Chapter 176: Explosive Dark
———Orrel———
<1: 31 pm>
*Leap*
“Get the hell… outta here!” She screamed out as she leapt towards the odd giant creature standing in front of her, a weird deer creature that towers above absolutely everything else.
*Slash* *Slice* *Chop* *Thud*
She sliced up the giant monster and caused it to collapse to the ground while she clumsily landed back down to earth.
“Annoying thing. It sure knows how to jump with those stick legs.” Qyunda remarked before putting her twin swords away. That thing sure can glide around with its stretched out body. It looks absolutely surreal what that deer monster could do. It behaves more like a spider than anything else, if the spider is multiple floors tall. “Seriously, what a weird monster, its body is like that of a skinned deer being used as an umbrella. Weird freak shit.”
“We can never really expect monsters to follow the same kind of evolutionary path as anything else. In fact, they aren’t really living creatures in the same sense as us.” I said while walking over to the corpse. “They don’t really have an ecosystem or drive to survive necessarily. It’s built more on something people fear and are weak to.”
“Well that thing was one messed up monster, that’s for sure.” Qyunda remarked with her arms crossed. “I guess I’ll go looking for Malk and make sure he doesn’t get swallowed up by another one with its weird belly mouth.”
“Yeah. I think I’ll go my own way for now.” I said with a nod and both of us parted ways. I didn’t even really do anything outside of observing.
“She did a number on that thing.” Useph said as he walked over and looked at the deer corpse. “I couldn’t imagine myself even killing it even under five minutes with how fast and agile it was.”
“The power gap between us and her is quite large. I wouldn’t worry about it. There is no need for competition, after all.” We’re all on the same side, it doesn’t really matter who is stronger than who in the long run. “I don’t really worry about my lack of fighting all that much myself.”
“Yeah, but it’s still kinda worrying how strong some of these monsters are. I know that was the big bad one in this area, but that’s still worrisome.” Useph said, clearly still a bit unsure of everything that just happened.
“There shouldn’t be too many of them around, and it seems to be much more frail compared to that giant the rest fought last week. As long as we got some cheap shots in, we should be fine.” It’s in part because Qyunda is way stronger than she was last week, but she beat it in way less time than it could be explained by the power boost. “...So, what do you think about today’s event so far?”
“Honestly? Too much for me to keep up. I didn’t even realize we were almost in space until they pointed it out.” He said with a wry smile. “Aside from that, nothing much really happened, did it?”
“Yeah. Still, it feels like we really skipped out on elaborating on something quite important…” In the first place, while there have been allusions to aliens in some of the books in the school’s library, seeing is believing. If that part of the books there is true, then I should scrutinize the rest of the books with a smaller pinch of salt. “There is a saying that sky’s the limit, but now, even that seems quite limiting, doesn’t it?”
“When we look back at what just happened just today, yeah, the sky’s not quite enough, is it?” He said while also staring at the sky much like me. “Heck, even going to the moon probably isn’t quite enough. You think someone could go there completely unassisted? Not even a speck of technology or anything.”
“Most likely, it’s clear that those who became very powerful can shield themselves from harmful elements, that rabbit lady can stay around in the exosphere with no negative effects. That part of the atmosphere is literally its edge, fading out and barely any different from outer space itself.” If someone like her can stay there, she probably could go and stay on the moon as well. “There doesn’t seem to be any theoretical limit to what magic can achieve outside of how much capacity we have and if our body can handle it. I’d wager that someone strong enough could stay floating in the vacuum of space for a few days with no ill effect.”
“Crazy to think about.” He muttered as we walked along the forest path. We aren’t aiming for anything here, just walking around and appreciating the scenery that used to be quite rare. “And with what happened yesterday, feels like a lot of norms from year’s past mean jack shit, doesn’t it?”
“Could be worse, honestly. It’s a miracle the world didn’t turn to complete chaos. Perhaps the fact that no one was receiving guidance on our level is quite the blessing.” There isn’t any known institution or group of people willing to guide others towards the path of magic. There are those who figured things out just from pure intuition, but they probably aren’t the best teachers and are probably afraid of creating more trouble. After all, some people have gone mad with these powers and changes, becoming tyrants and destroying what was once a relatively peaceful place.
“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” He said with a small sigh.
“...If you’re afraid of people walking past you and not looking back, you could always try. I believe with that nepotism money of yours, you have plenty of free time on your side.” I said as I stopped moving and looked at him dead in the eyes. He was always someone who at least tried to compete with all that money and nothing better to do. No reason to feel any anxiety now.
“Well, when you put it like that…” He said before scratching his head.
“It’s not as if you aren’t welcomed by the others whenever we go on a dungeon expedition, so there is no barrier there. Just be more active going forward.” I said to him, just to give him a bit more encouragement and dispel any worry he may have. For a man who has the world handed down to him, he is quite self-conscious, something he usually doesn't show in front of a crowd.
“Yeah. I guess that’s true.” He said before scratching the back of his head and kept moving.
———Karra———
<1: 59 pm>
“So no one else is around, right?” I asked while looking around inside the lobby.
“Yep, they’re all still out there having their fun.” Rico said with a smile. “I know loitering around inside the ship technically isn’t prohibited, but are you sure you don’t wanna go out there and compete, or sightsee?”
“I’m good. Besides, she can just bring me here whenever she wants. I’m not really pressed for time.” I said before moving my hand to my left ear and touching the special earring.
