35 Questions and Dragon Skulls

The sound of metal clashing and armor shuffling woke me. I quickly cleaned myself up, made the bed, and brushed the knots out of my hair. I walked to the window, after, and opened the curtains. The sunlight destroyed me, and I almost tripped in surprise. It took my eyes far too long to adjust.

RED, is it possible to empower my senses with mana? I can't help but worry that I might end up in a bad spot or someone could get hurt while I'm incapacitated.

[Solution: Yes. By infusing mana into the sensory organs it is possible to reinforce and amplify their abilities. There is an inherent risk, though, that the organs may be destroyed by the uncontrolled mana. The user's regenerative powers solve this issue, though, but it would make a mess and be rather unsightly. This guide recommends the user practice this in private.]

I had figured as much, but hearing the answer from RED reinsured me. I didn't want to spend hours trying to learn something that isn't actually possible.

Outside the window I could see a mass of soldiers in the open courtyard training in full armor. The morning mist had yet to completely burn off, but my window was just far enough above it to let the sunlight in. While that was a bit frustrating, it did end up segueing into a method of acquiring a valuable skill, so I wasn't about to complain.

I was most surprised, though, to see the two princes outside right alongside the soldiers. They were in the thick of the action, rolling and jumping about with a real fire in their eyes. Perhaps the tournament had them excited?

[Solution: The two princes are extremely competitive. This guide recommends breaking them into small pieces.]

… RED, why do you hate the princes?

[Solution: Data not found.]

Are… Are you jealous because they hit on me?

[Solution: … Data not found.]

I started laughing. My stomach began to cramp and I had to wipe a tear from my eyes. RED was jealous! It reminded me of how a little kid acts when their parent starts dating again.

[Solution: This guide is not jealous. This guide merely thinks neither prince is good enough for the user.]

My laughter rekindled and burned twice as bright as the first time around. I hit the floor in a tizzy. RED's voice, normally completely monotone, actually had a bit of passion to it then. It was the second time I ever heard it. The first was when I sealed him in Low Power Mode.

This outburst confirmed my mounting suspicion that RED used to be human. Between his occasional slip ups and Nox's words after I destroyed the training dimension, I could piece the puzzle together. I started to calm down as I thought about how sad it really was to no longer have a body of his own. He is nothing more than a watcher, now. I would probably prefer death to that fate.

RED, if there's ever anything you want to do, something you've ever dreamed about but never had the chance before, will you please let me know? I don't know how much fun living in my head is, but the least I can do is let you live out your dreams vicariously.

[Solution: … This guide understands, but this guide has already been gifted his greatest desire by the Fae Lord Nox. The user need not worry.]

Surprise overwhelmed me. RED had never given up this much information about himself before. I couldn't help but feel a bit happy about it. Just because we're forced to be together doesn't mean he likes me. Him finally opening up to me made it feel like we really were friends.

Still, I wondered just what gift Nox gave RED… No matter how I thought about it, it seemed like a deal with the devil.

RED, your knowledge of this world all came from Nox, right?

[Solution: Yes.]

Then, is it possible that he could have given you false information too? You didn't know about that World Dragon, after all.

[Solution: … It is possible.]

RED, can you tell me more about the Fae?

[Solution: This guide cannot. Lord Nox has… Programmed, this guide to be unable to share specific information with the user.]

I rolled forward and hopped to my feet. I had finally recovered from my laughing fit earlier. I had asked RED a lot of questions, but now I only had more piling up. Just who were the Fae? From everything I'd heard it sounded like Nox wasn't the only one. Were they really Gods?

I could feel a headache oncoming, so I stopped thinking about it for a now. There was information in this world about the Fae. Endyrion knew about them, after all. Paying him a visit soon might be for the best. Besides, I never did get the school ID he promised me due to the whole 'burning city' incident. The tournament wasn't for a few days, so I had some time to kill.

I made my way out of the Fort and towards the World Dragon corpse. Several men were already hard at work dismantling the body. I quickly caught sight of the Elf Olga near the beast's head.

"Oh, Calliope! You're just in time to watch us take out the Magic Core!" Cried Olga with a booming voice as she caught sight of me.

"That's perfect, I need to learn the proper way to remove them myself," I said, trying to pour mana into my voice to make it louder. It didn't work the way I intended. Thankfully no one got injured.

[-New Skill Acquired-

Journeyman Class Skill: Force Roar]

Several men had been knocked off the scaffolding, but most ended up catching themselves before they plummeted.

I used my top speed and ran forward, grabbing the only man out of the air who didn't manage to hold on. I set him down with a beet red face.

"I'm very sorry," I said as I gave a slight bow to the disoriented man with windswept hair.

"Holy shit," Cried Olga's voice from above without a hint of condemnation, "That was right nuts! Was that a skill?"

"Ah, I accidentally developed a new skill. It's called Force Roar," I replied as I averted my eyes.

"Well, after we take out this core you gotta help me learn it. That was awesome!" Cried the elf woman as she gave me a thumbs up. Her bulging muscles and flashing wink gave off the aura of a professional wrestler. It felt weird being encouraged by her, but it wasn't a bad feeling, either. To be honest, I'd rather get yelled at though. It was always more terrifying when people didn't condemn you for your mistakes.

I could remember breaking my mother's favorite lamp by accident in my past life. She never once yelled or punished me for it, but I could tell she was mad. I was so terrified, for some reason, even though I knew deep down she'd never hurt me. It was a strange fear. I wondered if other people had ever felt it before, too… I had never given it much thought, but I was starting to miss my family.

I climbed up the scaffolding by using the dragon's body as a step. I had a front row seat as Olga used a magic item I swear looked identical to a chainsaw from my previous world to cut open the World Dragon's skull. It was a nasty business. I actually had to step away from the scene. It's one thing to kill a monster, it's another thing to mutilate its body and inspect the innards.

I did learn that the magic core of most magic beasts was located in the center of their brain… But I concluded that actually retrieving it myself wasn't something I wanted to do. It was an easy to work around problem, though. I just needed to get a pet or maybe a leveling student to do the 'dirty work' for me. Finding an expert in the field I could drag along was now a huge priority.

Either way, after watching the Magic Core retrieval I decided today was a good day to skip breakfast.