Ch 41: Shades
I left Raishin’s hut and headed home. I looked at my hands and realized I forgot my freshly caught pheasant. I decided to leave it as a gift at Raishin’s hut for helping me. I slipped the shades I encountered to the side of the road so I could walk in the street. Yet again the streets were empty, this time because of these shades. Normally I would practice shadow clones at the end of today but since I finished that I won't have anything to do for the rest of the day. Is it ok to just take a break while shades are walking around in the streets? I tried some stuff but the only thing I could do was slip them up. There must be something.
I looked into the sewers again. Whoa, it is swarmed by shades. Are they coming from the underground? I followed the sewer lines with my eyes. I followed the sewer lines that were the densest with shades and it led to, how surprising, the big pink broccoli At least the sewer leading up to it, I couldn't see inside the room. I wouldn't be surprised if the broccoli was churning out these shades. How annoying. I would blast the tree but I know that that won't do anything. At least we’ve found the cause. The question is: why? Why now? It started the last timeline, and now it makes more, does that mean the next timeline even Boshi town will be swarmed? They are relatively harmless though. They are slow and weak. Some civilians could easily fight them off it is just their numbers that are an issue. Just as I thought that walking while in thought always ends up bad for me, I see a group of people trying to fight some shades. This is quite close to my house, what are they doing here?
“Hey, you! Come help us!” It was Donkey and his gang. I sighed. Is there no way that I can evade them? The shades were in my way so I slipped the shades to one side and the group of bullies to the other side and walked through the middle. “Thanks! Hey, do you want to join my group?” I’m sorry I'm not religious.
“No, I mean our training group! I’m helping people to get as strong as me!” Donkey made a confident smile while pointing at himself with his thumb. I tried to come up with the politest decline I could think of, It should leave no room for doubt because I'm tired of seeing their faces. I’m sorry, I seem to be way younger than you guys I also think I will just drag you guys down; You guys don't need me but thank you for offering. I tried to walk past them. I think I handled that quite well. Someone grabbed my shoulder.
“Hey I don't think you know how this works but when Dunkey offers you a spot, you say yes, refusing is rude!” Oh, I’m talking to him? The Donkey Hurado? Oh no, he is too dazzling for me! There is no way I can join his group! I don't want to be a stain on his reputation!
“Hehe, I like you, don’t worry we will train you well, If you recognize my greatness then there is still hope for you!” How does a nine-tailed spirit fox get rid of these bullies, can't they just leave me alone? Is the world forcing me to interact with these idiots every timeline? I'm suddenly realizing that maybe those bosses and shades aren’t so scary after all, this is way scarier. I’m sorry! I realized I’m over my curfew cya!
“But it's only 5 pm…” I rushed home and closed the door. Holy shit that was annoying.
“What is wrong Agnis? Did you have a run-in with those shades?” Hera said while coming out of the living room. Worse than that.
“Charlize?” Uhh yeah, that too.
“I think you should take it easy, you’re always busy and stuff, we were really worried you know?” Yeah, I’m sorry, I think I’m going to rest a bit.
“I just started making dinner, I will call you when it is done.” I headed to my room and closed the door. I let myself fall on my bed. This timeline just started and I already have a headache. I went through the stuff I needed to do tomorrow. I would have another run-in with Donkey tomorrow, I have to make sure I go and meet Terry to sell my rubies and what else? The apology for them chasing us? Ugh, I wonder how that is going to turn out. As I was thinking of all the things, we needed to worry about I fell asleep.
“Agnis, wake up dinner is ready.” Hera woke me up and still groggy I went downstairs. Dinner today seemed to be risotto. I absent-mindedly ate my dinner. Hera was talking about the new drapes she made and Philip was talking about thinking about starting to restart blacksmithing after his long break. I looked outside and the shade population grew again. Are we supposed to keep those numbers down every day? There was a stupid amount of them now it will only get worse. I sent a Teleroad message to Gregory to go cull the numbers a bit. We decided to do that when it was really dark outside. I would have to kill some time in the meantime.
