章節 19: Witch And The Fenrir
__________________
POV: 3rd Person
__________________
Astaros moved the bustling stone tile streets, weaving through the massive crowds that made up the commerce district. He was fully concealed to prevent any gawking and conversation so he had to be careful sidling through the crowd. Small stalls offering trinkets and jewelry made themselves known through various means, be it signs with bright colors or loud shouting men. He passed through a familiar dirty alleyway before de-cloaking and entering the Pin and Needle.
Astaros greeted the delighted owner who announced his entrance into the store. Though many began to come in, Astaros held up a conversation with the owner, preventing anyone from interrupting and striking up conversation with him. Astaros then retrieved his order before leaving out the front door.
…
Astaros had now prepared his present for Christine and was now on his way to drop off the orc heads and the troll head. He passed across the main street which was a large stone bridge that crossed the river and also served as a highway for many of the merchant caravans to get where they needed to. He then arrived at the guild refusing to decloak as he entered. The guild was far too full of people who would want to fight or mess with him.
He then came up to the front desk where a young woman was speaking and lessened his cloaking and knocking on the desk. The woman looked up and began to greet him before seeing the wavy half visible ghostly form of Astaros. Before she could say anything a completed orc request orb was handed to her.
She looked at the ghostly form before leaning back and turning her head to the guild reward receptionist and asking for the orc mission, never taking her eyes off him. The grr staff looked at her confused before laying eyes on the shadowy figure. He nodded and went off as her and the shadowy figure headed to the material reception desk. As they arrived, a flash of red light appeared on the table revealing a number of orc heads most of which were charred and burned. A much larger troll head then also appeared pushing some of the heads off the desk. Some of the Adventurers noticed what was going on and now came over to see what was going on.
Though they could see the tall shadowy figure he would not respond to them and only waited for his reward which then also along with him disappeared in a red flash. This left the guild in disarray as another Darkhorse alongside The Silver Fenrir had appeared. Although later when it was learned that it was originally The Silver Fenrir and Fillia who took the request, and this idea would be dispelled.
…
______________________
POV: Guild Librarian
______________________
My name is Raven Nyxus. I am the Elden guild librarian. I am also it's witch partner who produces the potions for the guild. And I hate it. Everyone is a muscle headed idiot or a muscle headed idiot trying to be mysterious. The only ones with a brain are the guild master who locked me into this position through contract, my apprentice and the receptionists.
Even my apprentice has begun to act weird. She's been humming while working, she's been more diligent in potion making and to be honest it really isn't bad but it's weird and that's what matters. I am suspicious she may have a lover of some kind but she hasn't deviated from my schedule so I am not sure.
'Haaah, to think I would be beaten to it by my own apprentice.' {Raven}
I'm now turning forty three and I still haven't found someone. A top class Witch can live for 500 years while retaining their youth but I don't want to wait forever for someone like that. I sat down at my bureau and looked at the pile of documentation for borrowed books. I began my work of signing the documents when a magic circle appeared and dropped several books on my desk. Each and every book and scroll has a spell that when an outdated borrowing contract is signed by a witch it returns the book using the thief or forgetful adventurer's mana. Since I specialize in grey spatial spellcasting this was a fairly easy task and so I was "provided" this position.
I finalized more than half the contracts before I got up and stretched.
'I should call that enviable apprentice to put the books away before continuing.' {Raven}
I activated our connection seal and teleported to her. And I arrived right in the middle of hugging the new and famous Silver Fenrir.
_______________
POV: Astaros
_______________
I walked away from the material reception desk with my reward of ten gold for the orc extermination and an extra three gold for the troll. Apparently those are a big deal and generally you don't receive a head that is so intact so I got an extra gold coin for it. I walked down the halls towards the library. I walked in fully cloaked and headed towards the sound of someone lifting and placing books. As I strolled down the aisles of bookshelves they seemed to become older turning from short ring backed guides to full elderly tomes.
I then turned to see Christine putting away some returned books. I walked up to and sat beside her. I then slowly became visible as she obviously put away books. Five minutes later I was fully visible and she hadn't noticed. I then decided to make my presence known.
"Hey Christine" {Astaros}
She jumped and dropped a book. I leaned and caught it, handing it back to her.
"Astaros! I d-didn't see you arrive." {Christine}
"I know I came to pay you back for the incident with the book." {Astaros}
She pushed her dirty blonde hair out of her face and stood back taking the book I caught. A red light spilled out of my chest and seemed to envelop her. She covered her eyes and when she opened them back a brown, beige dress made with silk and a maroon long sleeve with bronze buttons which was made with a soft cotton was on the table beside her. She picked it up. These were newly made clothes and exactly her size. This was rare as most clothes were never made to order unless the person ordering payed a hefty sum. In the end most people stuck with stock or recycled clothing and even stock was rare. She then breathed out and whispered:
"These are perfect." {Christine}
I took off my helmet and turned away scratching my head.
