12 Chapter 12 : A different kind of voice

"You want to try to talk to them?"

"Yes. if it were a normal boss I wouldn't even try but considering that they are a Guardian they shouldn't be that different from ourselves"

"hmm..... Its worth a shot but we will wait for midnight to wake up first he might have some useful information regarding the rules of the duel. I also think we should get his opinion on this situation"

"for now everyone set up camp, we will most likely be here for a few days"

Leaving the group to set up the camp He Met back up with echo who was in the middle of writing the mana letter.

Mana letters were a technique first developed when mana became commonplace. they were primarily designed to help with communication over long distances. while mana letters weren't easy to do anyone with a decent understanding of the fundamentals of mana would be able to do it.

when mana letters became more popular dedicated buildings were made were anyone could come and pay a small fee to send a mana letter.

mana letters in simple terms were a letter made purely out of mana and was transported by the use of mana creature.

the most common method of this was through making a small bird out of mana and letting it carry the message to the destination however this isn't always the case.

"I'm not sure if you overheard the rest of the conversation but we will be setting up camp and waiting untill midnight wakes up before we do anything else.

Nodding echo stopped writing and tossed the purple quill she was using to write into the air causing it to disappear before making a small purple raven appear on her palm.

attaching the small piece of paper to the raven it flew upwards through the trees before quickly disappearing from sight.

"Considering the amount of mana I used they should receive the message by tomorrow latest. now what about the girl?" echo asked relatively quietly while looking towards the shrine.

Kuroi chi as this point had looked through multiple different realities and was trying out many different sword styles to see which one fitted her physique best so she was mainly practising her stances and swings with her sword.

"We won't need anyone to stay up to keep watch. she is a guardian and so she is restricted to the site of worships grounds and because she is the boss of this area no other creature will approach anywhere near here"

despite not looking happy about the news Echo didn't voice her opinion and instead just nodded before going to help set up the camp.

. . .

"Are they setting up tents? Well considering that raven i saw earlier i doubt they are the only people planning on staying for a bit"

After the dual had ended she was asked by the floating screens what she would like as her reward.

in the end she decided to choose a blank journal as her reward as she was originally going to ask for information but decided that it would be worthless if she didn't have a way to record it.

At first she was worried about having to wait untill she could get something to write with but after seeing a girl in the party make a purple quill out of mana she decided to do some experimenting. thanks to being able to access the memories of other versions of herself in alternate realities she was already incredibly familiar with mana despite it being a little different in each reality.

due to this after around 15 minutes she was able to make a pen made purely out of her mana.

it was very modern looking pen that was black with red highlights similar to her appearance.

she had made it so it would use a very small amount of mana to mark the paper while the other end of the pen could pick the mana back up acting as a eraser of sorts.

"This will work. I wont have to ever worry about losing it either as i can just make another. its a shame I couldn't make the book out of mana aswell but it just wouldn't last"

While its possible to solidify mana to create objects they won't last forever and will eventually dissipate. this is why she decided to use her reward to get a book instead of making one out of mana like the pen.

"it will probably be sunset soon so I'll need to set up a camp of sorts. wait do I even need to sleep? I mean I haven't gotten hungry of thirsty since I woke up here and I haven't felt even the least bit sleepy despite beating someone to a pulp earlier. is it something to do with being a boss or something?

"Well even if I did need to sleep, eat and drink I could just use my affinity to revert my body back to a state were it wasn't hungry, thirsty or tired. well it saves mana I guess. none the less not having to worry about any of those things saves me alot of time"

while having the memories of other versions of herself let's her have access to skills and memories that are extremely useful she won't be able to instantly use them to there full potential.

for example you may have the knowledge of a masterful sword technique but you won't be able to use it without atleast a little practice no matter how much information you have.

because of this she decided atleast for now to dedicate all her time to refining her skill with her katana.

however anytime spent during breaks was looking through memories in search of anything useful such as different techniques and spells for her affinity.

she did this for the rest of the day and deep into the night.

during her training she kept a close eye on the camp just outside the shrine grounds but apart from the occasional glance from someone nothing happened between the 2 sides.

"I'm pretty curious about there camp. I mean if they are trying to get information on me its only fair I can try to get a little on them. not like I play fair anyway" she thought with a sly smile.

most likely somewhere around 3am she decided to sneak into the camp after not seeing any movement for awhile.

As she started to approach the tree line off to the side of the shrine grounds she suddenly ran into a invisible wall.

"Huh? what the hell is this i didn't sign up to be a slave to this god and their shrine!"

she tried to break the barrier with her katana it but as expected it did nothing and phased right through it.

