This chapter is crazy long so please point out errors if you see them as I'm not sure if I got everything during proofreading.
As agreed upon yesterday, Grace and her "session buddy" met up at the gates of Nuaria city. They traveled all the way to the eastern region towards the Mountains of Wails, which could be seen beyond the forest in the form of two mountains that seem to have been split apart in half.
Grace was too busy with analyzing the current situation to focus on the other player standing right behind her.
…
Star Fantasy's system is a mechanic meant to help players in progression. That's its main goal but it is also meant to be a tool of convenience.
What does this mean? In short, it's supposed to make life easier for players who raid and grind all day every day.
Instead of logging off and going on wikis and forums, it links directly to the internet using its advanced A.I and tells you exactly what you need to know. There are certain limits, however.
A level 1 player shouldn't be in possession of a system on par with a level 100 player. As such, the developers implemented a progression for even the system. It uses quests to unlock its full capabilities which in turn helps the player as well.
At level 1—it gives out quests to help you progress through the game.
At level 2—it lets you check the status of all NPCs and players, excluding hidden descriptions. On top of that, you can ask the system simple things about the mechanics of the game but not lore or anything about NPCs.
At level 3—it unlocks the Condition bar which monitors the feelings and hostility of NPCs, an important feature to build relationships. It also unlocks the "search" feature and a more intelligent AI that can tell you more complex things. And lastly, you're given an inventory, a much-needed mechanic for loot hauls.
There are two more levels but they aren't relevant right now.
Grace's system is level 5 and has the smartest A.I out of all the system levels and yet—
"—My system can't identify what spell this is." She said dumfounded, "This can't be possible. This forest might not be the biggest in the world or even the top in the ranks but it's still bigger than the imperial capital so there's no way a Seventeenth-Rank should be capable of blocking off the entire forest."
"So, you can't lift it?" said a young woman.
She had long black hair and blue eyes and looked no older than 18, donning full armor with a sword by her waist.
This is her "session buddy", the person who could mind control several people from a distance.
Why the sword though if she's a magician?
Could she be a magic swordsman? That can't be the case since magic swordsman typically only have attack spells or buffs. Mind control is a more sophisticated form of arcane that lies on the border of dark magic. It's incredibly difficult to master both the sword and every type of arcane spell since there are several categories of arcane so magic swordsmen tend to focus more on attack spells instead.
The other likely explanation is that this person has a second class—a subclass that came with the spells pre-unlocked.
Maybe Grace is overthinking this a bit too much. There's no doubt in her mind that it's just a disguise. The point of a disguise is to throw people off.
She was also hiding her status, which can't be bypassed even by a level 5 system.
"It's going to be difficult since I'm not a magician." She answered after her head became sore from overthinking, "This looks more like an idiot was handed control of the spell mechanism in the game and made ridiculous spell combinations that we would never release publicly. Not even a Seventeenth-Rank teleportation block spell should have this range."
Either that or—
"What if it's not a spell but someone has administrative control over the game…?" a shadow formed on Grace's face.
"How is that possible? Nothing in this reality runs on code and mathematics."
"I know that. But the system still exists so it's possible whoever created this spell is using a privileged tier system."
"Meaning…?"
"A select few developers are given a higher tier system than level 5 that allows you to become a God in the game, which also allows you to control the world itself." A headache would be imminent if she keeps thinking this hard.
"I think the first explanation is more likely."
"…Yes, a spell editor is more likely." She agreed since the second option sounds a bit too absurd, "It's something we gave to players during the game's beta to encourage them to create new spells that fit within the world, with the AI's help. We would tweak the spells and release them officially. But we made sure to disable the spell editor for all beta players upon the game's release."
"Let's not do our heads in by speculating." She unsheathed her sword, "I will be the vanguard so stick close to me."
"…I never got your name."
"Luxine."
'I've never seen that name in the top ranker leaderboard so this person might not be that well-known. I can't count on her PvP skills unless I see her in action.' Hopefully that won't be necessary since they won't stand a chance against that third player.
"…Okay, Luxine. I'm counting on you to protect me if we confront this supposed third player."