"You seemed kind of cold in here and you also didn't seem to have very good clothes so I did what I could." {Astaros}
She looked at me and giggled before looking me in the eyes.
"So my clothes from before weren't very girly?" {Christine}
I stared her down and spoke in a flat tone.
"Yeah you looked like a tomboy" {Astaros}
She looked at me and fake pouted.
"beeeh you were supposed to be flustered" {Christine}
I crossed my arms and then leaned against the table.
"Your about a fifty thousand years too early for that." {Astaros}
She tilted her had and look at me a odd glint in her eyes.
"And why did you know my sizes." {Christine}
She hugged the clothes to her chest and looked at me with a flirty smile.
"Lecher" {Christine}
I looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"I used to be a fitter in the army. I can see someone's size in the blink of an eye." {Astaros}
For a moment she stopped the teasing and took out a small wand and waved it in a circle before chanting. A circle appeared where she air drew and passed through her. For a moment she glowed red and then when she stopped she had the clothes on.
She spun in a circle and then looked at me. Her hands behind her back as she leaned forward.
"How do I look?" {Christine}
I didn't even hesitate.
"Just as beautiful as I imagined you'd be." {Astaros}
She blushed and stood up.
"Y'know you're not fair" {Christine}
She then ran forward and hugged me. I was surprised. Besides the lewd hand holding with Fillia, I hadn't really had any physical contact like this so I this was beyond expectations. I slowly but surely hugged her back.
Then I felt it. A mana disruption. My head snapped up and a woman appeared near us as my helm covered my face.
The woman looked at me with teal accusatory eyes.
"To what do we owe the honour O elusive one." {Raven}
The Librarian.
"Oh it's you witch" {Astaros}
I let go of Christine who turned around and faced the woman while elbowing me in the side.
"What would you like master?" {Christine}
Her master was a medium aged woman however still showed no signs of age. Her skin was perfect besides a beauty mark on her right cheek. Short dark brown hair came down in a rounded bob cut.
She wore a black leather doublet with purple highlights and a lengthy loincloth over all that which reached down to her knees.
"Christine I gotta go, do you know where the books on types of mana like grey mana and divinity are?" {Astaros}
The woman waved her hand and a tome appeared in it.
"You mean something like this?" {Raven}
I walked over to take it and she held on not letting it go.
"Why don't we have a talk Silver Fenrir? I'm sure the guild-master would love to see you." {Raven}
"Wait master Raven, Astaros don't fight." {Christine}
I turned to look back at Christine.
"I might not be back for a while so see ya around. Close you're eyes" {Astaros}
She did so. I then turned myself into a living flash bang causing Raven who hadn't been stunned to let go of the book. When Christine opened her eyes and Raven's sight came back I was long gone.
Christine looked at her stone faced master with tears in her eyes before walking past her.
'Well the report to the guild-master will be interesting.' {Raven}
…
______________
POV: 3rd Person
______________
Astaros returned with the book in hand and headed up to bed. Returning the thing would be annoying but being arrested later on some inflated charge would be no joke.
He sat on the edge of his bed while Val came out of his shadow and spun around before promptly going to sleep.
'You really are lazy aren't you.' {Astaros}
Apparently Val didn't have time for Astaros's chides and had already fallen asleep.
'Well no matter, I have my own problems anyways.' {Astaros}
He stood and reached towards the ceiling before placing a ball of light which he directed mana to.
He had been wielding a power he didn't understand for too long. He required knowledge and understanding. The rest would be up to his own personal wisdom. He opened the book called Mana and it's subtypes to the contents and began looking over the types of mana.
Flip
Elemental mana… p1-19
Grey mana/Spellcasting… p20-30
Divinity… p31-40
Blood Arts… p41
Arcane Enhancements… p42-43
Flip
Elemental mana is the base form of mana and is regarded as a tool used by the celestial goddesses in the world's construction. Though easy to wield it is easily exhaustible if the user is not careful. It's simplicity is its strength as it can be easily wielded by an experienced user to destroy an opponent in subtle ways. Mages can be known to be able to imbue items through severe concentration and add an element to it. This can allow a sword to light on fire upon being drawn or a single bow to wield the power of a catapult. Some extremely powerful people are able to sense the flow of mana in a living being however that can only direct someone to a general vicinity but this technique requires a high raw mana aptitude. Aptitudes are the expression of mana within a person. They are your connection to the elements and depending on which aptitudes you have you can wield different elemental forces. These elements include earth, water, fire, air, dark, light, ice and raw mana.
