CH.338 SC: Unika moves to HomeBase
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<strong>[Unika POV]</strong>
<span style="font-weight:400">… what should we do?
<span style="font-weight:400">That is what I was thinking as I walked towards home. I had the craziest experience of my life over the past few days.
<span style="font-weight:400">It all began with that girl, Nel. She came up to me at the adventurer’s guild and asked me if I could help her get to the Green dungeon. At first, I was confused and thought that she wanted to form a party with me so we could dive into the dungeon together, but as I learned a bit more, I realized that I was wrong.
<span style="font-weight:400">She had somehow found out about my skill, Tamer’s Paradise. And even more surprisingly, she knew that it could be used to take a person inside of it. I thought only I knew of that.
<span style="font-weight:400">I discovered it by ident myself. My younger brother, Valoa, really likes petting my two foxes. So one time, when I was in a bit of a hurry to get to the city gates for an escort quest, I took my foxes, which Valoa was petting, into the Paradise while he was still holding them. I thought that only the foxes woulde, but instead, Valoa also disappeared with them.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was quite the fright at the time, but I was able to get him out of Tamer’s Paradise and even made it for my quest.
<span style="font-weight:400">At first I wanted to refuse the Nel girl, as what she wanted me to do was against the guild rules, so if I was caught doing it, I would likely be kicked out of the guild. But then she told me how much she would pay me for it and I had to agree. I can’t just turn down that kind of money. We might even get a magic tutor for Valoa with that kind of money. And if he learns to use Light Magic, he may have a better future than I do. Sure being an adventurer isn’t terrible, but it doesn’t pay as much as they say.
<span style="font-weight:400">So because Nel was willing to pay me a lot of money, I reserved a seat on a carriage heading for Green town, and before I got on the carriage, I took Nel into Tamer’s Paradise.
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<span style="font-weight:400">After I got to the town, I immediately headed for the dungeon, so I could let Nel out. Only to hear what she really wanted to do here. She wanted to go to area 5-3-7 for some shining carrots. And if possible, she also wanted to take a look at area 6.
<span style="font-weight:400">That is not good. Area 5-3-7 is already bad, as it is really deep in the dungeon and many B-rank monsters appear there, but area 6 was even worse. Area 6 is known to hold many A-rank and even some S-rank monsters. And while the S-rank monsters mostly stay put, the A-rank monsters sometimes wander into area 5.
<span style="font-weight:400">We really only had one way to seed. We would need to gather dungeon points on the higher floors and then rush through area 4 and 5 while avoiding monsters, and then make it back to area 3 where the monsters are a lot more manageable.
<span style="font-weight:400">And the beginning of it went just fine. We got the points we needed and after we rested, we were ready to head to the dangerous areas.
<span style="font-weight:400">And that is where it went all wrong. When we passed area 5-3-6 on our way to area 5-3-7, we were ambushed by multiple terror nts. Their actual name is eichhornia, but they are called terror nts. They cling to you with long tendrils that have tiny thorns. Those thorns pierce your skin and inject a paralytic poison into you. Then the tendrils drag your body to the main nt, where the nt eats you.
<span style="font-weight:400">And the worst part is that after the tendrils get to you, they won’t let go, so you cannot let them touch you.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Nel, throw your bag at it! It will grab that instead of you!” I quickly said to Nel. That would be a way to buy time, but we would lose all of our equipment in our bags. Still better than getting caught.
<span style="font-weight:400">We both used our bags to distract two of the terror nts, and I shot one of my poison arrows at the third one, so we could escape. I only had five poison arrows in total because they are very expensive, but they were potent enough that if they hit, they would paralyze even an A-rank monster for a bit, so I kept them with me in case I ran into situations like this.
<span style="font-weight:400">With the nts now distracted, I thought about shooting poison arrows at the other two terror nts so that I could approach and finish them off, but that was not to be.
<span style="font-weight:400">Because something I feared appeared. A greater man eater. An A-rank monster. It must have left area 6 and now it was here.
<span style="font-weight:400">“... Nel. We need to run. When I give the signal, run.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Wha?”
