Chapter 22.2 - Next Quest [2]

[Quest [An Elven Crisis] has become active!]

[Quest: An Elven Crisis]

Several months ago, the civilization of elves beamed down through the sea of clouds below had disappeared. None of the elves above could identify what had happened, or, at least, until you came along.

You've told of the first clue, but the truth of the event remains clouded in mystery. Together with the help of the [Gamer], could the elves uncover what's happened to their brethren?

Requirements: Discover how the civilisation of elves below had fallen to the illness

Rewards: [YorHa], [Blessed by Nature Elves] Skill, 4,000,000,000 ¥

Extra Mission: ?

Extra Rewards: [Forlorn Poltergeist]

...Hah, not even a couple days after everything ended, and another quest appeared.

I mean, that box System gave me said that 'Fate won't ever chain me down again', but I can't help but think that it'll be some crazy set of coincidences for me to suddenly stumble into someone and then get this quest.

Still, an entire civilization was lost, and I hold the key to uncovering it. I don't think there's any reason to even deny the quest.

So, here I am, inside one of the lounges in the building Fruel works in, waiting as they all went to work to validate my claims.

And, well, it looked like a country I'd expect elves to live in. You know, massive trees, large flowers, fluttering fireflies.

Just, with the tiny addition of the fact that there's a giant fusion reactor situated right in the center, working constantly to provide power to every single corner of the floating island. There're also several mechanical animals I've seen fly around, acting as guards to detect any incoming intruders.

Basically, it's just a much more modern version of the age old elf habitat.

Which is understandable really. They have the power of the [Obelisk]. All they have to do is trade stuff for points, spend them on technology, and technological levels rise. There's no research needed, no painstaking time spent on discovering things we don't know or figuring out how to create these fantastical technologies in the first place. Just sell stuff, get points, and profit.

...It feels almost like an insult to all those scientists working hard to uncover the truth of the universe, but that's just how this world works, I guess.

Still, in terms of scientific advancements, the capital of the nature elves isn't really all that high on the list. It's somewhere in the middle of the ranks, which just a civilisation would look like once they reach the ceiling of the technological complications handed out by the [Obelisk].

They'd probably look like gods.

But even when that ceiling is reached, there's no doubt that there'll be more lying past that, more content past what looks to be the endgame, and I can't help but grin in excitement. Even after all I've been through, there's still going to be a whole lot more things waiting for me in the future.

'Ah, I can't wait!'

Mm...But they really are taking a long time…

~~~

With the weight of an entire country's expectations taken away, Fruel sighs, leaning back into the chair he'd been sitting on for the past several hours.

Still, today's a far better day than any in the last few months. They'd finally made a breakthrough, found out what's happened to their kind that'd been sent down to the lands below the clouds. Figured out what it was that killed their kind and enslaved their corpse, turning them into unwilling undead.

And it's all thanks to a girl he'd found on accident.

He gently rubs his eyes, feeling them slightly strain as exhaustion begins to catch him.

It looked to be a dead end. Even with what Hanami had told them, there was no way for them to beam down through the clouds, to land down on the lands below and search for what happened.

Or, that was, until Hanami somehow bypassed the magical lock situated by the door, leaving the lock safe and pristine. Uncaring of the many shocked looks coming from the other elves, she strode up to him and asked him if he had any problems. Surprised as he was, he spoke his thoughts without meaning to, and with the problem known, the girl strode up to the dysfunctional device,

And tapped it.

Just like that, the machine came to life, and the path from [Yuriele] towards the lands below the clouds was established.

Smiling at a job well done, Hanami turned and left the room, leaving them to work. Fruel blinked at the sudden intrusion for a few more moments, before he swiftly assembled a small team to beam down and find out whether what Hanami had told was true.

It is true, and Fruel barely managed to hold his ground as he saw the ruined remnants of what was once a thriving colony. Groups of undead elves, their body taken over by a strange parasite walked the lands, and they swiftly subdued several of them and brought them back up to the skies to study them.

What they'd found was worse than anything they'd expected. The parasite is a special one, one capable of digging into the body's core and taking over their magic, draining them and turning them into an empty walking corpse. Even then, the origin of the strange parasite remains unknown.

More mysteries keep appearing, more questions with no feasible answers. It's night now, most of his co-workers have gone home, Hanami had disappeared a while ago, saying that she was returning to her home, and his body is sorely tired.

At least she promised to return tomorrow, though she didn't quite specify the time.

Fruel sighs, and closing his eyes, he lets himself rest for the first time in hours.

~~~

"Y-You're allowed to enter [Pito'Kraul], miss Hanami!?"