'Hmm it seems that my form of mana sense is not mentioned anywhere. I will continue to conceal that. It also seems they are mistaken about the creation of the world. Mana seems to have been shaped into the world, not used to shape the world. Well I'm just glad that the inability to control water was just that I lacked the aptitude and not some defect on my part. Although given the fact they managed to mistake how the world was made I will have to check if there are any missing aptitudes.' {Astaros}
Flip
Grey mana is a form of mana exclusive to women and the most important feature to concern yourself with when differentiating a witch from a human. This form of mana is used to enact a specific process with a single response. If one wished to blow up a house they would create a spell, a chant and then a specific magic circuit circle to focus the grey mana and blow up the house. This is spellcasting, the witch's magic. It is extremely volatile and hard to wield according to many witches. Apparently according to many the easiest thing to do is potion brewing. This is the grey mana version of imbuement. It's when you fill a bottle with water as a base and several other substances which depend on the potion. A spell is then chanted and a magic symbol is then branded onto the bottle allowing that potion to do a specific thing. There are also two different types of witches. Specialists and generalists. Specialists focus on one type of spell and generally have a complete mastery of the corresponding magic circle. While generalists are those who know many spells but lack any advanced forms for them. Finally there are contracts. They are absolutes and bind the users to certain conditions with grey mana. Never enter a contract that has not been made in the presence of both parties as there is a good chance you will be taken advantage of or enslaved.
'So then I wonder what types of spells raven knows. Also it seems like due to how new it is spellcasting though technically unlimited in it's growth is actually quite weak as the circles for things like sudden death and stuff like that haven't been figured out. Otherwise the world would belong to them by now.' {Astaros}
Flip
Divinity is a very simple form of energy used for purification, domination and enhancement and comes in grades that are based on the level of power they contain. The purification aspect is very simple. It's generally used to heal people or purify substances before use. While domination is a bit more complex, requiring the user to have a high affinity with a goddesses divinity before they can use any form of dominion. If you were a disciple of the goddesses of love and had a high affinity for love divinity you could likely charm people into liking you with said divinity. This also comes with the domain ability which is an absolute symbol of a devotee's faith or their affinity with a certain goddesses divinity. This ability allows someone to create a space where essentially everything is under their control. Though taxing the domain is far more useful than the price is high. Enhancement is the Divine equivalent of Imbuement where one directs divinity into an object with and enhances it with a specific effect in mind. If you were to enhance a blade with the goddess of love's divinity, cutting someone with it would place them under your control. The grades of divinity go as follows. Low, Intermediate, High and the goddess exclusive Celestial.
'After witnessing my regeneration first hand I wonder if I have some form of divinity? Well I can't really tell if I haven't ever used the stuff or seen it used. Perhaps I should swing by the church and learn more about the goddesses.' {Astaros}
Flip
Blood art seems to be no different from elemental mana. It's used exclusively by the vampires so its true abilities are mostly unknown besides the fact it allows them to use their own blood like water element or someone else's they consider kin.
'Now that seems troublesome. Better remember this if I ever meet one.
Flip
Arcane enhances the use of the soul to enhance an object. Not much else is known.
'Now this I am familiar with as I myself am a Arcane warrior.' {Astaros}
Clap
I closed the book and laid down. Perhaps Fillia had already gone into my soul scape. I disconnected the light and placed the book on the dresser. I drifted off to sleep.
…
I awoke laying down in the middle of the field of swaying grasses. I looked at the pure empty cloudless sky. There was still no sun but that didn't bother me in the slightest. I turned towards my soul tree and began walking towards it. It's hanging low branches concealing someone who was sitting with Val Systin. I walked under the low hanging branches and sat down beside a surprised but accepting Fillia.
"Y'know this dream isn't too bad." {Fillia}
"You seem to be mistaken about your current situation Fillia, did val not tell you?" {Astaros}
I looked at the wolf who seemed to heave his flanks up and then down in the weirdest shrug I have ever seen.
"Of course this is a dream, I mean I just understood what Val said." {Fillia}
I looked at her more closely. She was in her beastman form even though she wore the necklace. Her beautiful green eyes met my armored face as I looked at her.
"Fillia you have been connected with me and Val systin on the astral level. Currently you are leaning against my soul. And note the fact you can't use mana." {Astaros}
Fillia sat and opened her palm obviously expecting something as she began to become anxious. She turned to Val who again shrugged in his alien way and her eyes widened. She began to hyperventilate.
"Wait what then how am I? You? What?" {Fillia}
I wrapped her in an embrace before explaining the Soul Link ability that I have.
"In short it means I really trust you." {Astaros}
Fillia curled up in my arm looked up at me.
"You really do? This isn't some dream that I'll wake from that you will never know?" {Fillia}
I played with her ears and stroked her hair.
"Of course we can talk more in the morning for now just enjoy the peaceful soul I have invited you to." {Astaros}
Thus we sat and gazed at the grasses watching them wave in the whispering zephyrs.
創作者的想法 
Blue_Robin
Blue_Robin A long one that is the start of a long chapter trend
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票