"...-sure we should be risking this? I think we should've left this area the moment those Guild Mages showed up, man. Wh-what if they find us? I'm freaking out here, guys!""Come on, not this again, you fucking pussy. We've been over this several times at this point. This town, despite being a shithole, has an absurdly large number of hotties ripe for the picking, we've already gotten some great offers for the ones we kidnapped before. Let's focus on nabbing a few more real beauties and then hightail it out of here.""Can we hurry it up, please? I need a nice, long break after this, I've been drinking way too many Ether Recovery Elixirs over the last few days. My body's all jittery, I can't stop shaking. I feel so cold, and my chest is pounding like cr-...""Tch, stop being such a pussy, it's not like your role in this is particular difficult or dangerous, so just shut up and do your job.""Hah, yeah, easy for you to say...Will and I are the only ones actually doing any of the work! Y
As Lilac used her Forced Tame Art to take control of the remaining Gargoyle, it swooped down rapidly, grabbing the other woman who began to try and scramble away in terror, letting out a desperate scream as the Monster picked her up and flew over this way with both women in its arms. I then stood up and stepped forward, drawing my right fist back as I compressed the Ether I'd been channeling into it...alright, it's just about perfect, it's enough Ether to deliver a significant amount of force, but also low enough that the backlash to me should be minimal. "The hell are you doing!?""I-I don't know what just happened, my control was suddenly broken, I can't command it anymore! That shouldn't be possible, I-I had established a Taming Contract with it!""I don't want to hear your excuses, you fucking idiot, fix this immediately!""E-even if you say that, I don't know what you expect me to-...!" Began the Tamer defensively, before he was abruptly cut off as I drove my fist towards the g
"You little bitch! How dare you!? I'll teach you to fuck with us!" Exclaimed one of the other traffickers, drawing out a spear strapped to his back...looks like he's a Lancer, one or the Ascended Tiers of the Physical Class. The Tamer among the traffickers was writhing around on the ground, trembling in agony with his expression wracked with pain, the outline of his veins clearly visible and his body covered in bumps from the stings of the wasps. "[Summoner Art: Summoning - Minotaur]!" She chanted in response, summoning her most powerful tamed Monster, before chanting again with a smirk, "Now, [Tamer Art: Triple Creature Strength], plus [Tamer Art: Triple Creature Speed]! Go get 'em, Ox!"Minotaur's are High Level Monsters, they're basically humanoid bulls that grow upto around ten feet tall, with immense physical strength and highly durable hides. The average Ascended Mage would struggle against a Minotaur, and she just tripled boosted its strength and speed. It won't last very lo
"Aw, man, I really envy you guys...I was hoping to get in on some of the action myself, can't believe I missed out on all of it," Sighed Rex with a disappointed look on his face, his shoulders slumping. Heh, this is a good look for him, I like it. "Hey, now, there's no need to be so forlorn about it, look on the bright side...if we need to, you know, persuade this guy to talk, your flames will probably be the most effective option in coaxing answers out of him, a few flames to the soles of the feet should prove quite effective," Pointed out Iris as she patted his slumped shoulder encouragingly. We were all back at the inn now, ready to interrogate the Earth Mage we'd captured and restrained. After we finished defeating the group of traffickers, we took the first woman they'd abducted tonight back to the town. She regained consciousness on the way back and panicked immediately, struggling desperately to try and get away from up, but we managed to explain the situation to eventually
"That sure was easy, huh? They didn't even put up all that much of a fight, I was expecting at least a little bit more of a challenge," Remarked Rex, as the remaining traffickers laid sprawled on the ground, battered and bloodied. "So, what do we with them? Are we gonna kill them or put them in the custody of the Knight Mages?" I asked Iris. "First things first...we need to find out who else these bastards are associated with. There's no way a group of weaklings like this could've been so organized without someone smarter behind them pulling their strings," She frowned in response, narrowing her eyes at the bandits. Hm? One of their Ether signatures just spiked, looks like she hit the nail on the head. And it looks like he's about to spill the beans on his own, so I don't need to say anything to point it out... "I-if I tell you, w-will you spare our lives?" He stuttered timidly, a desperate look in his eyes. "Huh? What are you talking about?" Responded one of the other bandits.
"Gather around, everyone! I have great news to share with you all! The Guild Mages I hired have successfully dealt with the kidnappers who've been terrorizing our town for the past several days, and most of those who were abducted have been brought back. It's my humble honor to have saved our town, but as the man you all elected to lead you, I was honor bound to do everything in my power to restore safety and ease all of your minds...it certainly wasn't cheap, but for the sake of the safety of my citizens, no cost is too high! And that's precisely why I hired these Mages with my own money. All I want is for this wonderful town to prosper, and...""Wow, he's full of it, isn't he? What an asshole, making this all about himself," I whispered to Lilac.I'm starting to see how he must have gotten elected in the first place...he must have used enticing words and empty promises to win the favor of the majority, and they fell for his act. "Yeah...he's just using this to praise himself. Doesn
Point-of-View: Lilac Lero———————————————————————————"Hey, wake up. Come on, To, you've been asleep for ages, time to get up," I remarked with a sigh, shaking his shoulders impatiently.He let out a grumble before turning around, pulling his blanket over his head and cocooning himself inside it. Ugh, seriously? Why's it always so hard to get him to wake up every morning? Today's the 3rd of June, 505 PA. We'd returned from our Quest yesterday evening, just as the sun began setting. To woke up for a short while after we got back home, and was pretty visibly drowsy. He was nodding off the whole time as we had an early dinner, he almost fell face first into his food a couple of times. And after we finishing eating, he headed right up to his room and went straight back to sleep. He fell asleep pretty much the instant his head hit the pillow. I was pretty tired myself, so I went to sleep shortly after he did. It's now 11 AM the next day, and he's still fast asleep, strongly resisting all
"This can't possibly be a coincidence. There's just no way it is, the chances of that are too low...," Frowned Iris, as she skimmed through a document before handing it to me."Yeah, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that it isn't a coincidence, these incidents are definitely connected. Someone's behind this pulling the strings, causing it deliberately," I nodded in agreement."Why would they do that, though? What's their goal in doing this, what could they possibly be hoping to achieve by doing this?" Chimed in Rex with a grimace, as he read through another document.Today's the 7th of June, 505 PA, and I was currently at the Solaris Guild, along with the rest of my party. We were poring through reports of recently completed Quests from other Guilds across the country, specifically, Quests relating to hunting down groups of criminals like bandits, smugglers and traffickers.In other words, Quests similar to our most recent Quest, which we completed just a few days ago. All these Quest r