Living Life As A Game: Through And Through
/ Living Life As A Game: Through And Through 178 Pretty Good Gains, All Things Considered...
"Lok enebi ovat onagov ida nega..." The man had much more to say but Elizabeth stopped him as she couldn't understand a word.
"Fucking perfect! We can't understand each other. Mhmm..." Muttering a string of curses, Elizabeth sat down thinking of what she would do with these people. 'Should I gesture? No… It would be a waste of time. Maybe I could…. Huh? What's this?' Momentarily, she had grown annoyed as the man who instigated their fight was grunting to get her attention, but after finally turning in his direction Elizabeth didn't flare up; if anything she grew calmer.
Before her, there was clearly a Magic Circle slowly revolving. 'A Neutral Magic Circle without offensive or defensive properties? Mhmm...' Moving her hand to interact with the Magic Circle, Elizabeth had total confidence in herself to be able to deal with the consequences should this turn out to be a trap. To her side, the younger of the two residents of the Shadow Realm had the stressed expression on his face softened as a smile dawn on his face; he was obviously happy with the way Elizabeth acted.
Once Elizabeth finally touched the Magic Circle he chuckled, "Now we can talk." Stunned, Elizabeth said, "You… Could this be a form of Communicative Magic?" A light of anticipation had lit in her eyes as she awaited his answer.
"Of course! It may be a crude method only capable of letting two parties understand each other's intent, but for our current circumstances it's more than enough..." At first, the man had a confident tone as he was showing off his knowledge in Neutral Magic. But as he progressed in his speech he recalled the situation he was in; it was no laughing matter.
Returning to a somber silence, it didn't take long for the man to hear Elizabeth say, "I'll have to talk to you about this Magic later. As for now, I'll ask again. Why'd you attack me?"
"Huh?" The man was startled, thinking Elizabeth would ask something less… obvious. "Why? Heh, you demons know fully well how much damage you've done in the name of your shitty Empire! I happened to be someone who's suffered from your actions, so it's only natural for us to fight!"
"Uh… Look buddy, I think you're confused. I'm not a part of any Empire, got that? Now, why would you assume I am a part of this 'Empire' you keep taking shots at?"
"Wh-You're not from the Agrian Empire? But your armor..." Choking on his words as he took a closer look at Elizabeth's armor, the man paled.
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed as the man brought up her armor as a point of reference. With just a hint of arrogance, she said, "What about my armor? I forged it myself, so there's no chance it came from some stockpile."
"I… I was wrong..." The man looked at the ground distraught by his grave mistake. He had just attacked someone much stronger than him and his associate and for no good reason. Defeated, he said, "The armor you wear… the black part that covers your dress, it looks almost identical to the elite armor sets given to those with noble titles in the Agrian Empire. Taking a closer look now… I see you don't have the Empire's emblem on your chestplate..."
"Mhmm… Well, whatever, next time just think a bit longer before you act." Elizabeth shook her head even as she unsealed the restraints of the two men. The younger man was an Early Phase Soldier Stage Mage while the older man was assessed to be Late Phase Soldier Stage Strength. Now that Elizabeth was in the Shadow Realm — and more importantly, now that she came across another Mage — she couldn't confidently label people as Mages or Martial Practitioners without them showing their Qi or Magic.
"I'm what you could call 'new and lost,' and I just so happened to be looking for residents of this di… region to show me around." Catching herself before she let her secret of coming from another dimension slip, Elizabeth jumped straight to the point.
"You're new and lost?" Looking at Elizabeth, the youngster's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything as it was neither his business nor did he have the relationship to butt around in her affairs. "What do you want to know?"
"Mhmm… I guess it would be best if you could point me in the direction of a city and told me how to use that Magic." The most convenient thing for her at the moment would be if she learned the Communicative Magic the youngster had casted between the two of them and which way to the nearest gather stop for residents of this world. Though it could turn out faster if she had the men show her, she honestly didn't have a good impression of them after being attacked and it would probably be faster if she were told where to go instead of following these two Soldier Stage 'weaklings' as she thought of them.
"Y-you're a Mage?!" It was inconceivable to the youngster to hear that Elizabeth was a Mage, but he couldn't be blamed. After all, throughout her short "battle" with him, she had refrained from using any Magic; that would be beyond overkill.
