10/9 13:19 (Autumn, Night, Mysterious Island)
Sider quickly emanated another wave of Mana, Earth-Attribute one this time to manipulate the earth behind her to create a, even if thin, wall between herself and the previous room as added security, before concentrating all of her senses to find any disturbance in the air, releasing a wave of Lightning-Attribute Mana to fill her current room, trying to fry a possible unknown presence.
The black-haired one sighed in displeasure, keeping her gaze on the earthen wall she just created to make sure it would not suddently vanish nor would it be broken without her noticing considering its fragility, derived primarly not on her own skill with Earth Magic but the fact that the ground fought back against her manipulation.
Fortunately the use of Vital Energy or Mana would not open her up to being twisted by the Fake Qi as while they were both types of Energy naturally generated and stored in a body, or well within someone's Spiritual Body to be exact, once it is used, except for sustained Spells, it is no longer part of its former owner.
On the other hand, this would mean that she needed to be extra careful to not reabsorb her used Qi to refuel some of the spent one within her body while the Monsters belonging to this island would have no such issues if they are at the "Foundation Establishment" Stage and she didn't want to gamble on what happens at the end of the day, once she would gain more Magicules from Gaea.
Sider did not hesitate any further, creating a javelin of Lightning-Attribute Mana in her right hand before throwing it in her previous room, piercing the fragile wall that separated the two rooms before impacting the axe she left behind, channeling the electricity through it before it was released in an explosion, detonating and in so doing reassuring the Werewolf that no one was there, at least for right this very moment.
The two-meters tall Person moved back, the rest of the wall easily destroyed by her movement alone as she repaired her temporary weapon and wielded it in her hands once again, quickly looking at her surrounding, cautious that her previous attacks should have allerted other nearby Monsters and being immensely suspicious that none of them were currently moving towards her.
Sider returned to the initial corridor before carefully proceding deeper in, gazing all around her for any trace of life, a thin coating of Lightning-Attribute Mana erratically and willingly unregularly spiked around her body while she constantly twisted the ground beneath her feet and the area immediately around herself to make sure it would not be altered without her knowledge and to feel any step near her.
All the same her foreboding feeling only magnified with the passage of time and the frown etched on her face as a conseguence worsened with every empty corridor or room she explored, finding traces of Beings leaving through nonexistent passages.
Even by breaking through three whole meters of stone she found or felt no corridor nearby leading her to a single certaintly.
"This is a trap." She affirmed calmly and aloud to herself, still continuing on the initial corridor deeper in. 'Either that or a way to make me waste time because of paranoia until the day ends and I become vulnerable to subconsciously absorb this Fake-Qi instead of Magicules. I hate this place.' She thought to herself, idly swinging her axe around her a couple of times to pass the time.
Her gaze moved all over the place as the Werewolf jumped all over continuously, electricity erratically filling the air around her, all these being enacted as measures to render an ambush on her as difficult as she possibly could.
The black-haired one suddently threw her weapon in the air and dropped to the ground, dodging the thrust of a still-invisible spear, her hands on the ground before quickly launching herself up, dodging the following orizontal swing and she spun around in mid-air, kicking the approximate location of her assailant, Earth-Attribute Mana cloaking her foot as she felt ribs cracking and breaking under her kick, quickly deviating the force to smash her still hidden prey to the ground under her foot.
Her silver eyes gleamed as Lightning-Attribute Mana accumulated around her right hand before she pointed down, lightning raging downwards and charring what was now revealed to be another Fake-Goblin.
Her right hands stretched to the sky, grasping her falling weapon before she swung down at full force, the Thunder Gems impacting against empty air before detonating in a burst of electricity and force, killing the Fake-Cultivator.
The silver eyes did not leave the Fake-Goblin at all and finally after a whole twenty minutes further, its body parts, as if giving up on being discrete at all, started to rot at an incredible speed, becoming first a purple mess before it was reabsorbed by the ground underneath.
"Fine, be that way!" Sider howled, her Thunder Gems reforming around her greataxe's blade as she prepared to what would be a very long and annoying fight.
-
10/10 2:54 (Autumn, Day, Midrar)
In a cave near Nealet, expanded and changed in a proper base containing a map of the nearby region, currently rested two Beings waiting for their upcoming fight, the other members of their Party continuing their preparations outside...
"Do you know how soon our target will reach this place, Rose?" Asked the taller one, a tall, broad shouldered, dark-haired Human fidling with an hammer even taller than his own more than two meters tall frame.
The one being inquired was a young Human woman with long flowing pink hair and pale skin, currently busy meditating that upon being asked sighed once before opening her eyes, her pink Aura rising up around her body as pink light erupted from her gaze, moving towards the far city in which their target currently resided. "She should reach our trap around 11 tommorrow, Grug. I already told you this." She commented calmly, the light within her eyes mostly fading away, leaving behind two bright pink orbs, the Innate Skill of her non-Human father, her "Magic Eyes of Psychic Might".