"Hmm? Yeah, what of it?" At my casual admission, Wanda stares further, her jaw dropped open and her eyes wide in shock.

The girl stutters for a bit more, switching from different words before she calms down. "W-Well, I heard that they don't allow humans to enter…"

"Really?" Now that's a surprise. I was welcomed quite easily back there.

"I only heard it from my dad…"

Well, even if it's only a rumor, all rumors stem from the truth. Convoluted and twisted it may have become, but it still holds some truth to it, which makes it...well, weird, I guess. Was I so different all to other humans that they didn't consider me as one, or did I do something so profound that they neglected my humanity?

Hmm, questions, questions…

Whatever the answer may be, I'll be going there pretty frequently to complete my quest, so like it or not, I'm gonna be there, and they ain't pushing me out. Hopefully.

Either ways, it's night time now. Most of [Dun Stadia] is asleep now, Gilgamesh is lounging in the mayor's house, playing with the PSP I gave her a few days ago, and I'm now with Wanda, ready to [Forest Dungeon] to boost her Exp even more.

Our last excursion to the [Ghoul Dungeon] was done to test if she could handle herself against a large horde, and she passed the test with flying colors! Knowing that, I've skipped [Desolate Dunes], since she's already used to large incoming hordes, but because I don't think the elves would like it too much if I just randomly waltzed in there.

So tonight, we're heading into the [Forest Dungeon], where we're going to see if Wanda's going to hold up just as well against ranged monsters, especially those annoying ones that can fly away. Personally, with the skills she has now, I doubt she's going to have a smooth time sailing through this, but that's why I'm here for, you know?

"Anyways, are you ready, Wanda?"

"I am!" She eagerly says, and with a smile, [ID:Create] activates and the world around us fades into light. The light breaks away, revealing a desolate Fuyuki, the ruined city overtaken by large and dangerous fauna of all kinds.

"Well, here we are!" I say, taking in the nostalgic sights of this old worn down world. I mean, it's only been a...month? Two months? I don't actually remember, but I know it hasn't been that long, but damn does this make me feel nostalgic. Sighing happily, I turn back to the girl and smile. "Remember. You can do whatever you want, but make sure you return here in 15 minutes, okay?"

"Mm!" Seeing her nod, I swiftly take off, disappearing from the nearby vicinity to watch her from afar. With me gone, Wanda takes a deep breath, and steeling herself, she begins walking forward with her spear in hand.

And swiftly, monsters begin to crawl out, drawn in by the feeling of the girl's prana. Large bloated flies make their presence known, stingers dripping with poison. Enemies sighted, Wanda drops into her stance, and blasts off, thrusting her spear forward.

But the flies are faster, evading her forward thrust and rushing in, their stringers poised to stab. Wanda twirls her spear and bats away the incoming bloatflies, before her arm snaps to the right, cutting one of the bloatflies with the edge of her halberd.

One down.

Surprised by the sudden takedown of their ally, the two remaining bloatflies freeze in shock, and Wanda is quick to act. Twisting her polearm, she snaps to the left, severing another bloatflies' head off its insectoid body.

Two down.

With the girl now a clear threat, the third bloatfly flies away. Wanda stares at it for a second before she turns away, eager to explore more of the strange world she's been brought into.

"Nice going!" It really is, especially considering that she doesn't have the [Gamer] system to aid her. Granted, she has the enchanted halberd, but that doesn't give her an absolute edge in battle, so it's still pretty damn impressive. That, and she's only begun training in the art of battle for like, a couple weeks?

Yep, the girl's gonna grow to be a certified badass.

However, an enemy has escaped, and with its frantic return, a horde of insects are now rushing towards her location. She may have dealt against hordes fairly well, but how is she going to deal with a horde of flying insects armed with venomous and paralyzing poison?

The airborne bugs are staying away for now, observing this new unknown threat that'd just appeared within their domain, but they'll soon approach with the intent to kill.

The girl begins to encounter more monsters, this time large iguanas with unnaturally flexible tails. This one is almost laughably easy for the girl, her Wing Chun enhanced spearmanship tearing through the iguanas' scales.

But these land crawling monsters are fast, and even with how easily she dispatched them, she eventually began to suffer small bruises in her battle against a horde of 20 or so iguanas. Overall, an enormous victory, just not quite a clean one.

More and more monsters begin their approach, and Wanda gathers more and more bruises on her body as she fights. She'd occasionally try and apply [Reinforcement] on her body to protect her body, but she simply isn't skilled enough to do just yet, instead simply applying it onto her halberd to prevent it from breaking so easily.

