Chapter 25: The Reminiscence of a Light Bulb

ED: Hey guys what do you think of the chants? X3al and I felt it should be more archaic and cool but we don’t really know how… anyone wanna make better suggestions?

P.S: The next chapter might be a long ways away! O-o

Real t.i.tle: Ancient Shrine Nebulapolis

Author: caution: some depictions are not suitable while eating.

After descending the stairs, the group, relying on a pale swaying lamp, proceeded along a dim corridor.

“That is quite the useful thing you got there.”

Mira muttered that, looking at the lanterns that hung down from waists of the four people. A sphere floated at its core which was surrounded by metal braces. It was emitting a pale radiance that eerily illuminated the dark pa.s.sages of the Shrine.

“I heard you already prepared, so I didn’t bring you to the adventurers supplies store. I have no idea how you would manage to enter here without even getting a lantern.”

Saying that in shock, Emera stared at a sphere that was brightly s.h.i.+ning on top of Mira’s head. This illuminating light orb was made by Mira’s abstract skill.

“Magicians can always use an illumination spell. It should be enough.”

“Well, you’re right but is it fine for you to waste mana on illumination when you don’t know what awaits you here?”

Frica agreed with Emera. They just entered the dungeon and can expect a lot of battles ahead. And she is using mana on something that can be replaced with a lantern, no magician would even think about that.

Illumination from abstract skills requires recasting as it fades. Also, it can’t light up the whole area so some dimness still remains. That’s why in the Dunbalf’s era he brought Creos along. The power of a light spirit illuminated everything.

Mira, intently watching the barely visible corridor, mused about bringing Creos here.

“Such a spell doesn’t cost me anything. Don’t worry about that.”

“Well… if you say that.”

Emera didn’t know much about magician cla.s.ses and consented, a.s.suming that Mira has some cla.s.s bonus. And Frica simply believed the words of Mira, knowing that Mira could see spirit traces she couldn’t see.

Actually, cla.s.ses didn’t have any bonuses. But Mira already managed to restore herself to full mana. She trained to raise her magical power, so her mana limit and recovery speed became unimaginable for normal adventurers.

They proceeded while having such conversation, and a small room ended the corridor.

The air had become wet and a silent darkness surrounded them outside of the light. Having exhalations, foot steps and rubbing armor as the only background sounds, Emera opened a map on her operator bracelet and started to walk towards the next room.

(The monsters should start appearing soon.)

After leaving the first room after the stairs, they had proceeded along the corridor for a while. Another room-like s.p.a.ce spread out in front of the corridor. Knowing that monsters in the Ancient Shrine start to appear in the second room, Mira used a summoning skill to prepare for the battle.

【Summon: Holy Knight】

When she set the location next to her, a s.h.i.+ning light circle illuminated the corridor.

“What’s with that light!?”

“What’s happening?”

Because of the sudden flash that exceeded the dim lanterns and light of the illumination spell, Emera and Asber, who led them, looked back. Here they two witnessed how the pure white knight figure appeared from this light.

“I’m sorry if I frightened you. This fellow spirit is my summon.”

Mira briefly announced that while tapping the waist of the white knight.

The knight who had suddenly appeared had a huge s.h.i.+eld, which was able to cover his 2-meter height, and a long sword s.h.i.+ning with silver in another hand. And the most peculiar trait was his full armor. The white was so pure it s.h.i.+ned and a red light swayed behind a full-face helmet.

“Is it a spirit…?”

“It feels amazingly powerful.”

Emera and Frica stared at him with their breath taken away. They felt not only an overwhelming intimidation but also overwhelming security coming from this white knight.

“Kewl!”

“Is it the summoning? That’s incredible.”

Zef examined this holy knight who was calmly staying still from every side. He was a scout, but the embodiements of the protection, holy knights awed him.

Asbar fixedly stared at the white knight before him while recalling what Emera told him earlier. The fact Mira got a rank C immediately on registration.

Of course at first he thought that Emera grew senile or perhaps saw that in a dream, but after hearing that Mira got a pa.s.s and was going to enter the Ancient Shrine the next day, he didn’t know what was happening.

