
The two finished touring around the Bazaar. They found Nick waiting for them at a bench with his arms folded in annoyance. The moment he saw them he raised his eyebrows, "So Did you enjoy the 'Bazaar that looks like the Golden Heart?'" He said as he scoffed. Nex scratched her cheeks, "Well, although it looks familiar. It's different enough to warrant exploring. Thankfully the roads are familiar to not get lost..." She said as her voice slowly shrank. "That's the point! Familiar enough not to get lost. But different enough to merit exploration!" Nick shouted at them. Setsuna crossed her arms and chimed in, "I still think it's a little lazy." Nick shrugged his shoulders, "Hey! if we could save money by just doing a simple palette swap and a small and minor adjustments then more power to it." He said as he snapped his fingers and showed Nex al the ingredients have been bought. "So should we summon it now?" Nick looked at Nex. However before she could answer, Nobody popped out of the sha
"It seems that only you are capable of summoning whatever this thing is. Hopefully not something truly bad. Who gave you this anyway?" Nex Shrugged her shoulers. "Where's Nova when you need him. His name is Nobody, and as far as I'm concerned... He's the one who has helped me the most in this long and arduous journey. He gave me those pages." Nick scratched his chin, "Not exactly a helpful pseudonymn." Nex shrugged her shoulders, "I feel like he's sort of sealed at the moment. There's like a time limit he could manifest himself. He is a tall man in a black suit, his face covered by the shadows, has glaring and ominous yellow eyes? This is his symbol." She said as she snapped her fingers and recreated Nobody's symbol.A Glowing Red Circle filled with undecipherable inscriptions that wriggle as if it's alive. In the middle of it all was an Inverted Ankh Painted with blood.Nick shook his head, "It's definitely not an egyptian god nor a mage of the same discipline. No one would dare use
"Well you're in luck kiddo. All the shit listed here is available in The Wiccan Bazaar! I just hope that this thing doesn't eat your face, Setsuna's, or mine!" Nex shrugged her shoulders, clearly not giving any fucks. Setsuna on the other hand took the page from Nick's hand. Then immediately passed it back to Nex, "Yeah... Have no idea what the fuck any of these mean." She said as she leisurely sipped her coffee.Blair handed them their breakfast as she prepared Nex's and Setsuna's clothes. "Eat up! It's gonna be a long day." He said as he and the gang chowed down on Blair's amazing breakfast. After a few minuites of lazing about Nick finally stood up and drew a magic circle on the ground. "This portal is technically encrypted and it changes on a weekly basis." He said as he snapped his fingers and a portal appeared beside the magical circle. Blair put her hands on her hips as she stared at Nick, "You do know, I have to clean your messes right?" Nick scratched his cheeks, "Uhh, everyt
Nex woke up feeling refreshed more than usual. She stretched her body and did some light exercise. She was no longer plagued by jolting pain everytime she woke up. She sucked in a batch of fresh air as she excitedly exited her room and almost bumped into blair on her way out.Blair's eyes were wide open as she stared at Nex awake and about. "Oh my, It seems you woke up on your own today Nex." She said as she put her hands on her hips. Setsuna came out of her door a little groggy, but awake nontheless. The moment she looked to her left and saw Nex energetically standing in front of her door all lucid, her jaws dropped. She tried pinching her cheeks only to wince from the pain. "What the hell? Am I in some kind of mirror dimension?" Nex chuckled, "Hey! no matter how thick my face is, I could still get hurt y'know?" Setsuna shrugged her shoulders, "Can you blame me? It's like a rebranding. It's almost freaky." She said as she moved towards the cupboards and start to brew herself some co