I decided to make some small spaces in my room. I would try to imitate the space that I got trapped in twice and try to break it without causing the whole space to collapse on itself or throw whatever I placed in that space into the void. I seemed to succeed 4 out of 5 times. Seems I got lucky that I didn't mess up the last time. I wouldn't say it was easy to do what I attempted; I do admit it was way harder to do in the bigger spaces. I might have a bigger fail rate if I do it for real. I need a backup plan for when I inevitably fail. What could I do? I'm just a noob in this kind of magic. No library in this town could help, I already looked through all the books in Gregory’s house. Let’s think if something wants to forcefully move me to another space or manages to what would I need to counteract that? Hmm, a spatial landmark? Is that even going to work? That would require me to know how to navigate between spaces and I have no clue. I need something to anchor me and if I get moved have like a line or something to pull me back.
Hmm, what about a dimensional anchor. That sounds like a good idea. So how do I make one? I have no clue but it is something I need. I put it into my archive to remember that if we get out of Boshi town I need to find someone proficient in spatiotemporal magic to teach me. Hmm, what does an anchor do? It locks on and grabs onto something making sure a ship doesn't drift away. So, I need something to lock on and grab this space or dimension and make sure I don't drift off to another space. So, locking on to space is easy for me but how do I grab it? I coated my hand with spatiotemporal magic and tried to grab the space.
Nothing happened. I guess it won't be that easy. Besides it being able to grab I need to make sure it tethers me so if I get moved, I can get back easily even if I somehow end up in a void. I tried multiple things. Locking on was the easy part, I managed to make a tether but the most important part of grabbing onto space was unsuccessful. I started to get frustrated. There are so many things that I manage to figure out quite fast or easily. And even though they are cool or strong they aren't as vital for survival as this. Maybe this isn't a magic control issue or maybe my magic control isn't good enough? I am missing something but I don't know what. I kept trying and trying and failing. At a point, I started to become nauseous and started to circulate nature magic. Maybe nature magic is the key? It does help me control my fire magic. But before I got the chance to try it, I got a Teleroad message from Gregory.
Time to wipe out some shades! I sneaked out of the house to avoid worrying Hera and Philip and I met up with Gregory outside Boshi town. Normally we would meet up at Raishin’s hut but what we are going to do has a high chance of waking him up so we chose a different spot more northeast.
So, what is your plan? I am going to slip all the shades in Boshi town here and you [Shadow meld] them and I will light a [Flashbang] to eliminate the darkness for a bit. Can you make a ring of fire that doesn't light up the inside of the ring so I know in what area I have to [Shadow meld] them?
Sure. I made a huge ring of some weak white-yellow flames. The inside of the circle was now a huge circular shadow
Hmm, now it looks like we are holding some shady ritual. Well, that is correct technically, we are going to banish some pink shades into the shadows if that doesn't sound like some shady ritual, I don't know what does. It was really hard getting here while making sure I didn't get surrounded by the shades.
Yeah, they need to go. I used my eyes to make sure nobody was on the streets.
Nobody outside, Perfect! I decided to stop cutting corners. I got 2 tails out and started to use [Frozen Ground] on the whole town and raising the floor at the furthest edges of the town, creating an enormous ramp to make them all slide toward us.
Wow, you are getting serious, I guess I'll have to get serious too. I don't want to pat myself on the back but it seemed quite spectacular. In front of me was Boshi town and slowly but surely an ice ramp raised with a lot of pink dots on it sliding down. These dots were contrasted by the light blue ice that seemed to glow a bit in the dark. It kept rising and rising as the pink dots slid down. At this point, I was covering a lot of houses but I was using frost magic so nothing should happen to them. I started to vent magic and use the incoming energy to run simulations on how to make that stupid dimensional anchor. The shades should slide toward us by now but nothing happened.
Great did they go invisible again? You are so stupid sometimes, I guess I wasn't needed for this.
Hmm? What are these shades made of?
Some pink broccoli energy And what does your frost magic specialize in doing?
Absorb energy... Oh. Well, I guess you can't use this during the day to clear them up so this idea is still good but if nobody is here to see it then just your frost magic is enough.
