32 Fort Clyfton

I moved a few kilometers past the village before taking Sandy out of my Item Pack again. I had eaten, which was nice and all, but now I needed to figure out how to feed Sandy. What do magic beasts normally eat anyways?

[Solution: Magic Beasts eat Mana. In the wild the best source of Mana is from other magic beasts, ambient mana in rich environments such as dungeons, or human flesh. In this case, the user passively emits enough Mana that 'feeding' of the Omega Hound is no longer necessary.]

That's interesting. How much ambient mana do I release, and is it necessarily a bad thing?

[Solution: The user emits more ambient mana than most dungeons of this world. Humans do not posses acute enough senses to detect it without a specific skill, so it is unlikely this will ever cause issue. It is likely the reason the Omega Hound was tamed so easily was due to it sensing the user's overwhelming ambient mana.]

That's not too bad, then.

I looked over at Sandy and watched her frolic about. She paused for a moment to pee on some tree roots. The grove immediately began wilting as the ground started to dissolve. It would be rather inconvenient to have her melt someone's home, so it's probably for the best if I keep her in the Item Pack around any human settlements.

"Come on, Sandy, let's run for a bit. I want to stretch my legs after lunch," I said, waving at the pooch. She immediately bounded after me as I set off jogging. We explored a small wooded mountain range for a bit, but there were only rank 3 beasts and lower so nothing interesting happened. We did scare the absolute hell out of one hunter, though. As an apology I quickly shot down a HippoCrow with a slightly empowered -Mana Shot- and left him the carcass. It was rather ugly compared to most of the Rank 3 beasts I had seen on my trip so far, and it was supposedly sought out for its meat anyways. I'm sure the hunter would have brought it down on his own eventually, but he did certainly seem happy after I gave it to him.

We continued our trip through the countryside at a rather leisurely pace. I never grew tired, even after jogging with Sandy for most of the afternoon. I didn't even break a sweat. My body felt like a well oiled machine. I hadn't realized it, but last night was the first time since coming to this world that I felt true fatigue. It was almost a bit nostalgic, in a sense. Though, I don't think I want to ever be in a situation where exhausting myself like that again is the only option.

We continued moving south, but I realized that Sandy wasn't fast enough to make the trip in time. I stored her in my Item Pack and kicked my speed into a higher gear. The scenery began zipping past me as I moved. The wind was howling so fast I couldn't hear anything.

After a short bit of running, the Calico Dungeon finally came into view again. I still had about an hour or two left before dinner, so I decided to drop by the developing city nearby.

The city was mostly comprised of wood and mud buildings. The buildings here weren't meant to last like the stonebuilt ones of the Capital. The biggest difference though, aside from the architecture, had to be the sheer volume of people. The main 'street' alone had to have hundreds of thousands of adventurers roaming about. I was astounded by the mass of bodies.

Stalls lined the streets and people were selling weapons, armor, and monster parts. Vendors called out to me as I walked through the crowd with my hood up. Some men selling maps were screaming, claiming to have the next 'rotation' ahead of time. The Calico Labyrinth Dungeon's upper layers changed at random every three days, so those map vendors were probably scamming new adventurers. I considered stopping them, but my thoughts were cut short as a loud siren began blaring throughout the city.

People immediately began to quiet down and their attention turned towards what looked to be a loudspeaker. Using -Passive Detect Mana- I could sense the magical energy swelling from it.

"Attention Citizens, this is an emergency notice. A rank 4 beast has been sighted heading down the Dragon Mountain Range towards Fort Clyfton. The Fort is seeking assistance from any and all adventurers over the rank of 'B' who are willing. The rest of the citizenry should seek shelter immediately."

The announcement was delivered in a very clear and concise manner. I was a bit surprised at how organized the city seemed about this kind of situation. Everyone in sight had, upon hearing the sirens, silenced themselves. It was so quiet I could hear the heartbeat of the vendor standing next to me.

My amazement was interrupted, though, when I noticed the fear in the people's eyes. No one moved after the announcement finished. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath.

I hadn't considered it, but a rank 4 beast appearing was probably akin to the apocalypse for these folks. It also meant that my plan for crashing the Bumblefuck Brother's dinner would certainly be ruined, since they were undoubtedly going to be part of the defense force for this 'threat'.

The notice message played a second time, but still no one reacted. I was growing a bit frustrated with how stagnant the city had become. Thankfully the people began to move again after the third time.

It was far too orderly for my tastes. The people began to trickle into their homes or towards the outskirts of the city in a very careful manner. There was no panic. There was no mad rush. I, of course, was headed in the opposite direction from the masses. There were a few adventurers who, like me, were heading towards the Southern gate of the city, the gate that lead to Fort Clyfton. I found myself respecting those that chose to fight, even if they were terribly weak. They didn't know it, but they were also terribly lucky. Today there would be no casualties from this rank 4 monster, because a far more terrifying monster was walking among them.

The Southern gate was open and a trickle of men and women were walking through it towards what they assumed was certain death. I could see it in their eyes. They weren't expecting to live through this battle. Perhaps I shouldn't kill the beast too quickly. Should I put on a show? I don't think trivialising these people's feelings is a good thing. I could make the battle with the monster look flashy and take a while. I could even drag in some of the stronger adventurers so they could deliver the finishing blow… But doing something like that would put them at risk. It was far easier just to go out and show off my power. It would certainly get me an audience with the two princes.