Nodding, Elizabeth said, "Yep~"
"But you don't know this Magic? Strange..." Eyeing Elizabeth again, the youngster was startled when she became impatient. He hurriedly drew the formula to use the Basic Translation Spell on the ground with his Earth Magic, but as he was finishing, he thought, 'It may just be a basic spell, but she wants to learn it here and now? Hopefully, she doesn't force us to stay here for days...'
Sighing as he finished drawing the formula, he turned around. Clink… The forest seemed dead quiet aside from the sound of the youngster's staff hitting the floor as both men were stricken with fear seeing Elizabeth conjure the Magic Circle for the Basic Translation Spell the moment after the youngster completed engraving the formula onto the ground.
"Mhmm… This really is a rather crude spell..." Elizabeth muttered to herself. But the pout on her face turned into a smile as a familiar ringing sounded off in her head, prompting her to say, "But it's got potential, too..."
[Name: Basic Translation
Grade: F (Level 1 Spell Seed)
Neutral Energy Cost: 1 unit of Neutral Magic initially and 2 units for every subsequent ten seconds of prolonged activation.
Description: Constructed out of a simple formula, even if it is one of the weakest Neutral Spells in existence, it is among the most practical.
Current Effect: Conveys a rough interpretation of the user's speech after the target — a living being — comes into contact with a conjured Basic Translation Magic Circle. Limited to only one target at a time.]
Both men had their jaws drop as the youngster commented, "Immediately?" His expression further intensified as he heard his companion utter, "S-she inscribed t-the S-spell seed i-in h-her D-dantian… I-in one t-try, t-too!"
"WHAT?!" Was all the young Mage could say as thoughts raced through his mind, 'An inscription?! That's even more insane...' He might have come to terms with the situation if Elizabeth had done what most Mages did when they learned Spell and first practiced inscribing the spell on a talisman or some other enchantable object. But she had done the impossible and instantly inscribed the Spell Seed for the Basic Translation Spell, according to his companion. Her Spell might have been a crude showing as only a Level 1 variant of the entire formula, but for her to conjure it instantly was like seeing a child start to speak short sentences after just being born.
Dispelling the Magic Circle, Elizabeth added one more thing to her list of skills in need of cultivation before asking, "So, where's the nearest city?"
"The nearest city?" The youngster muttered back, still slowly processing the impossible act Elizabeth just performed before him. Feeling her impatience as the pressure around him increased, he was jolted out of his thoughts and said, "Right… If you go in that direction..." He said pointing in the direction opposite the route he and his companion took when coming to investigate her, continuing, "After about 260 kilometers you should find a city called Tyre."
Sweating, as he waited to see what Elizabeth would do after he fulfilled his purpose, he nearly jumped out of his skin after a devilish blood-crimson heptagram-scribed Magic Circle manifested in Elizabeth's hand. Neither men were able to do anything as Elizabeth tagged them with her Talent Stealing Blood Seal. But after the moment passed and they realized no harm had been done, before they could rejoice, Elizabeth said, "Now… I've tagged you with a seal that will certainly kill you should you be lying..."
Her smile looked nightmarishly dark at this very moment as she slowly asked, "Is there anything you'd like to add?"
Terrified, the man looked at his partner before turning back to Elizabeth and saying, "I… I-I didn't lie to you… Following my directions s-should take you to Tyre… But! I-if you must know… W-we don't come from there..." Stopping there to see how Elizabeth would respond, the youngster wished she wouldn't ask him where they came from as he would definitely stand his ground and refuse her now that she showed them that horrifying Devil's Magic. The last thing they wanted was to bring calamity to their home, so even if it resulted in their death, the two understood each other's intention and prepared themselves for whatever the demon before them decided to do.
"Hmph! You better not be lying to me or it'll be the last mistake you make." With no other words, Elizabeth started a sprint to the city of Tyre. She didn't care where these two Soldiers came from and as she already formed a bad relationship with them it was for the best that she started her exploration of this alternate dimension with a neutral faction. 260 kilometers was just a short jog to her, so it didn't bother her if Tyre wasn't exactly the closest city.
Chapter end
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