38 Azura, The Azulian Flame

'Ah, damnit, again? I thought I was done with this.'

'Quit poking my face.'

'Wow, this bed is the most comfortable bed yet, so warm and soft.'

'Warm? Well whatever, I feel like I could sleep here forever.'

'Oi, quit pinching my cheeks!'

'This is comfortable. Like I could just forget all about coughing my lungs out, and...'

'Wait, that's right, I have that plague...'

'And everyone saw.'

"Oh shit!"

*Boing*

Ai shot up quickly, bashing her face against something... soft?

"Ara, it seems the little one has finally awoken."

"Oi, that's my line for fuckin' with sis!" Ai pushed the large softness out of the way and she realized the thing she headbutt this time was Azura's bare chest.

"UWA! What are you doing, crazy woman! This is not legal! Not Legal! Loli-con!" Ai crawled back into a wall, looking down, she realized they were both in the nude in a massive circular bed.

Snapping her fingers, their clothing reappeared over their bodies. "My my, such a foul-mouthed little girl. And after everything I did to heal you." Azura had a pouty look on her face.

"Underage yuri is NOT how healing works you, mad woman!" Ai covered her chest, despite being fully clothed now.

Summoning her staff, she tapped it on one of the bedposts as a large magic circle appeared and dissipated from the bed. "My dear, I simply used an ancient ritual to halt the spread of the plague within your body, nudity was just a part of the spell." Azura winked at her as Ai blushed slightly, looking down in shame.

"S-sorry." Ai apologized, bowing her head. She did feel different, not healthy by any means, but she didn't feel that crawling sensation within her body that had persisted after she had coughed up the black blood the first time.

"It's fine, little one, not many people know about the ancient magics." She waved her hand and tapped the staff to the bedpost once more as they both teleported back to the large tent.

"S-sis!" Amari tackled Ai to the ground in a hug, tears flowing down onto Ai's hair.

Ai reached up, patting Amari's head. "I-it's ok, I'm fine, but could you get off? You're gonna break my ribs again!" She said as Amari backed up. "S-sorry sis. I was so worried, and... eh? What's that on your face?"

Ai blinked and conjured a small mirror in her palm, she looked at her reflection, moving her hair out of the way, she saw three blue crescents circling her left eye. "Eh? Is this...?"

Azura nodded. "The system marks weren't able to adhere to your mechanical wrists, so I scanned your body for another compatible location and your eye seemed to resonate strongly. I must admit, even I was surprised to discover that you have three classes."

Everyone looked at Ai in shock. "Three Classes!?" Everyone yelled out simultaneously.

Ai chuckled awkwardly, scratching her cheek. "Surprise?" Ai had decided not to tell anyone, not even her sister, although she had hinted at it before, Amari wasn't smart enough to pick up on that, thankfully. Now the cat was out of the bag.

"Well, little Ai, if you would like, I can add another tattoo to disguise your system mark. Maybe something tribal, given your heritage?" Azura had tapped her staff to get everyone's attention. "I'm sure you all know that this would certainly garner the unwanted attention of certain individuals." Everyone nodded.

'Certain individuals?'

"Um, like who?" Ai asked, curious about the fact that she seemed to have people in mind.

"Well, little Ai, there is a guild that actively seeks out individuals that have achieved a multi-class. Normally, once you reach Level 30, you can multi-class by splitting your experience between different classes. Needless to say, given the benefits of multiple classes, this makes the said individuals far more powerful than another at their level." Azura explained.

"There are rare cases where a person becomes eligible for a multi-class much earlier, these individuals are sought out by this guild and forced into their ranks, by any means necessary. Considering that there are 7 of us that have broken through the level 20 limit, myself being the highest at Level 25, you can see why multi-classing is so rare."

Ai's eyes widened in excitement. She realized what that meant. If the entire party could multi-class and push on to the higher levels, everyone would be strong enough to hold their own when the Cycle started.

"Ah, well there are six of us now, Ai used to be one but lost her levels." Amari spoke up, Azura smiled before pointing at Hoat'l. "Our little dwarf here only recently became Level 21, as such, our numbers are still at 7, simply trading one member for another, and I have a feeling little Ai won't take too long to catch back up, especially considering her current level."

Ai blinked curiously. "But I'm still only Level 5, it's gonna take a while yet."

"5? Little Ai, you reached Level 10." Azura explained as Ai stared at her in shock.

"Activate the mark." Azura said, pointing at Ai's mark.

'That's right! System!'

Ai's left eye started to shine as a silver magic circle appeared over her iris.

[Congratulations! You've reached Level 6!]

[Congratulations! You've reached Level 7!]

[Congratulations! You've reached Level 8!]

[Congratulations! You've reached Level 9!]

[Congratulations! You've reached Level 10!]

[Name: Ai

Level: 10

Class: Cleric / Eldritch Mage / Creation Mage

Stats: HP: 342 / 342 | MP: 488 / 488

STR: 20 | DEX: 19 | CON: 19(+1)

INT: 26(+2) | WIS: 18 | CHA: 15

New Stat Allocation: [+1 to stat of choice.][+1 to INT(Warlock Prestige)][+1 to CON(Paladin Prestige]

Class Up Unlock: [Eldritch Mage Automatically selected due to prestige]

Cleric Class Expanded:

-Divinity Domain unlocked: [Vengeance Domain Automatically Chosen due to prestige]

-Third Tier Divine Magic unlocked

Eldritch Mage Benefits unlocked:

-Eldritch Summoning unlocked.