Hehe, I completely forgot about that. I hope you wouldn't forget important things like that… Oh, look some shades made it here! You still get to do something! I slipped them into the circle and Gregory banished them. I used [Flash bomb] it was just an amped-up yellow-white flame spark.
Let’s see if I can find where they are crawling out of the sewers if I can seal that off, we should have a shade-free day tomorrow. They are coming out of the sewers?
Yeah, besides the corrupted mana flow, that place is crawling with shades, it seems the broccoli tree is making them. I slipped some more straggling shades into the circle for Gregory to banish.
Ugh, why does nothing in this place make sense? I can't find where they are crawling out of the sewers. The town is shade free though. Hmm, well at least we did what we could let's go to bed, you probably don't notice it but it's quite cold.
Oh sorry, let's go. I held up a flame to warm Gregory up until we reached the point where we had to split up. For once your flames warm us up in a useful way, make sure you get some good sleep in! I nodded and walked home. The streets are empty again. No people and no shades. That reminded me of something and I teleported into my room. I got a fear of walking alone in the streets now, every time I do that something weird happens.
Day 2: I woke up early. Some asshole is creating energy waves that travel through the whole town. I swear if it's Raishin imma kick his ass. I open the door and instantly close it. What! What is going on!? The reason I instantly closed the door is that the streets are full of shades again and there are way more than yesterday. I eliminated the shades that fell into the door with frost magic. It was for a short time but 4 fell in when I did. It is impossible to go out the door because you will let these things in. They didn't interact with physical objects but walls stopped them.
How does this even work? Anyways I'm glad that the walls work. They don't sink into the ground so maybe that's how it works? Now at least I won't kick Raishin’s ass because if he's the one causing this then he has a good reason. But is magic working now? I cast and dropped an ice spike on a random shade but it didn't seem to do anything. Right, so only my frost magic and Gregory’s banishing technique work and I can't use my frost magic when everyone is watching also, I think with this many shades my frost magic will cause me to freeze myself. I’m sure Gregory would veto me using frost magic on them now. We need more solutions not less! I started to get annoyed with these shades. I went upstairs and climbed out of my window. I went to the roof and traveled by the rooftop. I feel like a ninja now. My enjoyment didn't last long because out of nowhere a wild Charlize appeared. Wild Charlize used [Wind slash]. Wild Charlize missed.
“You owe my daughter a date!” I don't owe anything! And didn't she have a date with me yesterday?
“We both know that that wasn't you!” Is that so? I dodged another capture magic. I don't know if it was because we kept repeating timelines but everything seemed to tire me quite fast mentally. I closed in and used the technique I used on Monkey the last timeline. I touched and disrupted any magic circle she made while staying in striking range.
“What? What is going on? Why doesn't my magic work?” Alright, I think it is time you cool off. I made her slip and froze her pants to the floor and formed an ice cage around her.
“Ugh, one day I will catch you or Kanna will seduce you!” No amount of seducing will make me like you or Kanna if you keep this up! Well, I guess I can cross off the apology. I looked over the town from the rooftops. The streets were dyed pink from all the shades. I saw some people who had the same idea as me and climbed on their roofs. I started to become concerned about Paul, Paula, and Uraya who might have trouble getting on their roofs. Wait, Paul is agile as fuck and Paula isn't a pushover either, I guess it's the same for Uraya but I'm not sure about her. I decided to check on Uraya. I hopped from rooftop to rooftop and I slipped and fell. I almost fell into the sea of shades but someone grabbed me.
It is unlike you to be so careless. Sorry, I was a bit lost in thought. Gregory and I cleared out all the shades in town at midnight but now there are way more.
I guessed as much; my whole house froze but it wasn't cold and there is only one who I know that can do that. But filling the whole town in just 7 hours, eh? I wonder what will happen if this goes on. I don't know but I can't absorb this many with frost magic unless I want to turn into a popsicle.
Yeah, let's not do that, I guess this is also a bit too much for Gregory to fix. We would have to wait till it gets dark to clear them out. That is the thing we don't know what will happen if we let these things here the whole day.