And after seeing the Holy Knight with his own eyes he got confident in her. His instincts with a fuss told him that the knight staying here was stronger than he.

Now Asbar a.s.sumed that getting the rank C from the start requires something like that. The lack of limit for the abilities of summoners slightly terrified him.

Then Mira ordered the Holy Knight to protect Takuto, throwing away all the malice that can come from any direction.

Holy Knight is an arms spirit used for protection. Therefore in protection he surpa.s.ses high-level summons. It was the reason she brought Takuto along in this dangerous place. Only one of the Nine Wis.e.m.e.n or somebody rivaling them could defeat Mira’s Holy Knight that was devoted to defense.

After ensuring the safety of Takuto, the group arrived at a large hall. Here Asber, while cautiously looking around, checked the grasp of his large hammer.

“Wait here, I feel some presences.”

Zef looked to the left, closed up with Mira and Takuto and prepared both his daggers.

Asbar placed himself between Mira and the emerged thing while Emera immediately closed the map and stood next to him.

Finally, like ripples spreading atop of the silence, a dragging sound covered the surroundings. Slowly yet surely something was approaching them.

Asbar and Emera, preparing weapons, gawked towards it. Zef, guarding the sides against a sudden attack, kept his eyes on the surroundings. Frika, maintaining a composed face, stared towards it while grasping her a cane in hands.

“Ghouls, huh.”

Emerging like silhouettes things revealed their contours as they approached the light. Their wriggling bodies roughly resembled people.

After a short display of disgust, Emera and Asbar quickly got calm and, holding their weapons, went forward.

Zef was on alert a bit behind, and staying behind Takuto the Holy Knight held the huge s.h.i.+eld to cover him.

(And the vision is terrible.)

It was a long time since Mira, who has gotten used to Creos so much, saw monsters appearing from the darkness. She strained her eyes yet due to Asbar’s back in the way she couldn’t see well. Standing on tiptoes, she sw.a.n.g herself to sides, yet she couldn’t grasp the whole fight happening a bit further.

“Unh… What’s with that stench…”

“Really, what stinks?”

Mira frowned at the stench that gradually filled the surroundings. Takuto, while staying next to her, felt the same odor and answered while pinching his nose.

“Of course it’s their smell.”

With those words, Zef pointed to the ghouls ahead of them with his eyes.

The stench that Mira felt seemed like a rotting smell. Monsters, persisting on half-rotten meat, obviously didn’t return any life to it and the decaying did not stop. They were always decaying just to crumble down someday and infect the next corpse.

After comprehending Zef’s answer Mira fixed her eyes on a ghoul, which emerged behind the even more disgusted Asber.

“Ough…!”

Unable to focus its dull eyes, the thing gazed at the prey; a rotten tongue was peeking through wide-open mouth lacking lips. Its lips were emaciated, the scalp that started to peel off barely had any remaining hair. Ruptures covered the skin and packs of worms appeared inside gaps of rotting flesh.

The vivid thing that poorly sustained the human form made the very air they inhaled seem rotten. This overdone realism made Mira feel intensely sick.

But, when her averted sight met Takuto, she somewhat overcame nausea.

“I’ll go.”

With that announcement, Frika took a step backward and released the prepared 【Sorcery：Deep Crimson】 skill. Magic power gathered in the cane that she lifted and, after a quick flash, produced a flame vortex that engulfed the ghoul. Covered in the raging deep crimson h.e.l.lfire skin burned down, the fire burst its legs and the ghoul collapsed. After that the flame covered his back and, scattering the ash, his intestines burst into flames.

The latecomer cremation flame, purifying the possessed with filth pitiful corpse, was brightly raging, burning him to nothing along with the stench.

The blaze that painted the surroundings in bright red slowly faded out and two more ghouls, who stood outside the range, started advancing again. However, now Emera and Asber jumped forward and tore down one of them to pieces and smashed the upper half of another, splattering the flesh and worms around. Even undead monsters couldn’t move after such destruction.

