An unprecedented disaster...
* * *
"Well... at least you've got that, I guess," I say, shrugging lightly. "Could be worse, right?"
"Exactly!" Gram says, giving a thumbs up.
We seem to have finally entered the proper vibe after the assault of Pierce. The waiter returns after dragging Pierce away, seeming slightly more winded than I expected. Lunch should be smooth sailing from here.
"Pardon me. May I have your orders now?" The waiter asks, looking at the chips of wood still on the ground.
"Ah, yeah," I say, nodding. "I'll be having the pork, please."
"Good choice, sir..." The waiter says, writing it down. He looks towards Pridwen next, waiting for her order.
"I'll have the roast goose, please," She says, smiling now that no one is being mean.
"Very nice..." The waiter nods, writing her choice down. His gaze turns to Variel now, waiting for her order.
"I won't be having anything," Variel says, looking off to the side.
"Are you sure?" The waiter asks, tilting his head. "We have a nice lunch special going on today for the festival."
"I'll be fine," Variel repeats, now looking at the waiter.
"Very well..." The waiter says, looking at Gram. "And you, sir?"
"Steak, please," He says politely, handing his menu over to the waiter.
Oh yeah, we're supposed to pass that over... whoopsies. I hand in my menu only to realize that I'm the only one who hasn't done so yet. Why didn't I do that yet? Am I stupid?
* * *
Vajra POV...
Waking up, I find myself in an alley a bit far away from the tavern we were eating at. I feel sore right now, but it's not terrible. My forehead is bleeding and I have some splinters in my right arm from the chair.
"God damn..."
Most glaring of all, I have a killer headache. It feels like I just got hit by a truck... or alternatively, a chair. Judging from the sun, I've probably been asleep for an hour or so. The street is crowded, even more so than earlier. The main event should be starting soon... might as well go and see it.
I stand up and wipe off my forehead, walking out of the alley with a limp. I walk as best I can, ignoring the pain and trudging onward. I have to see all the important events and judge if there's a noticeable difference between this life and my past life, the butterfly effect and all.
And yes, I might've been a little out of pocket when I said all that stuff, but it's not my fault that it's true! Sounds to me like they're just too sensitive to realize the truth in my words. The chair slam was completely unwarranted!
I walk through the crowd, bumping shoulders with someone every few seconds. To say that it's crowded is an understatement. I see a group of students standing around a nearby stall, although not the group I was just kicked out of... whatever, I didn't even know them yet. I don't want to get all chummy with elves anyway.
I walk forward more, approaching the central plaza of the city. There's a large stage in the middle of the plaza, where the actors usually stand. Maybe the show is different this year, maybe it's. I can't say yet for sure.
Walking over to a wall, I lean against it and wait. I stand around for a while... and a while more... and then a lot longer. Judging by the position of the sun, we're about an hour late... weird. I finally see the group again, entering the plaza from the opposite side. I think I'm gonna keep away from them for a while.
Where are the actors? The set pieces? The trumpets and band?
Shit's weird... suspiciously weird. Maybe something went wrong... I don't remember any significant events happening near this time-
BOOM!~
I hear a boom, feeling the ground shake below me. I turn my head in the direction of the noise, standing straight up. A large plume of smoke shoots into the sky and I can see debris going through the sky. That one kinda looks like the roof of the Ironhold Castle building. I... I told Clyde to hang around the castle today.
A shockwave erupts, demolishing the buildings closest to the blast. It's maybe 2 miles away from me, yet I can still feel the titanic burst of mana. I'm feeling the power of the titans of this world.
Did... did I just witness an act of domestic terrorism?!? People immediately start running, as they should, but I just... stand there.
That blast was bigger than anything I could have ever made in my first life. I feel small again, like when I encountered the white whale. I feel... angry... or maybe just helpless.
Yet despite being more powerless than I've been in years... I run forward instead of away.
[Total system announcement: Emergency quest.]
[Cleras is under attack due to outside forces. Rescue survivors for rewards.]
Great. I swipe the notification away and begin to channel mana into my legs, sprinting as fast as I can. I'm not sure why this notification is a "total system announcement", but it's probably negligent. I'm not able to get up to max speed with the crowd. For some unluckier people, they would probably be trampled. I see a beam shoot into the sky from the castle, expanding in its path as if someone had shot it at an aerial target.
A gigantic glacier of ice forms in the air above the castle, crashing down a second later. It hits the ground but is shattered into pieces by another beam. From the capabilities, it's likely 2 S ranks fighting. Even the residual effects could kill me at my low rank, yet I keep running.
The buildings at this range are nearly demolished, nothing more than rubble reminiscent of a house... yet Clyde had to have been closer to the castle. It's a sea of rubble, the 2 fighters at the vortex. I can only assume that Clyde is buried under a tidal wave of stone somewhere... dead.
The only savable people would be about 20 feet back, not in front of me. I stop running, not even bothering to try. The rubble is spread about across the road, causing a barrier that I would need to mantle to progress, so I just turn around. Is there any reason to try? I guess system points... it's not like I have a connection to these people. I jog down the street a little before going to a house. Collapsed stone, a bloody arm sticking out from underneath... there's a ring on the arm's finger.
The limb is completely limp. What part of this am I supposed to save? I don't even think there's a person attached to this arm anymore. I turn around and look at the road. There are a handful of people still here, mainly people trying to help. Gram, Arthur, Pridwen... Variel isn't here though. She probably stayed back.
Gram has managed to drag someone back, although they seem to be missing a majority of their left half. I hear another beam fire off from the battlefield, trailing into the sky. The peak of fire magic versus the peak of ice magic, although... the fire magic looks different than I've ever seen it.
A dark red blaze that appears black at times, solidified into a dense beam that rapidly expands in an instant.
It's a complete contrast from anything I've ever seen.
* * *