“Thank you so much for saving Repi!”
While Laura and I were busy battling the pursuers, a man named Daniel barged in to help us.
He claimed to be Repi’s protector and expressed his gratitude.
“Daniel Oppa!”
“I’ve been searching for you for ages, Repi! What the heck happened?”
“I… I was scared, whahhh!”
“Where did you leave the Laurel?!”
Repi pointed a finger at us.
To be exact, she pointed at Laura’s head.
“The Laurel…? Are you elves from the Forest of Arseria?”
Daniel’s eyes widened.
[Yes, that’s right. / You’ve got some real guts stealing our stuff.]
Suddenly, the world froze and presented us with choices.
Laura looked at me, seemingly confused.
‘What should I choose?’
“I don’t think it matters which.”
Laura nodded upon hearing that.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Those ears… so you’re here to retrieve the Laurel, right?”
Ears?
Come to think of it, unlike before, Laura’s ears were noticeably longer and pointy now.
When I touched my own ears, I found the same situation.
It seemed we had somehow taken on the roles of elves in this story.
“The medium of magic that can wield the magic of this dimension, the Laurel of Arseria. But we only have this one.”
[Where are the others? / Can’t you just give them to us?]
“Where are the other Laurals?”
“The other four must be with the Bahamut Empire! They claim the envoy was attacked and they lost the Laurals they were supposed to return, but they are likely secretly transporting them to the Imperial Palace through various lords.”
“How do you know that?”
The point was this.
One year ago, the Bahamut Empire borrowed five Laurals from the elves of Arseria.
They requested help for a large-scale cleansing operation in the forest.
The elves didn’t trust humans, but based on their experience of exchanges with envoys over the past decade, they proposed a conditional loan plan.
It was agreed that the envoys would be accompanied by the elf elders when using the Laurals.
The empire accepted this, and for a few months, everything seemed fine.
The empire reported back on the cleansing work continuously, and the elves were sufficiently satisfied with the results.
However, while returning with the Laurals, the envoys and elves were attacked by unknown assailants, and the five Laurals scattered.
“I was part of the Arseria envoy at that time! Thanks to the help of skilled individuals, I barely survived, but… the empire is still hunting for survivors.”
But the survivors had nowhere to go.
The Bahamut Empire sought to eliminate witnesses, and they couldn’t even apply for asylum in other countries that had closed their borders due to cold war tensions.
“We are now part of a group called ‘Abyss.’ We know it’s a rebellious and unloyal faction against the empire, but… we had no choice to stop the empire’s conspiracy.”
“So what’s Repi’s relation to this whole event?”
“It’s related.”
Daniel looked at Laura as if asking what nonsense she was talking.
“I was the envoy’s representative. Repi will eventually become a saintess, you see.”
*
“So the empire is up to no good with the Laurals and we need to stop them, right?”
“Hmm…”
“Why? Is that not true?”
Daniel and Repi took us to one of the Abyss branches in District 15.
We arranged a meeting with the branch leader to find the location of the remaining Laurals and headed downstairs.
“Daniel is mixing in cleverly twisted lies. But our goal is to find the Laurals, so let’s just roll with it.”
Besides, the name ‘Abyss’ alone sounded highly suspicious, right?
But I liked it that they stood against the filthy empire.
I guess I could cut them some slack for now.
knock knock
“Come in.”
The cold voice echoed down the hallway.
From beyond a dark room lit only by a small lantern, a gurgling sound came through.
“Please understand, I usually live in darkness. And honestly, it’s blindingly bright for me right now.”
“You’re not human, are you?”
“Haha, you figured it out already? But saying that makes me a bit sad. Human blood surely flows in me. There are no chairs, so excuse me for asking you to stand while you listen.”
‘Sis, that person is really ugly.’
‘Ssh!’
Would our whispers affect the NPC?
clears throat cough cough
Sadly, it did.
Fortunately, it seemed not to have a significant impact on the story as the branch leader continued with his expected dialogue.