“That is true. For someone on her level, she could aid you in so many of your problems.” She said before walking towards a sofa and slumped down on it. “Edea, bring in a comfy tune will you? Last time it was so awkwardly silent.”
“Do I look like a DJ to you?” They said with a frown, sitting at a sofa not too far from either of us. “So why are you still here? Your partner isn’t around, right?”
“I kinda want to stay here and plan something…” I said before reaching into my bag and pulling out a laptop and placing it down on the table. “I got something to do tomorrow, and I want to make sure everyone involved is on the same page.”
“A spatial bag… I guess with her current progress, she can just casually make something like that.” Edea muttered while I opened the laptop and started checking through the notes and the group chat for the collab.
“Eh. I guess being mindful of your future ain’t a bad thing to do.” Rico said, taking a few steps back. “I’ll leave you to it then. I want to go get some fresh air myself. Edea, make sure she’s comfortable.”
Rico walked off and I continued with checking the notes and the schedule. I want to make sure they all got it. Wiina could reasonably just forcibly take them to the meeting place, but that would be a massive breach of privacy and it’s for the best that we don’t come to that point in the first place.
“...Feels like we didn’t have the time to talk face-to-face for a while now.” I remarked, now that it’s just the two of us.
“Indeed.” They said with their legs crossed. “You know, I’m kinda surprised you haven’t ever talked about how I duped you and the others for a year or two at this point.”
“Eh. There’s really no hard feelings on my end. It’s not like that kind of time is actually super long in the grand scheme of things.” Angsting over something like that is stupid anyway. “You have secrets to keep and that’s fine. Besides, if people realize who you are, imagine how chaotic the group chat would be for a few days. Maybe we’d have to shut it down.”
“Fair enough. Maybe I have been reading a bit too much nowadays” They replied while looking at the ceiling.
Alright, hopefully that’s enough details and notes for them to not panic when tomorrow comes. It’s gonna be a bit overwhelming at the start.
“So. That big collab you got yesterday. Four streamers in total.” Edea said once a bit of time passed and silence filled the room. “Some of them aren’t really big names, and all girls too.”
“I consulted with a few people and this seems like the best lineup for now. Maybe in the future we can have more people onboard.” It’s best to not get too ambitious. As it stands not that many people have all the tools needed to stay down there for too long. I’m not really sure if we could provide everything to them without showing our hands too much. “Looks like one of them got the equipment locked down, and another looks like she has quite a good setup for dungeon diving already… Did you have a hand in some of that?”
“For one of them, I did. For the other one. I’m not really sure where she got those equipment from. I’m not the only one who likes to tinker and craft stuff around here, just so we’re clear.” They answered.
“That elf friend of yours?” I asked, wondering if that person might be involved.
“Who knows? She usually doesn't meddle with human affairs. She doesn’t like humans in general for many understandable reasons. It’s not impossible though. She cares more about creating than not.” They replied. Now that I think about it, what does an ancient race like elf do to keep themself out of public eyes?
“How do they even keep themselves out of news and such? I mean at this point they don’t really need to pretend anymore, but what about before all the magic stuff?” I asked while still looking through the notes and typing in the group chat to make sure everyone is on the same picture.
“Using magic, for one. Almost no one knows of its existence in the modern era, so they could get away with a lot using that. Secondly is government hijacking.” Huh?
“Excuse me?” I asked as I turned around, confused as to what they meant by that second point.
*Dim* *Rumble*
“Huh? What was that?” A strong power spike emerged and the outside looked like it had been engulfed in complete darkness for a moment.
“Did you forget what one of your friends said before we landed?” Edea ominously said… Don’t tell me.
I close the laptop and walk over to the glass wall to see the outside better… Oh, she was not kidding at all.
———Orrel———
<2: 05 pm>
*Rumble* *Rumble*
“Kenni are you fucking crazy! Get the hell down from there!” Qyunda yelled out as we all tried to withstand the pressure of the giant ball of darkness being created.
She floats there in the air with her right arm raised and gathering a massive amount of energy. A big ball of darkness that seems to cause everything in the area to shake and tremble as if they’re alive.
“I suggest we start running rather than begging!” Gregori shouted out before running away along with the others.
“Damn it Emmie! Why aren’t you here when it’d be convenient!” Qyunda said before also running away along with the rest of us.
“Is she seriously going to nuke the whole place up?” Useph asked as all of us keep running as fast as we can, going towards the ship and hope.
“Seems like it! We can’t really do anything else, unfortunately!” Gregori replied.
*BOOM* *WHIRL*
““W-Whooa!!!”” A massive explosion occurred behind us and everyone was sent flying away due to the pressure of the spell.
*Crash* *Thud* *Tumble*
“...Yikes.” Qyunda, one of the few people who managed to stay grounded while most of us were blown away and knocked off our feet.
…It’s like a complete wasteland, and it almost reached where we are as well. Terrifying.
———Kenni———
<2: 07 pm>
I can barely feel any part of my body right now. I’ve really overclocked the whole system there…
“You really know how to do the most stupid shit.” A voice rang out in my ears while I could barely keep my eyelids open.
“Hey… Rico… A little help?” I asked with a weak voice.
*Yank*
“Kinda in my job description already, no need to beg.” She said while grabbing me by the collar and throwing me on her shoulder. “...Hopefully she works overtime to restore all of this. It’d be a massive PR disaster otherwise.”