<span style="font-weight:400">I quickly shot out three more poisoned arrows, one at the greater man eater and the two others at the two terror nts.
<span style="font-weight:400">“RUN!” I yelled out and we escaped that situation.
<span style="font-weight:400">At that time, I thought we would be safe, as even without my bag and with just one poisoned arrow, as long as we make it to area 3, I can fight the monsters.
<span style="font-weight:400">That was what I hoped, but that was not to be. Because in area 2-4-4, an area that would normally be easy for me, the next tragedy struck.
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<span style="font-weight:400">At first, I didn’t know what the small fairy-looking things were. Their bodies looked like they were made of nts and they had wings made of leaves and their heads were flowers, but it was toote when I realized what they were.
<span style="font-weight:400">Because as I shot an arrow at one of them, the arrow passed right through its body, doing no damage.
<span style="font-weight:400">“S-Sprites?!” I yelled out.
<span style="font-weight:400">“B-But there shouldn’t be any here?” Nel was also surprised by the monsters we had ran into.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Doesn’t matter. We have to fight them.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“... Can you?”
<span style="font-weight:400">I thought for a moment. I cannot use magic, as I’ve never had the time or money to learn how to. The only thing I can do is use just a bit of Fox Fire, but not to the point where I could fight sprites with it.
<span style="font-weight:400">If I still had my poisoned arrows, they should be able to harm the sprites. … but I only have one left. And even if I had all five, I might not be able to deal with all these sprites.
<span style="font-weight:400">“... Nel. Can you use magic?” I asked. I hadn’t seen her use any magic, but she had some reasonable skill with her des, so she might be able to.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’m sorry, but I can’t.” Nel apologized.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alright. Then put some mana into your des. I’ll get the sprites'' attention, you sh them down.” I then quickly rushed away from Nel so that she could sneak up on the sprites.
<span style="font-weight:400">I fought against the sprites. Firing arrows at them, even though I knew the arrows couldn’t harm them. I even used myst poisoned arrow as a stabbing tool, so I could inflict at least some damage to the sprites, while I waited for Nel to backstab them.
<span style="font-weight:400">…
<span style="font-weight:400">…
<span style="font-weight:400">…
<span style="font-weight:400">What is taking her so long?
<span style="font-weight:400">“Nel?! When are you going to attack?” I called out.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I… I can’t. I can’t use mana control (at this moment).”
<span style="font-weight:400">“WHAT?!”
<span style="font-weight:400">What does she mean she can’t use mana control? That is the most basic skill for any adventurer. But then… What do I do?
<span style="font-weight:400">Maybe I could borrow her weapons? … no. I’ll nevernd a strike on a sprite with a weapon I’m not familiar with, unless I get the jump on them. And I can’t use Nel as bait. Maybe Fer and Rum could..? No. That won’t work either. I don’t want to see them suffer.
<span style="font-weight:400">Then…
<span style="font-weight:400">“Nel! Run to get help! I’ll be fine for a bit.” I yelled to Nel. That was the only thing I coulde up with. If we both ran, the sprites would likely follow us, so I have to be the bait. I just hope I can hold out until help arrives.
<span style="font-weight:400">But that is when I met someone that would change my life.
<span style="font-weight:400">I still don’t really know how, but just by appearing, Lord Brian and Agunan were able to get the sprites off of me. And then with some strange attack, they dealt with the sprites.
<span style="font-weight:400">… I don’t really remember much after that, until the time we arrived at the ce Lord Brian called HomeBase. I was drifting between consciousness and didn’t really know what happened. At one point, I woke up enough that I was able to take Nel into Tamer’s Paradise, but even then I was slightly delirious.
<span style="font-weight:400">The ce I really woke up at was a strange ce. The buildings looked… different from anything I’ve seen in the capital. And I saw that archangel. It was… awe-inspiring. I didn’t know something like that could be, as I’ve only heard about those kinds of things in the legends about the Hero.
<span style="font-weight:400">But I only realized the true beauty of that ceter that night. Maybe this is that heaven ce that is mentioned in the legends about the Hero.
