Minute Mage: A LitRPG Adventure, page 25
The Devil gritted his teeth. Was this man seriously holding back something that could help the entire Demon Race for his own ego? To use some of the Human vocabulary he’d learned lately, this Fiend Magus was a ‘fucking asshole.’
He initially wanted to report the Demon for abuse of power, but then he remembered that the report would have to go through all thirteen levels of confirmation, like all things, and one of those levels would end up being this exact Demon. So, it would obviously be rejected.
He almost considered walking out right there. But he needed the Supreme one. If this assault didn’t go well, it’d be bad. He suppressed a sigh. "Please, Superior Wortinwukaito’shizazukarwintowrochi’wrochiwrantishokorinkinamlitep’voxhizuwranjulimono’zaxaruluionomran’walaxivintoproligunt’kuntoiwar’enuminonoplaxxiuntepinarntinum’wastiunintiuninpronviaxtrunwia, I plead that, in your infinite kindness, you grant me access to the Supreme one."
"Hm. Not very enthusiastic. I’ll give it to you for ten Overworld seconds, instead of minutes. How about that?"
The Devil bit down on the inside of his mouth, hard. "Formal expression of gratitude. Your generosity is appreciated."
"Good. Nothing further to discuss. Leave."
The Devil marched down the many hallways on his way back to his office. He groaned, rubbing his hands against his face as he walked.
"Absolute dickhead,” he said under his breath, taking a strange sense of relief from uttering the Human curse.
“What?” a voice said from behind him.
He looked back to see a hall monitor looking at him, and rolled his eyes.
“Nothing,” he said. “Mind your business.”
He kept walking through the hallways, back to his office.
Truthfully, he wasn’t so upset purely because the meeting had gone badly. Sure, that superior was rude, and it would’ve been better to have gotten the Supreme one for longer, but that thing existing in the Overworld for ten full seconds would be more than enough to wreak havoc.
No, he was upset about the fact that the meeting he’d just finished was the last step needed to prepare for the invasion. The armies had been constructed, each Human settlement had been assigned the forces it would be attacked by, and the Demon soldiers were lined up and prepared to change realms. Once the Supreme one was on standby, the attack would start.
And the Devil couldn’t be more stressed.
He wasn’t worried for the invading Demon forces. Well, they were certainly in danger, sure. Many of them were headed straight into the territory of Human Classers with dozens upon dozens of Levels under their belt—the Devil had done quite a bit of research on the Human Class system in preparation of the invasion, so he knew how big of a deal it would be to go up against a force like that. However, no matter how powerful the enemy, the Demon soldiers would likely be safe from death.
The way that Demons entered the Overworld wasn’t by simple travel. The Demons were sophisticated enough in the ways of magic that they could—with the help of numerous powerful Spellcasters—project a part of themselves to the parallel plane. The projected Demons would be able to perceive and exist in the Overworld, but their true selves would be safe in the Underworld.
Now, sure, it would still be incredibly unpleasant if their projections were killed in the Overworld—it was a piece of them, after all—but it wouldn’t typically kill them. Put them out of commission for a few weeks? Definitely. Damage them so severely that they were permanently unfit for battle? Possibly. But not dead. They could still do paperwork, at least.
There were cases when Demons truly traveled to the Overworld, bringing their entire selves along with them and dealing with the consequences of being mortal in such a chaotic realm—Temporus had done so, after all—but the projection method was much safer and more standardized.
In truth, what caused the Devil so much stress was simple worry. Worry that the invasion wouldn’t go as planned. Worry that this fugitive, Arlan Nota, would somehow fight it off. Worry that he would get stuck dealing with this nerve-wracking Temporus case for even longer. In short, he was stressed out about the possibility that he’d get stuck with more stress.
What a predicament, he thought. But really, now, everything’s in place.
In just a few hours, the moment of reckoning would be upon that Human. All the Devil had left that he could do now was sit back and watch the spectacle.
28
EARTHQUAKE?
Erani and I had a pleasant start to our morning. To start with, when I woke up, I had an exciting notification.
Threshold reached. Noxious Grasp XP has reached 130.
Noxious Grasp Rank has increased to 9.
Due to Noxious Grasp Rank reaching 9, it has undergone the following changes:
Mana Cost: From 3.67 to 3.76
Health Drain: From 14.8 to 15.5
Stamina Drain: From 7.39 to 7.76
The next Rank-up would bring me to 10, which would bring along with it a significant upgrade.
But…
I checked the next Rank’s Spell XP requirement. Yep. Just as I remembered, the XP requirement went up hugely whenever it was about to reach any tenth Rank.
Noxious Grasp 9 - XP 22/355
Compared to the 130 needed before, 355 was a massive jump—it almost tripled the requirement. However, at the rate I was gaining Spell XP, hopefully, it wouldn’t take too long before I Ranked up again. I already had the Spell Crystal, so all I was waiting for was the practice.
Once Erani and I each got out of our beds, we had some breakfast provided by the inn we stayed the night at, and discussed the agenda for the day.
"So," Erani was saying, "the college won’t open for a bit. What do you want to do until then?"