She might have numerous magic items and an artifact or two that she was lucky enough to get in auctions and in ruins, but that doesn't mean she can fight. As such, it's best to leave the fighting up to this person. It's not that they're the last hope to taking this player down, just that they'll be sufficient backup for the vampire lord.
Grace has always been interested in this vampire lord. This presents an opportunity for the two to connect.
While her artifacts may not be suited for combat directly, they can still turn the tides in a stalemate.
◊◊
A boom resounded, followed by a dark cloud that rose as high as a mountain. The wildlife ran through the trees with haste, trying to escape the battle.
A myriad of different lights blitzed through the forest, cutting down trees and charring the ground in rapid succession.
"—[Dragon Talon Strike]!" a young man's frustrated voice cut through the air. A dragon's arms manifested behind his back and slashed the air, sending thunder bolts at his two opponents.
"[Cryo Veil]."
A plume of frost erupted around Lunaria, freezing the lightning mid-flight. The bolt turned into a sculpture of ice that shattered into harmless glitter.
Another gesture from the masked man—flame serpents spiraled from his sleeves.
"[Drownspire]."
A torrent of water surged up like a geyser, swallowing the flames whole. Steam hissed outward, obscuring their opponent.
"—Cancelling his spells is… quite trivial. He lacks any PvP skills, just as you said." Lunaria glanced at Selia after coming to a stop.
The man took out a grimoire, most likely to read a chant. A true high-level magician needs not a grimoire but only his memory to know what spells to use to win in a PvP.
The masked man didn't like Lunaria's previous remark. As if he could hear it from so far away, he snapped his hands together and unleashed a slicing wind arc meant to cleave the entire clearing, cutting down hundreds of trees and killing nearly as many wildlife in the process.
Lunaria's voice cut through the roar of the wind.
"Stonebind."
The wind blade petrified midair, turning to brittle rock that crumbled before reaching them.
"Good job countering everything he throws."
"Thank you."
"All this moving around charged my lance to its fullest so it's time for me to attack!" Selia charged at the masked man, dodging all his attempts at trying to hit her.
A wild grin was on her face, showing her sharp teeth.
This takes her back to her rookie PvP days when Lufulur used to force her to pick fights with any players in the vicinity. Even if the rewards weren't worth it, he still told her that PvP'ing is something she needs to master in order to survive and not lose your experience points, which can take away your levels.
Losing one level in this game is considered a big loss as you need a ridiculous amount of XP just to level up. Even after doing multiple boss raids, you wouldn't be able to progress from level 99 to 100 quickly.
Unfortunately, until she actually tests if players can be revived in this world, she has more than just her levels to worry about.
Selia roared:
"BREAKER!!"
Phantom claw flared behind her as she thrust her lance forward with overwhelming force, shattering his barriers with ease.
"Guh!"
She struck him dead center. There was a black sphere at the center of his midsection—a black hole to absorb any and all force.
She clicked her tongue. Though he lacks the necessary PvP skills to be deserving of Lufulur's power, his casting speed is quite troublesome.
The shockwave detonated like a collapsing star.
Then his body was launched through the trees, smashing through trunks before disappearing over a ridge with a distant, heavy crash.
Selia landed beside Lunaria, feeling lightheaded a bit from using so much mana.
"That—phew—should keep him out of our hair for a bit." She saw him flying tens of kilometers away.
"My HP is back to 80% after our hit and runs," Selia said after checking her status, "I can fight as vanguard now so you should focus on casting spells from a distance."
"We cannot treat this as a regular field boss, Lady Selia. I may be able to counter most of his spells due to his lack of PvP skills but if he decides to sacrifice a bit of casting speed for a powerful spell, I'm afraid this fight will become even more difficult."
"We can't play it safe, huh. Since we're fighting a magician, we should summon the Mother Virgin. With the maternity buff the Bloody Virgins give her, she should be able to tank a few high-tier spells for us."