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<span style="font-weight:400">My return to home from Heaven was just as interesting. After a breakfast that would cost multiple silver in the capital, Lord Brian brought me to a strange room. From there, we … teleported. It felt a bit funny, but not bad.
<span style="font-weight:400">Then I got to ride in his carriage. It was a golem carriage, like the one''s powerful magicians use. It didn’t have a horse or any other beast pulling it. But the inside of it was even more strange. The small carriage had an entire house worth of space inside of it. It was something I had never seen before, but that does seem to be the norm with these people, as they don’t react to it at all, as if this was all normal.
<span style="font-weight:400">On the ride back to the capital, I was offered a job by Lord Brian, or maybe it was by Alice, and Lord Brian just agreed to her suggestion. It was a bit awkward for me. What can I really offer them? I’m not that special, whereas they are all super strong and extremely special.
<span style="font-weight:400">But as I kept speaking with the dragon, Agunan, he reassured me that I didn’t have to be special. I would be special. I didn’t really fully know how, but I did know what I wanted to do. That ce. HomeBase. It is the ce the Hero called Heaven. It has to be. And I want to live there. Of course I will agree.
<span style="font-weight:400">So as soon as I was home, I excitedly told my brother about what I, no, We were offered. I told him about everything I had seen, and he listened closely. After I told him everything, he was just as excited as I was, if not even moreso.
<span style="font-weight:400">Convincing my mother was a lot more difficult. She was so suspicious of everything. She said we would be turned into test subjects, or maybe ves. It took me a while to convince her to at least give Lord Brian a chance, but she refused. She simply couldn’t take a day off of work, but at least she let me and Valoa meet with Lord Brian.
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<span style="font-weight:400">Two dayster, I used the device Lord Brian gave me. And just a minuteter, Lord Brian mysteriously appeared next to us. He came with a girl that was with himst time, I think her name was … Ria?
<span style="font-weight:400">Lord Brian offered to take us to a ce where we could talk, and at first he was suggesting a teahouse, but after Valoa said we should go to where mom works, he agreed and we ended up there. Lord Brian then paid mom enough that she could take a long break and dine with us.
<span style="font-weight:400">He told us about his offer and answered all the questions my mom had. And I think he was able to convince mom that he isn’t going to do anything bad to us.
<span style="font-weight:400">Mom has been quite protective of us. It wasn’t always like that. When dad was still around, he was the protective one. Dad was a great adventurer. He was A-rank. He had a good mastery over the Foxfire skill and he used it on his adventurers. … but then he went on a quest and the only thing that came back was a letter from the guild informing us of his death.
<span style="font-weight:400">That was a dark time. We had some money that dad had earned, as well as apology money from the client he had been working for when he died, but that ran out eventually. Mom took up a job as a night worker, as she was able to earn a lot of money with that job. She didn’t really like it, but it was the best money she could make. And I was able to have what she called ‘a good childhood’. That was until mom got pregnant with Valoa. It was her client that got her that way, after the salve that was supposed to prevent it failed.
<span style="font-weight:400">At first, mom kept working even though she was pregnant, but as it got more visible, no clients wanted to touch her any longer. Mom was also often sick. That was when I entered the adventurer’s guild and took up adventuring. I had some skill with the bow, so I could hunt weak monsters. At first, I made almost no money, but as I kept going, I eventually made at least enough money where mom could stay home until Valoa was old enough where I could take care of him.
<span style="font-weight:400">But mom couldn’t return to her old job and instead she took up a job as a server in a small eatery. It didn’t pay anywhere near as much as her previous job, but she said that at least she could work that job. And as soon as Valoa was old enough to stay home alone, I returned to being an adventurer.
<span style="font-weight:400">But now, it would no longer be a problem. We had epted the job from Lord Brian and we had agreed to take it. Lord Brian even prepaid us for just epting the job, so that mom could pay off all her debts before we move to HomeBase.
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<span style="font-weight:400">It was just a few dayster when I called Lord Brian again. He appeared close to us and helped us move. He used a skill he called ‘Storage’ to take in all of the items we owned and after a visit to the real estate agent who bought our house from us, Lord Brian teleported us to HomeBase.