Then, as another horde of iguanas arrive, the giant group of bloatflies arrive, and Wanda's eyes shoot open in surprise.

Now, how will you deal with this, hmm?

~~~

Everything hurt. Her body aches from the many bruises she'd suffered, burned from the slithers of poison coursing through her blood, heavy and weighed down from exhaustion piled on from many encounters. Ms. Hanami had warned her of this, of how the monsters here aren't meant for someone of her level. They're too strong for someone who's only begun fighting for under a month.

She's too weak.

The buzzing of the hundreds of bloatflies fills her ears, and Wanda grits her teeth. Her magic circuits activate again, in vain hopes of successfully applying [Reinforcement] onto her body for once, but it fails her again.

Tightening the grip on her weapon, she rushes forward as the flies descend. She thrusts forward, and her halberd strikes through one of the iguanas, before she snaps to the left and skewers another. A bloatfly comes with its stinger, and she jumps to the left, uncaring when one of the iguanas hits her leg.

Better that than getting injected with poison.

She continues focusing on the iguanas, bringing their numbers down as she evades the bloatflies. But she's too slow, and her vision is soon filled by the many bloatflies surrounding her, her hearing dominated by the buzzing of their wings. Distantly, she feels something prick her back, and strength leaves her as she falls onto the road.

She was too slow, she realized. Took too long. Too weak.

She is too weak.

Wanda knows Ms. Hanami is watching from somewhere, that she'll be saved, but she doesn't remember that now. Everything feels too far, too distant for her to make out. Her senses dull as the poison makes it through her bloodstream, her eyes dulling as her vision begins to fill with darkness.

Too weak, she hears her inner self say. You're weak. Always too weak.

She recalls crying out to her sister, watching as she's dragged away by that 'noble' adventurer, feeling the distinct coldness of her presence in her house. She remembers how suffocating her house had become, how her parents would stick with her, watching her every move.

She remembers shouting at her mother, shouting why they couldn't leave and get her sister back, and her mother had broken down before her, kneeling and hugging her with all her strength. She remembers her apologizing, crying and asking for forgiveness for being so weak, for not being able to do anything.

Weak. So, so weak.

Tears spring to her eyes as she tries to stand, but she can do nothing. The poison has made it too far into her, her nerves forced silent.

She can do nothing.

She remembers doing her everything, gathering anything she could and selling them to the [Obelisk], hoping that she could purchase something, anything to give her some semblance of strength.

But she was just a girl. She can offer nothing but fruits and dirt.

Then,

~~~

"Oh? One stayed?" She remembers that evening bathed in gentle twilight. She remembers the slight surprise etched onto the woman's face, of finding that one of the children she'd asked to come had stayed. She remembers freezing up as the woman approached, before feeling a gentle hand playfully ruffle her hair.

"You sure you want to stay? Fighting monsters isn't for everybody, you know?"

She remembers nodding, and watching as a small smile blossomed on the woman's face. Hanami Tsunaka was her name, the woman who'd suddenly appeared from the sky and gave her village salvation.

"I-I want to be strong!" She'd said to her, and Ms. Hanami had kindly smiled.

"And why is that?" Ms. Hanami had asked her. "The road to strength is fraught with danger. You'll be broken, torn to pieces, and you'll have to be the one to stitch yourself back together." The woman's smile turned somewhat melancholic. "Ignorance is bliss, you know? The moment you try, you'll never be able to return. You'll change, become something different."

She remembers keeping her eyes straight, determined. She remembers seeing Ms. Hanami sigh and ruffle her hair once again.

"Tell me, why do you want to be strong?"

~~~

The woman asked, and she remembers feeling her throat close, remembers freezing up as she's flung back to that day her sister had been torn from her, to that night of her mother's tearful apology.

She remembers.

With a scream from the bottom of her heart, her body burns as her magic circuits flare to life. Prana bursts from her soul, saturating every part of her body, and she stands. She pushes herself up, steam rising from her skin, and with her memories burning in her soul,

She swings her halberd to the sky.

And the cage of bloatflies surrounding her breaks apart, torn by the waves of sharp wind exploding from her thrust. She sees the iguanas and bloatflies regard her with surprise, but she doesn't care. Enemies are standing in her way, and she won't let anything stop her, not again, never again.

She's weak.

She'll never be the strongest.

That's fine.

Gritting her teeth, she begins her dance, twirling her halberd as she snaps from one space to another, taking down the monsters around her and painting the roads an icky green. Her body aches from the sudden movement, but she ignores it.

She sees a group of bloatflies trying to flee, trying to fly and escape.

She won't let them.

With a shout, she jumps into the air and swings, the winds of her attack cutting through the bloatflies. Turning from the falling corpses, she looks down at the iguanas and shoots down, skewering the ground and kicking the iguanas into the air. She takes notice of every airborne iguana, and reinforcing her halberd, she does a complete spin, cutting them all into two.

She sees more bloatflies, and she shoots off the asphalt. She tears through the group of insects, then shoots off to another, then to another. Pools of green blood decorate the roads, her clothes dirtied, but she doesn't care.

She hears more behind her, and she turns with her halberd ready to thrust.

"That's enough, Wanda."

And her halberd is caught, and with her hazy eyes, she looks up to see a familiar presence before her. Even blurry, she can see the kind smile Ms. Hanami has.

"Rest, Wanda. You've done more than enough."

And so she does, letting exhaustion overtake her.