“We found another Laurel at the ‘Remnant Academy.’ But I don’t know its exact location. What’s your plan to get into the academy?”
[We’ll enroll through formal procedures. / We don’t have much time.]
“We don’t have much time. Given the look of things, do you have a pre-planned operation in Abyss?”
[Entering Nightmare Difficulty.]
“Haha, I can’t help but laugh! So does that mean I can take it as you intend to join our ‘Academy Invasion Operation’?”
“Intent? Invasion?”
“Invasion. We’re going to raid the academy.”
It certainly was the fastest way to seize the Laurals.
Since I believed the empire’s academy needed to be demolished sooner or later, I readily showed my consent to the branch leader.
“I understand. Then I’ll inform you of the invasion plan later. In the meantime, familiarize yourself with the city.”
The branch leader promptly issued the guest order.
However, he seemed to have something more to say, leaving the lantern unextinguished as he turned to us.
“It seems you’re not official forest keepers dispatched from Arseria. Running away, perhaps? That’s none of my business, but at least I hope you know how to use the Laurals. You can ask Daniel, he’ll explain it to you kindly.”
*
The system of World of Arseria is peculiar.
Physical elements like strength, agility, and mana affinity are all controlled by the system.
Players receive quests from NPCs and can increase their stats through hunting, dueling, or completing missions.
However, the truly unique point is that while equipped with a Laurel, players can use a limited range of all types of magic available in reality.
This is one reason why Wagal has gained attention.
They’ve only granted one freedom in a thoroughly restricted game world, but the ways to utilize it are virtually endless.
For instance, having just one Laurel allowed unlimited use of magic up to the first circle.
Especially, this system worked wonders when duoing.
While one fought fiercely, the other could search for matching spells to support them.
[Casting: Inertia Tensor Regulation.]
“Wow, it’s not heavy at all!”
The reason Laura, lacking in strength stats, could wield a two-handed sword without hesitation was due to the help of this magic.
Two-handed swords can be treated as sufficiently integrable solid bodies, hence rather than simply reducing weight, the physical quantity of the inertia tensor was manipulated to preserve its power.
Using the Kronecker delta keeps the formulas simple, and it was easy to modify the second magic circle controlling the non-inertial coordinate system according to the constantly changing path of the sword.
With an adequate swordsmanship auxiliary system combined with my magic, Laura was indeed performing so overwhelmingly it was as if the legendary hero had been reincarnated.
“So easily defeating a Hydra…!”
Daniel gasped in disbelief.
[Defeated 10 Hydras within the time limit.]
[Magic Difficulty adjusted to 10.]
If firepower lacked, one could also use higher-level spells to coat the sword in plasma.
[1st Circle Upper Casting: Plasma Frequency Adjustment.]
“Yeyeyeyaaah!”
Laura’s sword struck the ground in an arc.
Sparks of various colors burst along its path, truly deserving her title of ‘Warrior of Aurora.’
[Passed through the Incomprehensible Maze.]
[Exploration Difficulty adjusted to 10.]
After Laura and I cleared one sub-quest after another until the academy invasion, we battled a hydra unleashed by a quirky doctor in a strange laboratory and even explored a cold dungeon with precious treasures.
While the realistic sensations were astonishing, one becomes numb to them as the game progresses.
[Defeated the Knight Captain.]
[Infamy Difficulty adjusted to 10.]
The constant interruption from incomprehensible system windows was annoying, so I adjusted the settings just for Laura.
“Quest cleared?”
I asked Laura, who had just won the duel against the Knight Captain.
Laura stared into space for a moment, rolling her eyes around.
[Nightmare: Magic 10 / Exploration 10 / Infamy 10 · Duo.]
[Bonus is granted.]
“Yes! I received something like a gift!”
[Prologue: The Oracles Child END.]
“Shall we call it a day? Professor Chun brought some delicious chicken.”
[Nightmare Part 1: Academy Invasion Operation.]
“Chicken? I love that!”