<span style="font-weight:400">It wasn’t as surprising for me, as I had already gone through it, but both mom and Valoa didn’t really know what was happening.
<span style="font-weight:400">On HomeBase, we were shown around by two cat-folk who were just a bit older than Valoa. Their names are Einar and Eline. They were sold to very so their parents could reduce the number of mouths they had to feed, but they were then picked up by Lord Brian and he freed them from very and is now having them work for him.
<span style="font-weight:400">As they showed us around, I saw some really cool things. I really liked the practice grounds, but my real favorite was the spa area. I still remember how it felt to be pampered by that demon maid, and I really wanted to experience that again.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sheou isn’t a demon, she is a dragon. Like Agunan.” Eline corrected me.
<span style="font-weight:400">“D-D-dragon?” Mom was very surprised. I had told her about Agunan, but maybe she didn’t believe me.
<span style="font-weight:400">“... I didn’t know. I thought she was a demon.” I admitted. “She doesn’t have wings or a tail like Agunan has.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“That is because she is different from Sir Agunan.” Einar answered. “Sheou is made with Master’s skill. He calls them cards. They live inside these things that make them look humanoid called avatar dolls. We’ll show them to youter.”
<span style="font-weight:400">As they kept showing us around, we eventually reached a ce that was like a house for tamed monsters. Einar told me that I should leave my iron foxes here.
<span style="font-weight:400">There was already one monster present, so I had to ask who had tamed it.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Who tamed that snow tiger?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Lumi is a blizzard tiger, and I did.” Einar answered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You? Really? But a blizzard tiger is a B-rank monster?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I got help from Master Lord Brian. I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“That is amazing!” Maybe he could help me tame a B-rank monster. Or perhaps even an A-rank monster.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You want to see mine?” Eline then asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“... you have a blizzard tiger as well?” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“No. I have a mountain lion and a lightning tiger.” She answered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“... a young child with two B-rank monsters?” Mom questioned.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Where are they? Do they have a ce of their own?” I asked, as this ce only had the blizzard tiger.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll call them. Please respond to my call ande to my side. Mountain Lion Mufasa, Lightning Tiger Sparky.” Eline chanted a bit and two beasts appeared by her side. A tiger and a lion.
<span style="font-weight:400">“... Is… Is that summoning magic?” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes. … I know it isn’t as impressive as what Master can do, but I hope you liked it.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“... master… Lord Brian…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“When youpare tigers and lions to the monsters Master summons, they really aren’t all that impressive.” Einar said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“But for us, B-rank monsters are already amazing.” Eline continued.
<span style="font-weight:400">“... what can he summon?” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Anything.” Einar answered. “I don’t think something exist that he cannot summon. He can even summon things that don’t exist, even in legends.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes. Like the airships.” Eline cut in.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Airships?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes. Master can summon airships. They are Huge!” Eline said excitedly, as she opened her arms wide.
<span style="font-weight:400">“And the smaller ones travel super fast.” Einar added.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Wow. I want to ride one!” Valoa eximed.
<span style="font-weight:400">… that really does sound cool. I saw his carriage already, so I wonder if the airships are as nice as the carriage is. I hope that it is.
<span style="font-weight:400">But I’m more interested in the summoning magic that Eline showed. Maybe I could do that? That way, I could have both tamed monsters and summonable monsters. That could be very useful. Maybe Lord Brian will teach me if I ask?
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<span style="font-weight:400">By the end of our tour, Einar and Eline helped us situate into our new rooms. We all had our own rooms. It was amazing. We used to live in a house with only two rooms, the kitchen and the bedroom, so we all had to sleep in the same room. And while the room I got wasn’t as nice as the room I stayed inst time, it was still really nice. But I wonder, if I work hard, would Lord Brian be willing to move me from this room to a better one?
<span style="font-weight:400">But that won’t matter. It is time for what I’ve been waiting for the most. That spa ce. I want to wash my tail again. I will make sure it shines and from now on. It will be perfect.