~~~

"Ngh…" The next time she comes back conscious, she's no longer in that desolated city. Instead, she's laying atop a comfortable bed, situated within a strange familiar room. Wanda blinks for a moment, before she looks around once more.

'Is this...my room?'

From the looks of it, it is, but strangely...bigger? The room looks as she remembers it, but there's more empty space than she previously remembered. Did the room somehow grow bigger in her sleep?

"Good afternoon, Wanda." A familiar voice says, and she turns to her right to see Ms. Hanami sitting by her bedside, an open book laid atop her legs. She looks…different. Her clothes have changed to a bluish scholarly suit, overlaid by a dark purple coat.

"Miss...Hanami?" She weakly calls out, and the woman smiles, placing a gentle hand on her forehead.

"Hmm, the fever's gone down at least…" She says, before sighing in relief. "Seems like most of the bad stuff's gone now."

'Bad...stuff?'

"D-Did something happen, Ms. Hanami…?"

"Sure did." She answers with a small frown. "After you fell asleep, you got hit by a fever. Nothing too dangerous, but with how hurt you were, I...got a little worried." The woman sneaks a glance behind her, rubbing her left ear. "I, uh, got a bit of a scolding from your mother, which is kinda expected really. I guess I should've stepped in earlier…"

"A-Ah, no, it's fine, Ms. Hanami."

She looks at her for a few more seconds, and Wanda shivers slightly, worried the woman would say something else. Ms. Hanami sighs. "I guess I can't say much. I'm in no position to say anything."

"Anyways, you've been asleep for...two days, I think?" She goes silent for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, two days. A lot's happened since then, but...well, you've just woken up, so I think I'll spare the changes for you to see yourself."

"Most of your injuries have healed, and with the fever gone, you're fully healthy." She says, and Wanda can feel herself smiling a bit. "But!" Ms. Hanami suddenly continues, "You're not allowed to train for a couple more days, okay? You might be fully healed, but you still need some rest. So no training for a couple days, alright?"

Wanda nods, and the woman ruffles her hair. "Good."

"Now! Onto more exciting news, you just got yourself a new skill, and a strong one at that!"

The girl blinks, confused, before she remembers what she'd done before she fell unconscious. "Ah." She says simply, before a small smile begins to form on her face. I've done it, she realizes. She's taken her first steps to become stronger, even if it did cause her to fall asleep for a couple days.

"It's kinda like putting [Reinforcement] on your body, but better and more explosive. It's probably about three times as good as normal [Reinforcement], and it could become even better."

"Really?" Did she really get a skill as strong as that? It almost feels unreal, like that memory she had of tearing through those bloatflies and iguanas is just a fever dream. Ms. Hanami simply smiles and nods.

"Yep." She says, before she frowns. "But, like everything, there's a downside. Using it will drain your prana. It'll exhaust you, and at your current level, it'll hurt you, burning you from the inside. I'm sure you'll be able to use it without hurting yourself in the future, but for now, keep that in mind, okay?"

Wanda nods, and the woman nods as well, satisfied. "Well, that's enough for now. You have anything else you want to know, Wanda?"

"Ah, um...well…"

Ms. Hanami laughs gently, ruffling her hair again. "Don't need to be shy. Ask away!"

"W-Well, okay. Um, why are you wearing that, Ms. Hanami?"

"Hmm?" The woman blinks as she looks down at her formal clothing, before she opens her mouth in realization. "Ah...well, it's kind of a long story. Sure you want to hear it?"

"Mm!"

And so Wanda listens on as Ms. Hanami retells her story, detailing the tales of her time in [Pito'Kraul], of the mystery she's helping them uncover, of the moment when she became the first human to officially become a member of elven society.