We rode our horses to the west side of the country, Les led the way to the rendezvous point where we were to meet our fourth member.
The snow soon disappeared, and patches of grass replaced it. The snowy area was to the south of Silvland, and to the east and west were grassy plains. To the north of it was a mountain range filled with mines.
Les led us into a small grove of trees, where we ran into two people, Naro and a woman. She had long brown hair that she wore in twintails, with slightly messy bangs that grew a bit past her eyebrows. Like Les, her right pupil was blue and her left one was green. She had a slender, curvy build, wore a dark brown sleeveless light-armored leather top, brown leather fingerless gloves that covered half her forearms. She had black knee-length tights under a dark blue short skirt with a slit on the right side. She had a fluffy tail that was mostly brown fur while the end of it had black fur, based on the way it was swaying, she probably had a dog Anima, maybe a German shepherd.
She had holsters on either side of her waist, which held her weapons, a pair of bladed gloves. You know, with Wolverine-like blades above the knuckles.
"Oh, hey! You guys are about an hour earlier than we expected!" Greeted Naro cheerfully.
"Hey, man. I'm guessing you're here to take the horses?" I inquired, disembarking my horse.
Before he could reply, the girl walked up to me, got close and stared at me curiously.
"Dressed all in black and slightly translucent black hair...are you the one who was investigating spies in the Rustlands?"
"Uh, yeah, that's me...," I replied uneasily, taking a couple of steps back, to which she responded by taking three steps forward.
She doesn't seem to have much of a concept of personal space.
"Awesome, you gotta tell me how you go about your investigat-!"
"Stop being stupid, sister," Les pulled her away with a sigh.
"Sorry about that, Kuro. Let me introduce the fourth member of your operation...Selesa Jeule," Chimed in Naro.
"Hey, I can introduce myself, Carrot-Top! You totally ruined that for me, you cocksucke- mfph!" She began, before her brother cut her off by firing a small ball of water into her mouth.
...was she really going to be alright on a mission like this?
"Anyway, here are the teleportation scrolls...these will get you upto the halfway point between Silvland and The Empire. All of the teleportation points will be marked with three vertical lines that'll look like claw slashes," Informed Naro, handing us a bag with a bunch of scrolls.
They had been numbered, I assume that was the order in which we'd have to use them. There were just under a dozen or so scrolls.
"I suppose we should leave right away," Suggested Misen, taking off his scarf and gloves.
"Wait! First off, pretend that this idiot didn't already introduce me, because imma 'bout to re-introduce myself! I am Selesa Jeule, twenty-two years old, but I insist that you call me Sherla. I shall be the greatest detective this world has ever seen, which is why...," She turned and pointed at me, "...you are a potential threat to my goal! Also, nice to meet you! Let's all get along, m'kay?"
"..."
"..."
She's an idiot.
"...how do you get 'Sherla' from 'Selesa'?" Misen inquired curiously.
"Oh, that's easy! What did the detective say to the residents of a neighborhood where there had been a bunch of robberies? You just, heh...make Sher to Lock your Holmes!"
I let out a stifled snort of laughter before I could stop myself...holy crap, that was a great pun! It didn't make sense at all as an answer to Misen's question, but that pun was on another level. She didn't seem to notice my reaction though, as I managed to pass it off as a cough. I guess Naro hadn't told her that I had retained my memories.
"...what? Lock my homes?" Misen replied in confusion.
"Ignore her, she's pretty stupid sometimes," Sighed Naro, as he took the reigns of the three horses, "I'll take these back to Silvland, I'll see you all later...good luck with the mission!"
"Hmph, good riddance!" Huffed Selesa with a nod, as he began heading back to Silvland with the horses.
As a bead of sweat ran down my face, I realized that I was still wearing the thick hooded jacket. I took it off and tied it around my waist, stretching up my bare arms with a relaxed sigh. The temperature around here was really pleasant and warm, and I'd been wearing a sleeveless top under the hoodie, and the slight breeze felt really nice against my skin.
"Ooh, you're pretty ripped!" Selesa remarked, poking my left bicep.
"Uh...thanks, I guess," I replied, flicking her hand away.
Les also changed, replacing the blue sweater under his armor with a short-sleeved red top.
"Where's the first teleportation point?" Inquired Misen, as we got ready to head out.