"Understood." Lunaria quickly got to drawing the magic circle for the summon. A purple energy surrounded the circle then took the shape of a woman with dark grey hair wearing a white robe stained with blood. Immediately after being summoned, her HP rose by triple fold upon sensing the Bloody Virgins nearby.
--
Household Servant Maryanne (Level 80):
HP: 29,445->88,337
Maternity Buff: After dying during childbirth to a vampire spawn that was attracted to the blood from her C-section, Maryanne has a wish to become a mother once again. By summoning younger vampire spawn alongside her, her desire to protect them will cause her HP to multiply depending on the number of vampire spawn.
*This buff can't be applied if the vampire spawn is of a higher species.
--
"It's a pity we only prepared summons for physical defense and neglected to level her up. Since she can be our vanguard, what shall you do?"
"I need time to prepare my skills. I've avoided using them too much in fights as they have cooldowns but I have no choice but to use all of them now." She checked her gear to confirm it's still in good condition. The armor still hasn't fallen to below 10K durability yet.
"Is it truly necessary for us to fight a battle we cannot win by ourselves? Even if that person is a fake, he still has that man's player character."
"No, we're fighting until I can send an emergency summon request to that person. It's on a ridiculous cooldown right now so we have to hold on for six hours at least." there was frustration in her voice but she did not show it on her face, mainly to keep up Lunaria's morale.
You can only summon one companion with the "emergency summon request" every eight hours. This feature isn't meant to be a convenient tool, but something you carefully consider using on the best possible solution to save yourself.
Selia chose Lunaria first because she's the best magic caster out of all her NPCs. Vetis and Lilith can also use magic but they are mainly close-combatants.
"…Should we truly trouble your friend when they have other matters to attend to? Their tasks involve preventing Ragnarok, after all… so it is quite important. It is something you have not shown an interest in stopping, Lady Selia."
"I-It's not that I'm not interested! It's just that there's no rush!" flustered, she replied, "Besides, the Elf Goddess' incarnation will take her place and keep the World Tree alive a bit longer anyway so we will have another century to build up our nation."
The way she said it makes it sound like Selia doesn't care about what happens to the mortals. She definitely does since they are part of her goal. Her goal to make all races—including monsters—live in harmony, isn't just a temporary dream.
All of the NPCs that she had created or rule over are monsters—ranging from demons to ghosts and vampires.
She wants a nation to accept her lovely creations and children, even if the outside world doesn't agree with her ideology. That said, they need Arnold's help to make this dream come true since money doesn't just fall from the sky and they can't just attack other nations like the barbarians of the past.
If she truly didn't care for mortals, why would she want them to live in peace among each other?
The only way she knows of to prevent Ragnarok is the Divine Fertilizer in the Star Shop, which is too expensive for her right now. Unfortunately, she has no idea how to craft this legendary item and has no clue how she can earn currency. With no developers around, you can't just buy the points with real money or earn them through events or raids.
She's tried the latter option a lot.
There may be a way out there somewhere to obtain that item so she won't give up searching for it. But for now, she's worried about building up her own kingdom.
"Let's go, girls."
**
In a separate part of the forest, far away from all the commotion.
"Why are we going into the forest? Should we confront that third player directly?"
As they walked through the vegetation, keeping an eye out for any monsters, Luxine asked Grace. Anyone would be able to tell Grace is looking for something just by how fast she was walking.
"No, that would be stupid. We're looking for Grimoires."
"Why?"
"I suppose an ordinary player would not know this—if you create a spell using the spell editor that exceeds the limits of a player character, Unique class or not, it would be impossible to cast them. But there is a loophole that you can use." She looked back and explained, "Grimoires are more than just ancient spell books and can be used as stand-ins for other magicians. For example, they can handle the magic control of a powerful ritual. And with two grimoires, regardless of their spell book types, you can dual cast and absorb mana from the atmosphere."
Players used to complain about how broken these books are. They can allow magicians to continuously cast magic, while sucking the mana from the atmosphere. It can only be utilized fully in zones where mana is more abundant, meaning that they can be used to their fullest potential in dungeons or player bases during raids.
"They're that useful…?"