I was a bit stumped on what to do. I didn't want anyone to get hurt, but I also didn't want them to feel insignificant. Well, I suppose I could at least see the situation first before deciding on my course of action. If people end up feeling insignificant because of my strength, they can just go get stronger instead of crying about how unfair life is.

I followed the adventurers down a winding road. In the distance I could see the mountains jutting up over the horizon. The road wound up a small hill and there, on said hill, was a stone fort with heavy walls and fortifications. A cheval-de-frise was set up on the side facing the mountain range along with several embankments and ditches.

There was a single pass in the mountain range, large enough to drive a small army through it, and Fort Clyfton stood directly in its path. The fort itself seemed to serve two purposes upon initial inspection: to protect from magical beasts that come down from the mountain and to protect from enemy invasion through the mountain pass.

The Fort itself was massive, taking the space of a castle at least, and it was old. I didn't remember any building or location similar to it from SHO, but it couldn't have been created in the last few centuries.

Soldiers in full garb, most with terrible mustaches just like those in the Capital, were rushing about and preparing bows and swords. The entire fort looked like it was preparing for a war.

I followed the group of adventurers through the main gate into a massive courtyard. There, hundreds of soldiers were lined up into rank and file. In front of this massive courtyard gathering was a small stage, and on that stage stood three men and two women. Two of the men I recognized immediately due to their similarities to Thomas, Lily, and Emerlia.

The 'Bumblefuck Brothers' looked identical. They were probably twins, which explained why Lily didn't tell me to bring back a specific one. They were taller and far more built than Thomas was, but their faces had a youthful tone to them that I rather liked. They couldn't be much older than 18, if they were that old yet, but they had a strong presence to them. The only problem was that both of them had utterly ridiculous mustaches. One was wearing a needle-thin thing on his upper lip that curled downwards so hard it turned back against gravity towards his chin. The other had a massive fan-shaped monstrosity that looked like a fish's tail fin. I almost cried knowing one of these men was about to become the next king of the country.

"Everyone, the high ranked adventurers from Calico City have arrived. My brother and I want to thank you all for coming. I am the First Prince of the Gransus Kingdom, Alec Van Gransus, and this is my brother Gin Thatch Gransus," said the one with the fan-shaped mustache. "We have received reports from our scouting parties that an Earth Dragon will be arriving here inside the next hour. We will be fielding a full assault to bring it down before it reaches the fort. Those of you with experience shooting bows will join our archery corps, and those of you with confidence in your combat strength will be able to join our sarissa lines."

The prince paused for a moment as he gave the crowd a long stare.

"The last time a rank 4 beast invaded 12 years ago, our Fort Clyfton stood strong and took its head! This time will be no different! Come now, let's show this bastard just how strong the men and women of the Gransus Kingdom really are!"

The soldiers all erupted in a cheer. I didn't intend to, but I couldn't help joining them. The atmosphere was so infectious.

I thought about the situation for a moment after I calmed down. It was strange that no one raised a fuss about me entering the fort. I was a bit surprised the adventurers weren't vetted before being allowed in.

[Solution: The Fort Gate has a silent alarm if someone with less power than a level 30 combatant enters. Everyone here is considered upper tier in the Gransus military. There are some lower level civilians and staff in the fort itself, but they all have passes that let them past the silent alarms.]

Oh. That explains why they didn't seem to bother stopping and checking to see if people really were over 'B' rank. I had just figured they didn't care.

I decided to follow the group moving towards the front lines rather than those heading to the archery section. I did plan on fighting the beast head on, anyways.

We moved out of the fort and into one of the several long ditches carved into the ground. A few soldiers were handing out really long spears to everyone who came along. They looked kind of neat with their spade shaped tips.

"Ah, you're a bit young for a 'B' rank adventurer," Said a man's voice. I turned around to find myself face to face with one of the two princes. This was the thin-mustached one named Gin. I laughed. I think my smiling face confused him, though. "Why are you laughing? This is quite serious. I noticed someone who looked far too young moving with the rest of the groups so I came to investigate. You must be the daughter of one of the soldiers. This is a battle for the grown ups, little lady. We need to get you back inside the Fort."

His condescending tone was beginning to piss me off. I refrained from flicking him, though, because his intentions seemed rather pure. Besides, even if he thinks I'm a preteen girl, isn't he only about 18? That's what, a five or six year difference?

"Ah, you're one of the princes I've heard so much about from Lily," I said as I pulled out the sealed letter, "My name is Calliope. I came bearing a letter for you and your brother."

"You know my sister? Wait… Did you say Calliope? As in, the demon that we watched destroy a training dimension?" Asked Gin with an astounded look on his face. "Holy shit, you do look like her…"

"I am her," I replied matter of factly.

"... You have to be kidding me…"

"Nope. This isn't a joke."

"C-can you stop this Earth Dragon?" Asked Gin.

"Yes, with ease," I replied.

"Without killing everyone here? That skill we watched you use was rather… Collateral Damagey."

I was about to flick the man, but a loud snapping sound stopped me. I looked out towards the mountain range and a massive dragon shoved its way through the trees at the base. It was easily as big as the fort itself.

It wasn't a rank 4 Earth Dragon.

The monster roared, shaking the entire fort and knocking most of the soldiers off their feet with ease. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The prince's face twisted in terror.

It was a rank 5 World Dragon.