“Looks like it’s done.”

Mere dozens of seconds made Mira reconfirm that it’s not a game anymore.

Due to the realistic depiction, even in the game in her first encounter with ghouls she couldn’t directly look at them. However, after some time it wasn’t a problem anymore.

But in the reality, when the vivid display of rotting was accompanied with the smell, it was impossible to get used to it even if you had resistance.

They broke the formation and, behind the s.h.i.+eld of the Holy Knight, Takuto showed his face with the still pinched nose.

The cremated ghoul was fine, but the rotten smell started to waft from the ghouls scattered by Emera and Asber. Mira frowned again at that stench.

“Takuto, have you drunk the medicine?”

“Yes, I did.”

Takuto answered in a nasal voice to Emera’s question.

“Then it shouldn’t be that bad.”

“Well, it’s natural. We’re used to it but for Takuto it’s the first time. The medicine helps but it’s not enough for starters.”

At Emera’s doubt, Zef answered while caressing Takuto’s head. Emera with ‘Well, now you mention that’ recalled her first time and agreed.

“Wait, what’s the medicine thou are talking about?”

Mira found a strange word in their conversation and, covering her mouth with a sleeve in recurring nausea, wondered about it.

“Of course, the anti-smell medicine… Wait, Mira, you don’t have it?”

“Anti-smell? Never heard about it.”

“Simply putting, this medicine reduces really stinking to slightly stinking… or like that?”

“It’s kinda oversimplified, but she’s right.”

No wonder that Mira haven’t known about it. Anti-smell medicine works on the sense of smell, partly numbing its ability. While it’s not complete, at the best it can protect against the too strong stench. There was no smell in the game so n.o.body thought about this effect then. But now, in the reality, the rise of demand on such medicine was natural.

(The new inventions in this world are amusing. I wonder what else I’ve missed.)

In the first serious adventure she had since come here, Mira was excited by the gradually expanding sense of reality.

However, in reality the stench did not go anywhere. Takuto boldly released his nose taking effort to get used to it. With the medicine, it was somewhat bearable.

This time something flashed in Mira’s mind. It was about the deeper parts.

They were in the Ancient Shrine Nebulapolis. The sacred land of the undead paradise. Even the first ghouls were like that. Even more of them would spring out later, and she recalled the huge zombie — Giant Ghoul — at the third floor. Their existence is unfathomable at this point.

At this moment, Mira abandoned the idea of the normal adventure.

Mira, moving away a bit from the group, stretched her right hand to a side.

【Summon skill：Binding Circle of Arcana】

When Mira invoked the skill, a blue magic circle about her height in size emerged in front of her hand. But Mira didn’t stop here. After securing the magic circle, she turned her hand to the left.

【Summon skill：Binding Circle of Arcana】

The second magic circle appeared. The slowly rotating circle was called Binding Circle of Arcana. This specific summoners’ skill could strengthen the summons around, giving them various blessings. The effect increased with the each circle and improved efficiency of basic abilities, reduced the mana costs and increased supplementary effects.

However, Mira was not going to strengthen the summons. The Binding Circle of Arcana was a pre-requirement for another skill.

“Mira-chan, what are you doing?”

“Well, thou’ll see it soon.”

Briefly responding to Emera’s question, Mira reached into the circles with her hands.

“Well, let’s go.”

【Summon skill：Summoning Circle of Rozario】

As Mira touched the two circles, they simultaneously started to change with sparks. Without understanding what was going on, the five in the group only held their breath.

Larger two-fold magic circles appeared from the gathered light. The circles s.h.i.+ning in red overflowed with different, stronger magic power. Grasping that presence, Frika was so charmed she forgot about her thirst.

And then, the preparations were over. All that was necessary for the high-level summoning special summon circle.

『Name thyself, maiden of the soaring skies , the one who uses flash as a sword to clear away evil』

Mira whispered that to one of the magic circles. Not only for summoning, all the spells at the higher level required exclusive chants. And the words she whispered were one of the chants for the high-level summoning.