"Yes, we mainly left them in because they are rewards for clearing dungeons so their worth equals the effort players put in to get them. They can bridge the gap between an ordinary magician and dual caster classes. They can even help ordinary people like me cast magic without needing an Intelligent stat, and are a far better tool than magic sheets, without the added limitations." She grumbled, "Which is exactly why I've been hunting for them but haven't been successful so far."
If grimoires are the origin, magic sheets are the inspiration. If someone like a Magic Manipulator were to get one of these, they would become even more powerful than when using simple magic sheets.
"How do we find them?"
"I wouldn't say it will be easy because of how huge this forest is. We need someone who can sense the abundance of mana the grimoires gather around them." Grace glanced around as she replied.
This would be an opportunity to see if this person really has a magician subclass or is a magic swordsman.
The latter would be unable to sense mana since their expertise lies in attack spells and they wouldn't train anything else.
"Isn't it easier to use a fairy? There are lots of them flying around here so we can just follow them around."
"True…"
Fairies do like to gather around rich mana sources, which is why you would find most of them around the World Tree or dungeons.
It seems Grace can't learn more about her session buddy for now.
"I see one." Luxine surged forward, her heels slicing through the undergrowth as she leapt.
Her hand shot out and snatched a streak of golden light mid-flight—the small fairy struggling in her grip like a captured firefly.
"How do we use it?" she asked, holding the bright creature carefully between her fingers. The fairy's tiny wings beat in frantic, glittering blurs.
"A fairy's wings create a reaction when feeling mana so with her back facing away from you, turn around in a full circle and check which direction makes its light become brighter."
Luxine spun slowly, the fairy's gold glow waxing and waning like a lantern held against the wind. When she turned halfway, the light suddenly flared.
The two began to walk in that direction.
"Wouldn't there be multiple of these grimoires if they're being used to cover this whole forest with this spell?" Luxine asked a logical question.
"Yes, you are right. One grimoire wouldn't be enough. But there is a certain distance a grimoire must maintain within other grimoires to make sure the spell doesn't collapse completely. As such, the fairy should be able to pick up the rest if we find the first one."
"…Is this common knowledge or something only a dev would know?"
"Hahaha… I wonder."
After a few more minutes of walking, they spotted a dim purple glow nearby when the fairy's light became the most intense it's ever been.
--They found the first grimoire.
It was a simple book floating above a magic circle, exuding purple energy that seeped into the ground. Unlike the formation on the outer layers of the forest, the formations surrounding this grimoire pulsed with energy, making it hard to miss.
"How do we deactivate it?"
"There are glowing letters around the formation so I'll read them out loud."
The moment she did, the purple energy stopped flowing out of the book and a sound similar to a rope snapping resounded across the forest.
"You can read the runic language? Are you a Rune Master?" Luxine asked, slight surprise in her voice.
"Definitely not. My system is translating it for me. I read the translation but what comes out of my mouth is the runic language, that you just heard." that's the surface level understanding of runes, nowhere close to what a Rune Master is capable of.
"I would say it's similar to the language translation skill every player has so that they can travel across the realms without any language barriers for NPCs." Grace held out the grimoire to her session buddy, "Why don't you take the first one? We can't exactly sell these off since there's no telling what NPCs will do with them."
"…Are you certain?"
"Sure." Grace said with a smile.
It's better to seem willing to share with this person. The way Grace sees it, this relationship they're building can be very beneficial for both of them so long as there isn't any bad blood between the two. As it stands now, they're merely cooperating to take down a third potential player.
**
About seven hours later—
The two of them encountered many SS-class monsters along the way but even with 70% of Arnold's strength, Luxtivin was able to deal with all of them quite easily.
A faint rumbling spread throughout the forest then a dense blue light rose up to the sky when Grace collected the last grimoire. The final magic circle broke apart, spreading like a domino effect, which broke the teleportation bloc.
"We finally have the last one." Grace said and put the 5th grimoire in her bag. So far, they have gathered six, with the first one in Luxtivin's hands.
This will please his master greatly since he wants to nurture that Elora girl's class.
