Geared-Up

It was a sad walk through town, looking at a bunch of faces that reminded me of those in Zyphilia. I didn't know if they were frozen in time, or dead upon the spell hitting. Either way, the city was taken out of commission for a good while because of Joro's attack.

"This might be reckless... but I want to defeat Joro. How can I learn the skills to do that?" I asked the two. They seemed a lot more experienced than I did... they were my only hope at this point. In order to keep them safe, I had to leave this city soon after collecting my gear. I was worried about just leaving Claire, but I couldn't subject her to another attack on her home. I hope her dad would come here to try and find her as well.

"You're right, that's plenty reckless. To put it into perspective for you, Anima, I'm a Tier Four Attack Mage, Joro is about a Tier Eleven General Mage, meaning he can heal, attack, buff, and do everything other mages can do as well. He's an insane force of nature and can use all seven elements however he wants. Fire, earth, water, air, light, dark, and ether elements." Soul told me.

"Ether? I can figure out the counters for all elements except that one... what counters the ether element?" I asked her. She explained that ether was a confusing concept... it was 'nothing' put into a physical form. An attack that erased traces of mana, basically.

"We're here... I can't give you gear to fight Joro, but I can give you gear to do anything else." Borealis explained. Stepping into his armory made me feel... lighter. It had to be magic or something.

"Here are some mage cloaks. Each one boosts different types of magic and variants of mages. What would you define yourself as right now?" Borealis asked me. I didn't really know how to answer that question, as I specialized in whatever I could... so, I told him a General Mage.

"I see... then, try this." Borealis lifted up a magician's cloak that was cut at the right side near my hip like the cloak was asymmetrical. I sorta like it... it fits me.

"It'll match your black hair. On top of that, it has a style that tells your opponents that you're important... but not too important." Soul told me.

"I don't need a pep talk... I'll take it," I told Borealis. My inventory was almost empty after handing out all of my health potions, but I didn't see the need for them, at least for me.

I would've given them to Claire, but Lolo explained that their potency might be too much to handle for younger children, so it would be best to avoid it.

"I have enough weaponry thanks to Soul, so save it for next time... a map. Do you have that?" I asked Borealis. He nodded, handing me a slip of paper. Once he did that, my interface got another icon. I looked at the map until it was memorized by my interface and every bit of information was copied. I handed the map back and Borealis looked surprised.

"My interface copied it, I don't need it anymore," I told him, looking around at the other sets of armor. "What kind of spells do you have? I only have one attacking one, so I'm looking for more versatility. Something with a ton of damage and that's practical. A slash, a stab, a bigger bullet, something that would make people afraid of me." I said, running my hand against the cold, iron armor hanging on the shelves.

"I have two of what you're looking for. How many slots do you have open?" Borealis asked me. When I looked through all of my skills... I only had one open. Regardless, the memorized skills from [Yggdrasil's Bone] had almost all been erased, so I opened the staff up and could hold two extra skills, on top of the five in my inventory and one that was open.

"This is [Slash] and [Impale]." Borealis said, handing over two pieces of paper I looked over. I had 300 mana able to be used, and using one of every skill in my inventory would drain it completely... I should make some mana potions.

"Is there anything else that catches your eye, Anima?" Borealis asked me. I looked around the armor, scanning every single corridor I could. I hadn't realized it, but something began to move my slime arm. Something moved it towards the bladed weaponry.

"I don't think I can use that... why am I reaching for it?" I asked.

"I don't know, but it'll just fall out of your hands. No Hero can use two different types of weapons." Soul explained.

But my arm didn't let go. The slime arm picked up a sword and stopped moving on its own. I had a sword in my left hand and a staff in my right. I surprised both Soul and Borealis with it.

"Maybe because it isn't your arm... you're an insane Hero, Anima! You're the first for a lot of your weird traits." Borealis told me.

"What will you do now?" Soul asked me.

There was a lot on my plate right now. I needed to get stronger, but I was sick of traveling to city after city, risking the lives of everybody inside. I went to Zyphilia to learn alchemy and made it out with no other skills. I can make potions in my inventory and I can make materials in my inventory as well. I just needed a plan... something I can turn my focus to so I can prepare to fight Joro. How do I fight somebody with the title 'Lord of Elements'... what did I need?

"I'm not sure... maybe I'll retaliate against Sieve. Maybe I'll go to Yugon or follow Soul back to New Olympia... I don't know what to do. I want to kill Joro for the things he did to me, but I can't fight him right now... are you two aware of..." I silently remembered Lolo's wish to keep Prism a secret.

"Never mind. Does Joro have any accomplices I should worry about?" I asked Soul, but she shook her head, telling me that she didn't know.

"I don't know if this counts... but Joro's main home is located in Sieve. It's the biggest one besides the castle. I went there one day when I was a kid to go throw eggs at it, but the people of Sieve aren't too fond of that. Is going to Sieve really the best idea right now though anyway?" Borealis asked me.

"Joro might have his friends there... who knows the most about him?" I asked the two.

"Lolofaruba knew a lot about Joro… and then his old member, Ipa, would know the most about him as well. Let's see... where's Ipa?" Borealis turned to Soul, waiting for her to somehow come up with the answer.

"Is Ipa still on good terms with Joro?" I asked her. Soul shook her head, telling me about what happened.

Apparently, Ipa and Joro were the first people together in a group, which I knew to be Prism, and Ipa was kicked out after Joro went rogue and started to destroy cities for Sieve and Hecate. Time passed and Hecate fell, meaning Ipa had a perfect opportunity to escape. No matter what I heard about Sieve, it all seemed to be negative. The only difference was it was all completely justified.

"Then, I'll make Ipa my goal. Does he live in Sieve?" I asked Soul. She shook her head.

"He has [Clairvoyance]." She told me. I guess that meant I could talk to him...

[Um... Ipa, are you there?" I asked. To my understanding, [Clairvoyance] was a skill that could only be received on two different ends. Whoever you're thinking about, and whoever you hear. If he heard that, he should respond to me easily.

[What do you want?]

The voice was a loud and menacing one. This guy must've been huge in real life!

[I want to meet somewhere. Where are you at?]

[I'm in a field by Sieve. Come with no weapons out.]

Just like that, Ipa and I scheduled a meeting. I hadn't realized [Clairvoyance] took so much mana to use...

"I'm going now. He's in a field by Sieve, I can't pass this chance up." I told the two.

"Have fun. You know how to contact me, right?" Soul asked me. I nodded in response and put my hand on the doorknob to the armory.

"I'll be back someday... and I'll be a good Hero from here on out. Look forward to it you two!" I said. Both Borealis and Soul smiled as I stepped out of the armory, making my way to the entrance of the city. This time around, I didn't even care about looking at the city or the details in it.

I needed to find Ipa.