『The blade that swore allegiance to the master, Alfina, is heeding the call.』

The voice came from the other circle. This answer meant that the summoning was complete without a hitch. The five people behind them looked around for the source of this voice. Quickly noticing it was from the Mira side, they turned there.

『Come forth,【Summon：Valkyrie】.』

Mira proclaimed the completion of the high-level summon and the summon circles shone, answering to her magic.

“What is it, what’s going on!?”

“Terrific magic pressure…what is it this time?”

Emera covered her eyes due to the dazzle; squinting Frica gazed towards in a daze. The rest of the three people lost their words due to this scenery and simply looked upon it.

The summoning circle next to Mira disappeared after a bright flash. Right after that, the remaining circle sped up its rotation, and the interior and outer circles opened out up and down.

“Abiding by the summon, I’ve been brought forth by you. It’s been a long time, my master.”

A woman emerged from the afterimage of the light pillar. Her beautiful figure carried azure light armor, gauntlets and grips. A circlet shone with gold on the forehead; blue hair, flowing like meadows on the wind, fastened in one braid at her back. The sword she placed at her waist was contained in a scabbard as azure as the armor , yet a solemn light leaked through it.

A person that could proudly call herself a maiden of war suddenly appeared in front of the five of them.

“Yea, a long time, Alfina.”

Replying that, Mira fixedly stared at Alfina.

The summoned valkyrie, Alfina, kneeled in front of her, showing her respect.

“My master, looks like your appearance changed quite a lot.”

After sweeping her eyes over Mira, Alfina spoke those words.

“Ye…we, well, a lot of things happened.”

“Well, it seems so.”

Antic.i.p.ating it, Mira prepared for hiding her excitement and was able to preserve unhindered att.i.tude, yet she certainly hadn’t expected the change to be so vivid.

In the game, there was no dialog outside of answers to direct orders. However, the valkyrie before her, Alfina, clearly could speak and had her own will. Mira confirmed that while becoming confident that her expectations came true.

It clearly was not strange considering that it was reality. She was happy rather than surprised.

There were a lot of intelligent creatures among the summons that Mira had contracts with. Valkyrie was one of them. It meant that other summons could speak too. It was a G.o.dsend for Mira who was often acting alone.

“What did thou do until now, Alfina?”

Since she called her after all, driven by curiosity Mira decided to try talking a bit.

“I was training with my sisters mostly. We worked to be ready for getting summoned to the master at any time.”

“Hmm, I see. Just as expected. Thou is reliable.”

“It’s an honor to take such praise.”

Mira broke out a smile, ensured that she wouldn’t be lonely while traveling alone.

“Hey… Mira-chan, who is that woman?”

Emera widely opened her eyes at the suddenly appeared valkyrie, who wore unordinary atmosphere, yet somewhat stepped forward to question her. Frica became speechless from the overflowing magic power, Zef couldn’t take his eyes from this beauty.

“She’s Alfina, a valkyrie.”

When Mira replied, Alfina stood up and turned herself to Emera.

“Are you the fellows of my master? My name is Alfina. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”

She bowed with those words. This figure was so full of grace so Emera in a hurry replied “Best regards from us too” and returned a clumsy bow.

“Still, she’s pretty. Or rather, she’s not similar to that knight. After all, she speaks.”

Asbar came to his senses, however, still gazing at Alfina, he muttered in admiration. He felt that the presence Alfina put on was on a different level and was astonished of that different league pressure.

“Well, she is. Have thou understood the power of summoners now?”

Bragging a bit, Mira threw her chest out, folding her arms. She was sure that at present this was enough to accomplish her mission of showing the power of the summoning skill.

“Master, what are your orders?”

Alfina turned her face back and, kneeling again, waited for directions.

In regards to that, Mira gave an order that completely blew away all the preparations and worries of Emera.

“Exterminate the monsters from here till the fifth floor!”

She wasn’t going to look at grotesque ghouls again. And bringing the end to every one of them was enough for that. That’s what Mira thought.

“As you wish.”

Alfina unsheathed her sword and, leaving a glinting trail, leaped into the depths of the Ancient Shrine.