"The battle is still going on so it doesn't seem like the person noticed." She looked towards the mountain in the distance. There were three powerful signatures in that direction—even Luxtivin could tell.
"How about we watch the battle from afar—" Before she could finish what she wanted to say, a tall young man with dark blue hair appeared behind her and hit the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious.
"Sorry, Grace. That equipment belongs to me." He caught her before she fell down and slung her over his shoulder as if she were a bag of potatoes. Since Grace was wearing a skirt, her lady parts were shown to the world when a light breeze came by.
Luxtivin got on his knees almost immediately.
"Why are you in Lyra's homunculi's form?" Arnold looked at his sword in confusion.
"I could not think of any other human forms so I chose this one, Master."
"Well, it's just a disguise so I guess it doesn't matter." Arnold noticed that Grace's skirt blew over her butt so he quickly covered it up, "You can go back now. I'll handle the rest."
"You do not need my assistance?"
"My opponent is a magician so I don't need the best sword to deal with them. Besides, I brought a different sword for the fight." He unsheathed the sword. It wasn't anything fancy but it wasn't completely weak from a glance. He must've had some backups in his inventory.
Regardless, Luxtivin can now resume his journey to find his own "identity" until Arnold needs him again.
"I understand. Thank you, Master."
"You're very talkative for a sword. But I guess it's good that you aren't responding like a robot anymore."
He was about to leave but Luxtivin suddenly remembered something, "Grace wanted you to have this." He took out the grimoire.
"A grimoire? Well, well, I guess she wants to do her best to land in my good books." He took the book then stored it in his inventory, "This will be a good gift for Elora."
"Indeed."
"Anyway, I'll call you if I need you again so enjoy being a human for a bit longer." Without waiting for a response, he held tightly onto Grace and leapt, leaving a powerful gust of wind behind that toppled the trees over.
And so Luxtivin's journey continues…
◊◊
A part of the forest had been reduced to a wasteland.
Charred craters smoldered between uprooted trees, and the air shimmered from lingering heat.
Selia's armor was at half its durability now.
They've been fleeing the magician for a while to focus on recovering, instead of facing him head-on.
They had to pull their vampire tank back a few times so that she could heal herself.
Selia looked back to check its HP. It was snuggling up with the other Bloody Virgins, who were sucking on her nipples like newborn infants, while blood coiled around them.
"Our tank is only a third of the way from being fully healed. Do you think you can hold on a bit longer?" Selia asked Lunaria who was in a worse state than her.
Out of all the summons they have, the Mother Virgin has the highest magic defense. It's a very expensive NPC to create so Selia only lets her subordinates have one at all times while the rest are at the palace in case of emergencies.
"…I am not sure…." Lunaria said with a painful expression as she clutched her side, "…What is the point of holding on, Lady Selia? Should we not just abandon this dungeon?"
"This is our fortress, a first of many I am planning to build across the continent. If I do not save the hard work my NPCs have put in, what kind of guild master, am I? An incompetent one, unfit to lead. My goal is to carry on the legacy of my mentor through my actions, if nothing else."
Some might call her a flat person but that man is the whole reason she's here today, alive. If she was summoned into this world without all the knowledge he taught her, she would've died already. He also taught her to create NPCs to defend her base from offline raids, which is why she has so many NPCs now.
"The enemy is too strong for us alone. I say we comply with his demands for now—then have Lilith, Vetis and the rest plan a counterattack." Lunaria didn't stop with just that, "Or we can simply escape. He may have powerful magic on his side but the only thing giving us an advantage are our skills, strengthened through Lady Selia's extensive PvP training."
Selia knew it was possible for them to encounter players since it's naïve to think she and her "friend" are the only ones here. Because of this, she trained all her subordinates and maxed out all their skills. Even to this day, they still train on their days off from work.
Vetis is the exception since he's not an NPC created by her but rather someone who swore his loyalty to her.
Out of all her subordinates, only Lilith, Bardark, and a third subordinate, have level 30 skills. Selia is the only one with level 50 skills (the max skill level in the game).
The only issue is that her skills have long cooldowns. Some even several hours. But since they've been fighting for quite a while now, two of her level 35 skills are ready to be used.
