"Wait for us here, you'll be in danger if you take us too much further ahead," Iris informed the driver, as we disembarked the carriage and continued on foot, just a few minutes away from the north-east section of the border."Sure, I'll keep the carriage parked over here."Yeah, it's best that we continue on foot from here on. We don't want the bandits to see us coming, after all. There are a lot of trees and large rocks in this area, so it's not too difficult to sneak through this place without being seen if we go on foot.We'll just have to hope that the bandits don't have any members with sensory Traits, but that seems like a fairly probable possibility. They've ambushed, robbed and even killed a whole lot of people over the last week or so, it'd be a lot easier to do so if they had one or more sensory Traits between them.Of course, we've got sensory Traits on our end as well, my Ether Detection and Rex's Heat Detection. We'll need to be ready to respond the instant we sense othe
"And you're really not working for anyone? Be honest or you're dead," Warned Iris icily."I-I swear, we weren't working with anyone! N-not that I know of, at least!""Well?" Inquired Iris as she glanced back at me."Yeah, he's telling the truth, at least as far as he's aware of," I nodded, focusing on his Ether signature."Man, that sure is a convenient ability. Ether Detection, you called it, right? Wish my Heat Detection was that versatile," Sighed Rex wistfully.Yeah, sucks to be you. "So, what do we do with this scumbag? Kill him like the rest?" Suggested Lilac with a frown, the bandit's face going pale in response.After Rex and I launched our attacks, Iris shot forward and took down the surviving bandits, and had killed several of them by the time the rest of us caught up to her.She spared three of them, breaking their limbs to keep them from attacking or running away, and then began interrogating them one by one. The first one was defiant and refused to speak, so she killed h
I was completely frozen in fear, unable to move a muscle or utter a single word, the Ether projectile I was charging up fading as my mind blanked and my concentration disappeared, drowned by the immense terror my body was wracked with as my realization of what the creature before me was sunk in. The Dragon was massive, his body covered in fiery red scales and towering over us. He had long, pointy black horns on his head that curved backwards slightly, a row of narrow, curved spikes down his back and along his tail, razor sharp fangs and claws, and his body was emitting an ominous, stifling heat across the area. "I asked you a question, human. Did you not understand me?" Inquired the Dragon menacingly."I-I, uh...," I trailed off as my voice got stuck in my throat, the fear keeping me from speaking.Hm? Is that blood? There was a shallow puncture wound on the Dragon's right shoulder, blood trickling down from it. W-wait, don't tell me...did the attack I used to kill that Minotaur en
"Home, sweet home. It sure is nice to be back, especially after what happened in Liffer Forest," Said Rex with a sigh of relief, as we entered Skyrouge City after hours of traveling. It was late in the evening now, the sun was starting to set, the sky growing darker and darker with each passing minute. We'd left Liffer Forest pretty much immediately after our run in with the Fire Dragon Lord, because of course we did, all of us very much eager to get away from that place as quickly as possible. I hope I never see that Monster again... "Let's head straight to the Guild and report what happened, we should spread the word to stay away from Liffer Forest as soon as possible, we don't want any unsuspecting people entering the forest and bothering the Fire Dragon Lord. Who knows what he'd do if that happened?" Pointed out Iris with a slight shudder. "Great, you do that. I'll get down a bit farther up ahead and walk home, I wanted to stop by Rekon's shop and buy some stuff before going ho
Point-of-View: Ifeus Lero———————————————————————————"Found you, so that's where you were hiding, you little rat. [Spatial Art: Telekinetic Blast]," I chanted icily, as I stepped onto the roof of my house and raised my hand towards my target. "Wha-...!?" He exclaimed in alarm, before letting out a sharp gasp of pain as my attack struck the middle of his torso and sent him flying back, his back slamming onto an invisible wall, which I'd created using telekinesis, with a loud, painful-sounding thud. I then approached him, grasping his body with my telekinesis as he let out a dazed, pained groan."Hm, you don't strike me as a member of the Cult of Laguna, you could be affiliated with the Nox Mage who caused the incident in Limvert City, but somehow, I doubt that's the case. I see, then you're a member of the the Church of Arcana's inquisition squad, Espion, aren't you?" I inquired icily, tightly restraining him with my telekinesis as the dark clouds overhead rumbled menacingly. It wa
Point-of-View: Rex Arbell———————————————————————————"I'd like the three of you to take on this Quest. And yes, that means you too, Sapphire. It's been over a year since your last Quest, enough is enough, it's time you got back out there," Frowned Master Ifeus, as he handed Iris the Quest flyer."An escort mission to Oberion, huh? Alright, that shouldn't be a problem, we can handle it. When do we leave?" She asked him, after skimming through the flyer."You'll start this evening. The client who submitted this request will arrive at the Guild by 5 PM and wants to depart as soon as possible once he gets here. So, head back home and pack right away, and then come back here before 5," He replied.Today's the 28th of June, 505 PA, a little over a week had passed since we got back from Liffer Forest, following our terrifying encounter with the Fire Dragon Lord. Nothing much had happened since then, other than Topaz making the headlines, of course. Yesterday, Master Ifeus told me to come t
"Well, this isn't creepy at all," I muttered nervously, starting to back away with Lilac, before grimacing as I noticed that we'd been surrounded. "What should we do? I can't tell if they're about to attack us or not, they're just staring at us blankly," Frowned Lilac in response, as the circle of people around us began to shrink, all of them slowly stepping in closer to us in unison. "Me neither, the flow of their Ether signatures is eerily calm, almost unnaturally so. I can't get a read on them at all. I think it's safe to say that they're being controlled by someone," I replied, forming spheres of swirling Ether with each hand as the people continued to get closer and closer. "Someone with the Dark Class, maybe it's that same Nox Mage from before, Lect? I certainly wouldn't be surprised if that was the case," She suggested warily, as she took hold of her whip with her left hand and a dagger with her right. "No, something feels different about this, it doesn't feel anything like
Huh...? Where am I?I let out a dazed groan as I shook my head to try and get rid of the cloudy feeling in it, but it only made it worse, my head spinning a bit. I began to reach for the side of my head with my hand, but I couldn't, my arm coming to an abrupt halt, followed by the sound of metal clanging.What the...?My eyes widened as I looked behind me, to see shackles around my wrists, with thick chains connected to them and embedded into the wall. Shit, these are Ether-blocking shackles, I can't use my Magic!"Hm...? To, is that you?" Came Lilac's voice from my left, sounding like she was half-asleep.I glanced in that direction, to see that she was in the same predicament, her wrists shackled and chained to the wall, along with her ankles. My ankles were restrained too...we were in an empty, windowless room, with a thick metal door in front of us."Damn it, we messed up...we should've had our guards up more," I remarked with a grimace.The instant I noticed that mist flowing in