"Well, it’s a bit of a walk, isn’t it? Why don’t we just make our way over there and look around as we go? It’s a big city. I’m sure there’s some stuff you haven’t shown me."
So we headed out after breakfast, passing through one of the main market areas that seemed to be aimed toward the adventuring crowd. It was apparently located near the building for the local Adventurer’s Guild branch, so their targeted wares made sense.
The Adventurer’s Guild was essentially a more advanced version of the job board back in Ordensville; people would put up jobs they needed done—as would the city itself, occasionally—and adventurers would go in and pick up the jobs to make money. It was just organized a bit better so as to keep the adventurers and the requesters safe, both from monsters and each other.
There were rules in place so that adventurers couldn’t take jobs that were rated as being too difficult for their Levels, where they would simply use the degree badges that all Classers in the city had to ensure everyone was of an appropriate Level for their job. They also had strict rules and regulations in place to ensure that everyone was paid and compensated fairly for their work—to help keep situations like what had gone on between me and Akinsoft from happening.
Overall, it seemed like a pretty good system to have in place, and I was excited to start adventuring once I was finished with the college.
But for now, we were just heading to the markets. Once we got there, I was a bit overwhelmed by the activity of it all. The streets were full of people wearing armor and wielding weapons, bustling through and talking loudly. To add to the noise, vendors and shop owners were shouting out at the passing Classers, trying to sell them random potions and gear.
It was the first time I’d ever seen so many Classers in one place. I wondered how many were a higher Level than me. Well, considering my newbie status, probably most. Seeing the Swordsmen walking around, long sheaths on their belts or backs, made me feel a bit nostalgic. I could have been one of them. Maybe I’d talk to someone and ask to spar. It’d be nice to fight a Swordsman and see how I fared, compared to last time I’d gone against my trainer back in my village. It seemed so long ago.
"That place looks cool," Erani said, pointing to a store built into the side of a building. It claimed to be selling Enchanted weapons. "You want to check it out?"
"Sure."
The store was much quieter, with only one other group of adventurers inside browsing the wares. There were display cases lining the wooden walls and set up in lines along the floors, with small plaques before each item that were inscribed with descriptions of the items’ Enchantments. Bows that set all arrows shot from them on fire, shields that would explode out in force if they were hit hard enough, that sort of thing.
I stopped in front of one of the swords they had in stock. This one was simultaneously Enchanted with a weight-increasing Enchantment and with one that made the sword lighter for the person holding it. I’d heard of swords like this before. The way the two Enchantments interacted, it was essentially only heavier for the people you’d be fighting against, making it much harder to block or parry. The piece of equipment itself was a polished steel broadsword. I could see my face reflect off the blade.
As I looked at my reflection, I saw someone walk up behind me. It was one of the people from the other group in the store.
"Gorgeous, isn’t it?" the man mused.
"Sure is," I said as I turned to face him. "Name’s Arlan."
"I’m Tordoth," the man said. He had a long beard that obscured his mouth as he spoke. "You thinking of buying it?"
"No, no, I’m a Magic-Type." I sighed. "I guess I can just appreciate a fine piece of craftsmanship when I see one. What about you?"
"Yeah, I think I am. Well, I’m saving up, at least," he said, pointing to the exorbitant price tag attached to the sword.
"We’ll hopefully be able to afford it soon," another adventurer from the man’s group—a woman with a dented breastplate—chimed in from across the room. "We’re planning on going and doing a couple jobs outside town, clearing out a Stripek nest and a Gray Drakeling hive. If we can do them, it’ll get us more than enough to get some new equipment."
"‘If?’" I asked. "You don’t know if you’ll be able to?"
"More like we don’t know whether they’ll let us," the gruff woman said. "Guild’s big on safety, and to them, four wood-degree adventurers isn’t enough to let us do the job."
“Hm,” I said, pausing to think. "Well, what about six?"
"What do you mean?"
"If you had the help of me and another wood-degree, would that be enough to do your jobs?"
"Well, yeah," the woman said. "Are you offering?"
"It depends on the job, really. Pay, difficulty, that sort of thing. But I’d consider myself interested, at least. I’m pretty new around here, so it’d be nice to make some connections."
"Well, if you want more information on the jobs, here," she said as she fished around in one of her pockets. She took out a couple crinkled papers—what I recognized as two job listings. "I’ve already copied down all of the information, so you can have them. If you’re interested, meet us in the Adventurer’s Guild tomorrow morning."
"Sounds good." I looked down at the papers. On them was information like a description of what was known about the monsters, payment information, and some pretty detailed directions on where the nests were.
Once the adventurer team wandered off, Erani walked up to me. "I didn’t know we were signing up for random jobs."
"You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to." I shrugged. "I didn’t sign up for anything anyway. Just let them know I was interested. Even if nothing comes from it, it’s good to meet people."
A few minutes later, we were done looking around and started to head out the door. Just then, though, the ground began to tremble. Glass windows rattled, carts rolled across the pavement outside, and people looked around at each other, confused and alarmed.
I looked at Erani. "Earthquake?"