"I will give you an opening so please focus on preparing yourself." Lunaria took out the pin in her hair, which transformed into a dagger. She also kicked off her heels for better mobility, and stretched on the spot, waiting for the masked man to return.
"—Urgh! Why are you bitches so hard to deal with!?"
The masked man reappeared in a different robe—this one embroidered in unstable runic lines that flickered like dying stars. Dozens of talismans, amulets, rings and chains clattered against each other as he moved, each one emitting its own clashing aura.
"You're just common class whores while I am a UNIQUE CLASS SORCERER!"
"He's not even worried about magical desynchronization," Lunaria muttered, aghast. "Those artifacts are not meant to function together."
"Truly an amateur," Selia mocked after drinking another potion. "He thinks stacking items makes him unstoppable. It only makes him a bigger idiot."
"Humph!"
He spat in frustration.
"The two of you are like flies—I keep trying to swat you, and you keep slipping away. So what if…" A manic laugh came out of him as he spread his arms wide. "…I use a flycatcher big enough to erase the entire continent?"
The ground trembled.
Hundreds of magic circles materialized above him, layering into a spiraling pillar that pierced the clouds. The lowest circles hovered only twenty meters up. The highest ones glowed faintly in the stratosphere.
"Seventeenth-Rank Magic – Shower of Meteors!"
The clouds burst open.
A burning mass—a meteor the size of the entire empire—ripped through the atmosphere, turning the sky orange. Its roar drowned out all other sound as the shockwaves reached the forest.
Selia's breath shook.
Lunaria's face turned pale.
Seventeenth-Rank Magic—the realm of Gods.
Lufulur is said to be a prime All-Father-level—mainly because of spells like these in his arsenal. But if this were ever used in official servers, he would've gotten a temporary ban.
Why? Well, because that spell is that powerful and can crash servers. Players like him were only allowed to have spells like that in case any of the legendary mythical monsters, like the Star Beast, were to invade a server.
"—Lunaria… are there any weaknesses in that spell that you can exploit like the rest…?"
"No…."
"…."
"…."
"Hahahahaha! Forget making you two my sex slaves, I'll just revive you without your souls and make you part of my slave harem! This great me possesses the power of Rebirth without the aid of Dark Magic—as such, I can revive you even if one piece remains of you—kahahahah! Die, you whores! You should've given up the first time!"
Lunaria lowered her head.
"…We cannot outrun something like that. Half of humanity will be wiped out if that drops on top of us."
Lunaria's voice was drowned out by the thunderous boom but her despair could still be felt.
"…Eh?"
In the fierce winds that swept against her cheek, Selia could spot a bright white light hovering in the sky.
Her eyes widened when she noticed what—no, who—that was.
His voice wasn't loud by any means but it drowned out the deafening roar of the meteors.
"—I can't have you killing everyone in this province just because of your hurt ego." He pulled out his sword, pointed it up at the sky, "It's a good thing I made it in time—[Storm of the Water Dragon]."
A titanic, translucent dragon of pure oceanic energy burst forth, its body made of surging tides and swirling storms. Blue scales glimmered like stars under water; its roar sounded like the crashing of a thousand tsunamis.
A blindly blue light covered the sky, like a second sun that turned night to day for a moment.
Only a second later did a loud shattering sound rumbling throughout the land, making even the villagers hundreds of kilometers away cover their ears.
A powerful shockwave knocked almost everything down, including trees and people from the same distance away.
When Selia opened her eyes, the meteors were no more. A blue energy shot the debris from the destroyed asteroids back into space.
Mothers pressed their children close, whispering prayers as thanks to the gods for saving them. Men stared wordlessly at the horizon where the phenomenon began.
It's hard to believe that a moment ago the sky was filled with burning moons that fell down from the heaven.
Some prostrated, their heads pressed firmly against the ground, believing they had just witnessed a god intervene.
And somewhere, far beyond their sight, their nameless savior—Arnold—remained suspended in the quiet sky, framed by the fading glow of his ultimate skill.