"I know, I know. But I was hoping you could convince her to move up her plans…?" He hesitantly asked only to turn away at his comrade's reproachful gaze.
"First of all, as you should already well know, I need eye contact to influence someone and was only able to influence her at all thanks to Mark's knowledge on her and Lilze's Unique Skill "Karmic Connector" and only to the point of making a suggestion she could accept without too many issues. Second of all, the more time we have, the more we can stack the cards in our favor with traps and other preparations for our ambush. As you already well know. If you are so bored, you could just try to Craft something for the battle. Mark said you have a talent for it." She half-complimented.
"What, just because my father was a Dwarf doesn't mean that I am automatically good at metallurgy. And Mark was talking about past-future-me? And he is not me." He complained once again, more bored than anything else.
"He is quite literally you. And you know that. I don't see where the issue lies with… him, if you want me to say it like that."
"I already live in the shadows of my father and brothers, I did everything I could so that I am not being compared with any of them and now I am in a constant comparison with a more experienced version of myself. Who knows where my issues come from!" The half-Dwarf almost shouted, irritated, leading Rose to lean back slightly before she sighed.
"Fine, I understand. Even if I do not share in your emotions, I am sorry that I didn't consider your feelings."
"I accept your excuses!" The hammer-wielder exclaimed smugly, his hurt feelings swiftly suppressed only to be met with a pair of glowing, skeptical eyes.
"You do know that hiding your emotions while I am actually paying attention, don't you? If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine, but if you do, I can lend you my attention for a while. Or you can go entertain Lilze, I guess." Grug in response thought about it a little bit, nodded to himself and, his gaze burning with new-found determination met the pink-haired one's eyes… before standing up and going right out of their Party's cave, searching for Lilze.
"As I thought. Why is everyone in this Party a psycological mess, Mark?!" She asked to the air, expecting an answer and not being disappointed or surprised once she recieved one from someone that shouldn't have been there.
"Well, in my defense, it's not like I knew what everyone's hang up was at the start. I just wanted to assemble a team to find out and avenge my sister's death and all of you were quite proficient in masking your problems at the start." Mark half-teased, appearing from the shadows of the cave, his newly-created Artifact shutting off. "And by the point I learned of your issues, I was already attached. How did you figure out I was here, by the way? This thing should have been more than enough to hide me from you." Mark wondered, curious.
Rose looked at him, an eyebrow arched at the sight of the blonde Human that functioned as their Party Leader and the reason the Party existed in the first place. "You are a time-traveler. Even with the small number of travels you did, you were trying to make something you already did before. It was obvious that you would be quick in making it and so I guessed you heard my conversation with Grug. What do you think we should do about him?"
"If he offers to talk, we will listen to him but we cannot force it. It would be… dangerous considering the upcoming fight and, while he intellectually knows he can trust us, emotionally our Party's creation was too recent for him to really open up."
"I guess. It would be much easier if you could bring back everyone else's memory with you but it's impossible."
"My Unique Skill "Time Walker" doesn't allow me much when it comes to time travel. The point of arrive is the time I Awakened my Unique Skill and I can only send my memories back in time once "Time Walker" reaches A-Rank."
"It's impressive all this you did in just twenty days, like how you were able to transform a loose collection of strangers into a competent team. However some things need time to mature even if done perfectly, as you well know." She calmly half-comforted and her Party Leader merely sighed before asking her with a look if everything was fine reguarding their target, his sister's murderer.
"Everything is proceding according to plan." She confirmed calmly before relaxing back into Deep Meditation once her Party Leader vanished, intent on storing as much Psychic Energy as possible for the following battle.
All of them remaining blissfully ignorant of the ways that her eyes flashed red for but a brief moment.
-
10/10 3:04 (Autumn, Day, Midrar, Base)
Luna's smile widened further, her attention shifting briefly to the distance as her eyes briefly flashed pink, her gaze containing an intense yet somewhat playful ferocity.
"It seems someone is looking down on me. They will regreat it. Very soon." She affirmed, malice filling her tone for but an instant before vanishing as if inexistent the following second, turning back to her Mates with what for her passed as a cheery smile. "But until then, let's celebrate. Ah, what about your Party?" She asked Sabel curiously.
"Well, they will pass here in another couple of hours but our Party is probably disbanded, at least for a while. Hale was recalled to his church's headquarters while Jay is a noble, apparently, and needs urgently to return home. A family emergency, apparently." Sabel sighed, trying to calm down her sadness at having to say goodbye to her friends but happy that both of them were able to still visit in her birthday.
"I see." Luna calmly affirmed before leaning forward and kissing her black-haired Mate to reassure her.
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