"I didn't expect to have to try a spell like this yet but evidently some bitch sitting up in heaven thinks they can control me so I guess I have no choice"

Looking through as many memories of anything similar to the spell she was trying to make as possible she decided to experiment with some rocks before trying the spell on herself.

concentrating her mana she was able to teleport a rock on the ground a short distance away however the rock kept its force and went flying into the forest making a large hole in a tree.

...

"...Good thing I decided to do some test runs first."

After a little bit of trial and error despite it mostly being error she was eventually able to safely teleport a rock a short distance away without any side affects.

"Alright time to see if this works"

putting herself right next to the barrier she focused her mana once again while envisioning the spell in her mind.

Suddenly she felt herself become lighter for just a split second as her body vanished and shot forward phasing right through the barrier.

as her body reappeared on the other side of the barrier she looked behind her and stuck her hand out only to feel it contact the wall.

"I guess a spell like that deserves a name. i think Blink sounds pretty fitting so ill go for that."

Smiling to herself for a moment she then began running in the direction of the camp while sticking to the cover of the trees.

approaching the outskirts of the camp she looked around to find everyone asleep in a tent apart from 2 people asleep next to a campfire off to the side of the camp.

"they didn't even leave someone on watch? that pretty lazy of them considering we barely know anything about each other. I guess they thought that barrier would be enough to stop me. I dont blame them, I doubt you could brute force your way through a barrier made by a god.

But what use is a unbreakable wall if one can climb right over it."

Her objective of breaking into the camp wasn't to hurt anyone or take anything it was just to try and find any information that was worthwhile.

she knew she wouldn't be able to read any books or diary's as they spoke a different language to her but even a rough idea of there level of technology available would be very useful.

After looking through most of the camp she had found that it seemed like they were pretty limited when it came to there technology and food.

their methods used to preserve food was pretty dated and not modern at all as most of there food were crackers, dried fruit and dried meats.

there weaponry entirely consisted of either melee weapons, bows / Crossbows or magic staffs.

there were no signs of firearms of any kind not even black powder weapons which was very reassuring.

all was going well as she sneaked through the camp without waking anyone.

"only the area with the 2 girls by the campfire and then I can call it a night"

As she approached the 2 she noticed some bags lying against a tree nearby so she circled around the sleeping girls before opening one of the bags.

however as soon as she touched the bag her arms and legs were surrounded by shadows holding her in place.

"Goddammit! I should have checked for a magic sigle!" she thought as she did her best to struggle free from the restraints.

"Now! get her!" one of the girls yelled with Kuro chi not understanding her words but definitely there intentions.

As soon as she heared the yell one of the 2 girls quickly got to there feet and rushed at Kuro chi with her hands glowing a light shade of indigo.

Trying to think of a way out of her situation she saw her katana that had fallen to the floor and without second guessing the idea she used her affinity to pick up her sword making it float in the air.

seeing the girl sprinting at her she decided to swing her katana at her instead of freeing herself.

However seeing it coming the girl was able to duck in time narrowly dodging the attack

"Shit!" she thought as her eyes widened as the girl grabbed her neck with her hands.

But something felt off

nothing hurt and her grip wasn't aggressive

despite this confusing Kuro Chi she quickly swung at the girl again this time hitting her in the side of her ribs causing her Epitome to flash as she was sent tumbling away.

Seeing a opening to escape she quickly used her katana to swing at the shadows holding her down.

Freeing herself from the shadows she grabbed her sword and took a defensive stance.

"I should run i don't want to have to deal with anyone else here. I doubt the duel rules apply when I'm out of the shrines grounds so I dont want to be surrounded'

seeing the girl step back and take a quick glance behind her the 2 girls by the campfire knew what she was planning.

"Wait!!!"

just as she was about to run she stopped hearing what the girl said as it wasn't the same as before.

this time she understood her...

. . .

Authors Notes

Hey everyone here is the double chapter promised and I might be releasing more chapters over the next few days aswell but no promises (as always...)

To me these extra chapters are more of a thank you than a Christmas gift.

I'm surprised this novel has grown as much as it has despite all of its many manyyy flaws with me being the biggest one.

I know I have said thanks alot recently but honestly I just can't help it.

this novel has grown more in the short time it has existed than I thought it would in its lifespan.

I started this on a whim and now this "whim" has hundreds of people reading it.

I cant explain how much this surprises me.

in reality this book has a very small following if any at all but too me its larger than I ever expected.

I dont want this novel to set records or to be well know I just want people to enjoy reading it even if only for a second before dropping it entirely.

I know its only Christmas eve right now but I wish you all a merry Christmas and Happy New year.

and from the bottom of my heart I would just like to say . . .

thank you all