-Eldritch Enhancement unlocked.

-Mana Stone/Crystal control unlocked.

-Third Tier Arcane Magic unlocked.

Creation Mage Class Expanded:

-Further reduced cost of mana required to construct equipment.

-Further increased construction speed.

-Medium-scale creation unlocked.]

Ai grinned like gluttony in a candy store, her face wore a sadistic expression, causing concerned looks from the party.

"I wonder how large the next crater will be, island sized? Maybe even bigger? fufufu~" Amari and Hoat'l paled, they remembered what happened the last time she made a crater the size of a large city. This girl didn't need to be over Level 20, she was more than powerful enough to erase any of the uppers at her current level.

Azura laughed. "I can tell there is an interesting story behind that remark, you will have to tell me all about it at a later date."

Ai snapped out of her sadistic fantasy. "Ah, that's right, what did you mean by 'we' anyways? Are you coming with us?" Lia smiled as Kenji shook his head desperately.

"Well of course, after all, now we are bonded, if you happen to go out and die, I will die as well. Then who would be there to feed and take care of my boys?" Ai's eye twitched at that.

Lia gasped. "But Azura! Are you sure it's ok to bind yourself like that? You hardly know little Ai!"

Azura shook her head. "The ritual told me that this girl needed to survive no matter what. I dreamed of the end of the world, demons and angel descended upon cities and hamlets alike, burning everything to ash. Amongst the flames, I saw a lone girl standing, demonic sword in hand, with silver hair and eyes red like the hell that was unleashed upon the world. She slaughtered mercilessly, killing demons, angels, and humans alike. When I peered into her soul, I saw this girl laying in a deep, empty void, crying out for someone to put an end to her suffering when she noticed me, she begged me to go back and stop her from turning."

Azura sighed, waving her hand through the air as blue flames danced around before forming three crescents. "The image of these three crescents appeared in mind, with a simple message that said she was the one that could stop the end. When I awoke, I cast the mark on little Ai and those three crescents appeared again, I knew I had to do whatever it took to save her from her fate, so I bound myself to her to buy her a little more time."

Everyone stared in shock as Azura explained everything, her dancing blue flames morphed to match what she was saying.

"So, this is the greater destiny that my Oracle spoke of." Kenji spoke up, nodding. Azura glared daggers at him but decided to let him speak.

Ai looked at Kenji, walking towards him. "You've mentioned your 'Oracle' a few times now, so far this person seems to be reliable, care to explain who this person is."

Kenji nodded, dropping all of his brooding and joking, he looked more serious now than he ever did in their short time together.

"My Oracle is the woman that intercepted my summoning. She resides deep underground within a prison in the abandoned Fort Pherys, chained to a giant mana stone that keeps her alive, have any of you ever heard the legends of the 'Stone of Eternity'? Well that's the one. She looks like a young woman, about Ai's age, but she has been around for a very long time. She knows a lot of things about the past, present, and future including the exact event that Azura depicted so vividly."

Kenji leaned against one of the posts in the tent. "My Oracle gave me a mission before she sent me away, to grow more powerful, and to find a destiny greater than myself. After everything we have seen so far, I think I understand what we have to do now. Thanks to Madam Azura, we might be able to have a chance, my Oracle warned of several trials that the 'worlds strongest' would have to endure in order to reach the end. Andromeda was the first, and apparently, Andromeda's corruption is the next trial."

Azura gave a sly grin as she approached Kenji. "You're not quite as idiotic as you look, how would you like to become one of my toys? I'll treat you fairly."

Kenji looked dumbstruck as Lia charged forth and reached out to slap Azura, but her hand faded right through her as Azura's afterimage disappeared and she reappeared sitting on her 'throne'. "I jest, Lia, he is all yours."

Lia grumbled something about Azura being a harlot and stormed out of the tent, Kenji in arm.

'Poor boy.'

"Well, miss Azura, since you will be joining us, I would like to take the chance to catch you up on our group's current objectives."

Azura nodded and smiled, leaning back in her 'throne'.

"First and foremost, our main objective is to gather the 7 and, well, basically power level together. As you've already seen the Cycle at work, stopping that is our ultimate goal. For now, though, I have to find a way to stop the Blood Plague from driving me insane and..." Ai continued to explain the situation, explaining how the Blood Plague had more stages for herself in particular, and how her memories worked.

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Kenji and Lia stood outside of the tent, with their own conversation.

"Ken, I'm sorry for snapping at you. I understand that, till even a few hours ago, you didn't even know who I was." Lia apologized, looking down at the grass.

"Ah, I'm sorry for misunderstanding the skill. I honestly thought it was meant for, well, that." Kenji blushed, thinking about how foolish it was for the system to give him something for a Harem, come to think of, there was nothing about having multiple partners, there was nothing about not having multiple partners except for the 'Linked' portion of the description.

"So... how about we start over again?" Kenji said as he stretched his hand out, offering to shake Lia's hand. "I'm Kenji, ah no, that's not right. I'm Kenneth, the Spellsword."

Lia giggled and shook his hand. "I'm Lia, the Mage."

"Alright then, Lia, how about we go back and figure what to do next?" Lia nodded and giggled again, wrapping her arms around one of his as Kenji blushed.