"Uh...let's see, I think it was...j-just follow me, boys!"
That wasn't very confidence-inspiring.
"Hey, are you sure she knows what she's doing?" I whispered to Les, as we followed after her.
"No, she probably had no idea where she's going," He responded immediately.
"...I'll handle this," Sighed Misen.
I felt a sense of static electricity in the air...oh, he must be using Lightning Sensory Field. His range and control with it were much better than mine.
"Um...maybe this way?" Selesa muttered to herself uncertainly.
"It's this way," Misen relayed, leading the way in the complete opposite direction that she'd been taking us.
"Huh? How would you know?" She replied in confusion.
"Just follow me...we're wasting so much time," Misen responded wearily.
A few turns later, we were in front of a tree, with three vertical slash marks on it. This must be it. I opened the bag Naro had given me and took out a scroll labeled '1'.
"Alright, let's-."
"W-woah, how did you know where this spot was!? Don't tell me...you're a detective too!?"
"...I'm not sure how I should respond," Sighed Misen, face-palming.
"Oh, come on, you have to tell m-!"
"It was magic. Can we go already?" I interrupted exasperatedly.
"Hah, there's no such thing as mag-!...ohhh, never mind. That lightning technique for sensing stuff around you, right?"
After she finally stopped talking, we made sure we were all in physical contact with each other, before I stood close to the marking on the tree and ran my Mana through the Spell Scroll, activating the teleportation. In the blink of an eye, we were surrounded by grassy plains as far as the eye could see. I put the scroll away and took out the scroll marked '2'.
"Alright, next teleport, coming up-."
"Hold on, this so isn't fair!"
...okay, she's really starting to annoy me. Keep it together, just stay calm.
"What's not fair, Sele-?" I began to inquire irritably.
"Uh-uh! I said call me Sherla!"
I'd really rather not.
"Just tell me what the heck your problem is right now."
"Oh, right...it's not fair that only you get to activate the teleport scrolls, you're hogging the spotlight!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Les let out a small sigh, as Misen stared at her incredulously.
"Wha-...? You know what, I don't even care anymore...here, take the bag, you can activate all the remaining teleport scrolls. There, happy now?" I snapped, barely able to contain my frustration.
"You don't have to be so mean about it, you piece of dick cheese!" She pouted, grabbing the bag from me with a huff.
What was with that insult? I bit my lip to keep myself from losing it, as she ruffled through the bag to find the second scroll. Over the next couple of minutes, we rapidly teleported out way bit by bit till we reached the halfway point.
This place was teeming with animals, I had seen cows, goats, sheep, wild hens and roosters, a few different types of deer, wild dogs, foxes, hares, zebras, giraffes...etc, there way more animals than monsters, with each teleport, I saw about a dozen or so different species.
As for monsters, there were only five different types you could expect to run into in the area between Silvland and The Valaque Empire. They were, from weakest to strongest, Pegasuses, Phoenixes, Werewolves, Griffins and Storm Wyverns. Except for Werewolves, all four of the other types could fly.
Pegasuses were basically unicorns with wings, they could apparently fire destructive bursts of pure Dark Magic from their horns, but beyond that were relatively easy to take down, so long as you have an attack that can reach them.
Phoenixes were large, eagle-like monsters with crimson feathers and could light themselves on fire, they attack by rapidly swooping down. And to get rid of them, you need to kill them twice. All other monsters respawn elsewhere after you take them out, but the first time you kill a Phoenix, it'll immediately resurrect in the same spot, so you need to kill it twice to get it to respawn.
Werewolves were just humanoid wolves with high levels of agility and strength.
Griffins were half-eagle and half-lion monsters, they had the body, legs and tail of a lion, with the head and wings of an eagle. They were very strong and fast, and while they didn't have any long-ranged attacks, they were very nimble in mid-air, so they were hard to kill.
As for Storm Wyverns, they could fire out blasts of both wind and lightning, their bodies were pretty similar to Ice Wyverns in size and defense.
Oh, I earlier mentioned that the area between Silvland and Bronztan, to the east of Silvland, was also a stretch of grassy plains. That area had the same types of animals, but the monster types were different.