"I wouldn’t think so," she said, glancing around. "Honestly, I’d say it’s more likely that there’s some high-Level Wizard around here who just got in a fight. The Earthquake Spell has a similar effect, so it could just be that."
I agreed that it probably wasn’t a natural earthquake. They weren’t very common here; I’d never even experienced one in my lifetime, only read descriptions in books. But why would someone cast an Earthquake Spell out here? Casting a Spell with such a massive area of effect near civilization was a very easy way to get the law on your ass. And even if the perpetrator was a high-Level Classer, there were some very high-Level law-enforcement officers out there, too.
I braced myself on a nearby table as the trembling continued. "Is it just me, or is it getting more intense?"
"No, it’s definitely gotten worse," Erani said, looking more and more concerned. "Earthquake Spells don’t last this long either." She glanced around. "We need to get to shelter. Something’s happening, and I don’t like it."
"Agreed. Is it safe to stay here?"
Just as I said that, the owner of the shop pushed past us and ran out the front door, leaving us the only people inside. A battleaxe fell from a mount on the wall, embedding itself in the floor with a heavy thunk.
"Apparently not," Erani said.
We stumbled to the door and stepped out onto the street. Classed and Unclassed alike were beginning to panic as they realized that whatever this was, it wasn’t normal. People fled into buildings at the same time as people fled out of buildings; nobody seemed to actually know what to do.
The rumbling grew more and more intense. A cart next to us shook itself apart, and a pane of glass shattered in the distance. My breathing quickened.
"We need to run!" Erani shouted to me. The rumbling and sounds of falling objects was so loud, I could barely hear her. We started running away—not in any particular direction, just "away"—as the quaking got so bad, it was difficult to stand. I glanced around, unsure of where a source of danger could approach from.
Then, just as we were about to round a corner, something happened. An eruption of deafening noise. A force that flung me into the air. An intense, ripping pain. The sensation of my body being smashed into pieces.
You have been flung against something. 873 damage.
Your Health is 0.
You have been crushed. 7.42k damage.
Your Health is 0.
You have been dismembered.
You have died.
And then it all went black.
29
NOT AN EARTHQUAKE
I was in the black, smoky in-between space. It was so sudden; I didn’t even know what had happened. One second, I was running down the street with Erani, fleeing from some sort of earthquake, and the next second, I was dead.
I felt a wave of panic wash over me. How would I prevent my death? How could I prevent something if I didn’t even know how it happened in the first place? Was there an explosion? A magical bomb planted on me? Did someone shoot me with a Spell? Did something fall on us?
Before I could reconcile my panic, make a plan, or even really process what was going on, I felt myself fading, the in-between space threatening me to leave soon.
I hurriedly picked the furthest-back option I had—six minutes.
That’d have to do.
And then I was back, browsing the store with Erani. I got my bearings. This was after my conversation with the other group of adventurers, but before the earthquake had started.
Erani looked over at me suspiciously. "Hey, you look afraid. Is something—"
I grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door, sprinting down the road and weaving through foot traffic as we went.
"What’s going on?" she gasped.
"We need to run!" I yelled to her as I dragged her by the hand down the busy streets.
"Why?"
"No idea! But for some reason, six minutes from now, we’re all gonna die."
"Wha—how?!"
"I’m not sure. There was an earthquake, and it kept getting worse and worse until something happened—an explosion, maybe—and it all went black."
"What do you mean, ‘there was an earthquake?’ I don’t remember anything like that."
“I know you don’t. Just, I’ll explain later. But there’s going to be an earthquake, and we’ll die in the middle of it.”
“You’re remembering things that haven’t happened yet? Arlan, are you okay? We can get you help—”
“No, no.” I shook my head, still pulling her through the streets. “It has to do with my Class. The information I can get.”
“Well, if there’s going to be an earthquake that kills us all, what should we do?”
"No idea. I was pretty much just thinking we should at least get out of the city. It happened here last time."
“What happened here? The explosion?” She still looked pretty skeptical.
“Yeah. Or it was something like an explosion. Not sure. Anyway, it killed us while we were in the middle of the city, so I think we should probably get out.”
“And your Class gave you this information in the form of…what? False memories, or something?”
I sighed. This was not an important discussion to be having right now. “Sure, yeah. Pretty much. Let’s just get out of here.”
" …Okay. The nearest exit is that way." She pointed, and I changed my course accordingly.
I dashed through the city streets with Erani trailing behind me, weaving and shoving my way through any crowds we encountered. I got some shouts and strange looks, but thankfully, nobody tried to chase after us. I’d been keeping rough track of time, and we should have had about four more minutes until the explosion. Not enough. We were still much too close to the place it’d happened before.
I quickened my pace, and Erani followed suit, sensing my urgency.
“Arlan,” she said, “are you…do you know for sure the explosion is going to kill us? No doubt in your mind?”
“It will if we’re in the middle of it. I saw with my own eyes. But if we can get away, we should be safe.”
After a couple more stressful minutes of running—we now had two remaining—we arrived at one of the exit gates embedded into the city’s outer wall. However, snaking out from the wall was a long line of people calmly waiting to leave. There was a post at the gate, checking people out in the same way they checked us in when we entered the city.