We had teleported past the Pegasus and Werewolf territories at the halfway point, we were currently in Storm Wyvern territory, after that it'd be Griffin territory, and finally Phoenix territory. We were also highly unlikely to run into any bandits out here. We had covered half the distance in no time, but there was still a fair ways to go before we'd reach The Empire, about a week or so. So we had no time to wast-.
"Alright, we're halfway there...I think it's safe to say that we've earned ourselves a break!" Declared Selesa, flopping into the grass.
"You have got to be kidding me," Remarked Misen, his eyebrow twitching in irritation.
"Actually, uh...we should plan things out before we begin heading forward, so...I guess technically we do need to take a break," I sighed.
"Sure, leave the strategizing to me-!"
"Yeah, no. I'll handle that...if you've got a problem with that, we can vote on it," I cut her off.
She confidently agreed to it...and the only person who voted for her was...her. I began discussing how we should operate, as she sat on the ground with her knees to her chest, sulking.
"Alright, for now, we should be able to move forward without any problems...hey, what's the range of your Lightning Sensory Field?"
"A little over four hundred-and-fifty meters," Replied Misen.
Tch, mine was only three hundred meters...whatever, now's not the time for that.
"Alright, maintain it all times, and as soon as you detect another human, we'll immediately activate the group invisibility and soundproof barriers. Once we're within a couple of hours away from The Empire, we'll each have to activate the individual invisibility and soundproof barriers and split up in order to find someone from The Empire who's of the same or greater height and build, not to mention gender. Once you find someone who's a match, sneak up to them, make sure no one else is watching, and then drag them into your stealth combo barriers. Interrogate them to find out which Tier they're a part of, their name, and what their role is. Once you have all that information, kill them, and use the Appearance Copy and Paste spell to steal their appearance. Then use Store to hide their bodies, after that, destroy the scroll."
"In that case, we don't need to take the Extract scrolls, do we?" Inquired Selesa.
Huh, she was right, I had overlooked that. I thought she was off in her own world sulking, but it looks like she was paying attention.
"Yeah, in that case...let's add the Extract scrolls to the bag with the teleport scrolls and bury them somewhere here, in a spot that'll be easy to find again, but not too obvious. Oh, and before you use Store on your target, swap clothes with them. As much as I hate the idea of wearing something fully white, we can't exactly infiltrate if we're wearing our current outfits. Alright, once you've successfully copied someone's appearance and gotten rid of the evidence, we'll all meet up at a specified rendezvous point, so that we know what each other looks like. It won't do to accidentally kill each other or something, after all. Oh, and don't take ANY personal belongings in with you, the only things that you should be carrying are the things that the person whose appearance you copied was carrying, got it?"
They nodded in reply.
"Wait, what should I do with my dagger? It's too valuable to throw away," Misen chimed in.
"Just bury it with the teleport and Extract scrolls here, cum-stained hair," Selesa replied, still pretty sulky.
"Huh? You got a problem with my hair, you bitch?" He responded with an annoyed expression.
I bit the inside of my lip to keep from laughing...heh, 'cum-stained hair', I won't be able to see the white stripes on his hair without thinking of that from now on. She really was a handful, but I guess I can appreciate her sense of humor to some extent.
"Anyway...after we rendezvous in our stolen appearances, we separately head for The Valaque Empire...oh, make sure to ask the person you target what time they're supposed to return to The Empire and exactly where they stay in it," I quickly continued before they could start arguing, "Now, then...once you successfully make it inside The Empire, spend the first week just going about your tasks, do whatever you're told to do. This'll help you familiarize yourself with the layout of the place, as well as avoid suspicion...also look for the quickest escape route and stuff like that. Once you've settled into it, use the second week to gather information, in whichever way you feel most comfortable doing so, be it snooping around, manipulatively questioning the other white-robes, spying on or following those in higher positions, etcetera. Finally, and this is important, keep count of the days. The day we infiltrate The Empire will be Day One. Our mission ends on the morning of Day Fifteen, leave at the earliest opportunity without drawing any suspicion. We'll enter covertly, and exit covertly. Any questions?"
"What if we're in a situation where we won't be able to leave on Day Fifteen, should we leave on an earlier day?" Asked Selesa, raising her hand.
"Hm...yeah, if something unforseen happens where it feels like you might be in danger or unable to leave by the fifteenth day, then leave as soon as you can. Oh, one more thing. If you end up in the Research Tier, be prepared...you're likely to witness some pretty horrifying sights, but you need to act indifferent, otherwise you'll attract suspicion. That being said, the white-robes patrolling the areas outside will likely be from the Pawn and Lapdog Tiers, I doubt there's going to be too many members from the Research Tier outside."
After a few more minor clarifications, I moved on to how we should handle any monsters we run in to.
"Alright, I doubt we're gonna be swarmed by massive groups of monsters like we did in the snowy area, and we'll only be running into one type of monster at a time. I know what two of you can do. Hey, Selesa, what's your Elemental Magic type and how do you use it?"
"O-oh, uh...I use Wind Magic, I can fly, and I attack with medium range wind blades and short range slashes. I can take out a Wyvern or two by myself. And I already told you, call me Sher-!"
...I'll need to verify that.
"Hey, Les...that true?"
"Yeah. She's an idiot, but she's reliable when it counts."
Huh, guess she was telling the truth after all.
"Hey, I'm standing right here, you wads of smegma!"
I ignored her and continued.
"Here's how we'll operate. We'll be facing Wyverns, Griffins and Phoenixes, all flying monsters. In which case, Ragiu, you focus on maintaining your Lightning Sensory Field. Les, you stay by him. Selesa, you and I will split the responsibility of taking on the monsters since we're the only ones who can fly. Does that work for everyone?"
"Sure, a role in the rear sounds nice and easy," Smirked Misen with a nod.
Les nodded in agreement as well.
"Wait, don't you have Lightning Magic? How can you fly?" Selesa tilted her head in confusion.
"Hm, how indeed...figure it out, o' great detective," I replied dryly.
"...you don't like me very much, do you?"
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock," I answered, before I could stop myself.
Ah, crap. That saying doesn't exist in this world.
"Wait...what did you just-?"
"Break's over! Let's start moving!" I interrupted, standing up.
I'd rather not deal with the whole 'you've got your old memories too!?' crap right now.
...
About an hour later, four Storm Wyverns appeared above us. They blasted bolts of lightning down at us, Les and Selesa dodged, while Misen and I fired our own lightning to cancel them out.
"Alright, my time to shine!" Grinned Selesa, putting her hands into the holsters on either side of her waist, equipping her bladed gloves and adding in a gruff voice with a smirk, "Just leave this to me, bub."
Was that...a Wolverine impression? It wasn't a very good one.
She shot up using Flight while charging wind around her blades, flying towards the Wyverns. They fired blasts of wind at her, she managed to evade three of them without a problem, but she was in an awkward position to avoid the fourth one, and wasn't going to be able to fully dodge it- she proved me wrong by suddenly blasting upwards and avoiding it. Wait, did she just...use Propulsion from her feet to shoot up and avoid the blast?
"I thought it was impossible to use both Flight and Propulsion...," I remarked, as she continued evading their wind blasts.
"She mastered Flight, and then tried out Propulsion. She couldn't master it, but can use it in short bursts. She's the only known person currently alive who can use both," Explained Les.
I had to admit, rather grudgingly...that was impressive.
She then fired three blasts of Propulsion, first from her feet to go up and above the Wyverns, then bent her knees to shoot forward till she was directly above one of them, used Flight to maneuver herself so that her feet were pointing up, and then used another burst of Propulsion to blast herself down towards it.
She swung her right fist across as she reached it, slashing three long streaks across one of its wings, before doing a barrel roll to slip under it, and drove her left fist up at its chest, the blades along her knuckles piercing through its heart, before she swung her arm across to slash up to its neck.
Not bad, guess she wasn't all talk after all...
The remaining three Wyverns were all surrounding her now, and simultaneously blasted lightning from their mouths. They can fire wind almost indefinitely, but firing lightning couldn't be done in quick succession.
She swung her feet upwards and fired off Propulsion to swiftly duck below the converging blasts of lightning. She then swung her fists across to send rapid wind blades up at the Wyverns from her knuckle-blades. They managed to evade some of the slashes, but a few cut into them, leaving deep gashes. They weren't enough to be fatal though.
For maneuverability and general movement in the air, she used Flight, while using Propulsion when she needed to evade faster or attack quicker. Impressive, but four Storm Wyverns was a bit much for her, she could probably take them out, but she would likely use of a lot of stamina and Mana.
In which case, it's time for me to tag in...
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