Hmm, maybe we should consult Paul and Paula and ask if it is wise to move up the schedule for destroying the root. Hmm, that seems like a good idea. Hey, can you check up on them and ask? I'm going to check on granny Uraya. I made sure to pay attention this time and arrived at the roof of Uraya’s shop. Now here is the problem. How do I get in without intruding? Houses aren't exactly made to enter from the roof. Oh, there was a balcony. I jumped on the balcony and knocked.
Granny Uraya, It is me Agnis! Are you ok? No answer. Do I wait longer? Do I break in to check? Do I look inside with my eyes? I only made it a habit to look inside the houses of my buddies and not of other people. Not because my eyes are overpowered means I should intrude on others' privacy. Not that I care much about that but I know there are a lot of things I'm sure I don't want to see. Maybe Granny Uraya is taking a shower or taking a dump. I don't need to see that. But I'm also worried a bit. I waited 2 minutes and knocked again. I heard some noise and Granny opened the balcony door.
“Oh, how nice of you to stop by, come on in” Oh I do not want to intrude I just wanted to check on you, did I wake you up?
“I just woke up yes.” Oh sorry, I forgot for a moment there how early it is. Anyways I would advise you to not go outside today or at least look outside before you do.
“Oh, are those shades back?” Back?
“I saw something moving them out of town yesterday, did you have anything to do with that?” Me? I’m just a blacksmith boy, what could I do against these shades? Granny Uraya gave me a weird look. Can I ask you some questions?
“You can always ask me anything Agnis.” How well do you know Paul and Paula?
“We both have lived here for a long time, I used to spend a lot of time with them in the past but that has gradually stopped, I don't have many interactions with them now.” Hmm, I see. I have another question do you have the feeling that you repeated the last couple of days multiple times? Uraya looked at me but she didn't seem to be surprised that I asked this question and smiled.
“I can only assume that you ask this question because you must have gone through something similar, I suppose. Yes, it seems that lately, I’ve had the same days repeat.” I knew it! So, you also got hit in the crossfire like Paul and Paula!
“You could say that yes” Uraya seemed a bit downcast. Oh sorry, this must be a difficult topic. I’m sure it must have been hard to have us continue to visit you and pretend that was the first time.
“Oh, not at all, I had my suspicions but if you guys are also repeating the same days you are really bad at hiding it.” Oh, ehh is that so? I thought we did a decent job.
“Maybe to regular people but whenever you youngsters visit you never ask or do anything normal, it makes me worry quite a bit. I do wonder how you boys remember while everyone else doesn’t” Ehh, we got lucky? It seems that Granny Uraya doesn't buy it. If she knows as much as Paul or Paula, she probably already has a slight idea of what is going on. Oh, by the way do you know a young woman with blue hair who has an ehhm interesting personality and smells like mist flowers? Uraya reacted strongly to that description but it seemed like she was struggling to find the correct words to form an answer.
It is ok I'm aware you guys can't talk about anything because of some stupid prison restrictions, your reaction alone is enough.
“So, you are already aware that this is a prison…” When Uraya opened the door, she seemed quite happy but over the course of this conversation, she started to become more somber.
Uhm, yeah sorry, my buddies and I are trying to escape and, in the process, we have to lift this prison, I’m sorry but please wait a bit longer. I headed toward the balcony. I'm sorry for waking you up and making you depressed, if you need more stuff for your potions just tell me! I will hop by soon! I hope! Cya granny Uraya!
“Thank you for visiting” I don't know if she was acting but she seemed a bit cheery when she said that. It looked convincing but I could feel that she was still feeling down from the memories I must have brought up. I should try to not be so tactless next time. I was supposed to do something but I forgot. Good thing my tails are holding an archive for stuff I'm prone to forgetting. Let's see, the apology is crossed off. Oh no I have a run-in with Donkey and friends today. Ugh, should I just get this over with? Oh, we should also find out the situation of the next root and after that, I got to sell my rubies. Selling my rubies is the part I look forward the most to. The rest is bound to have a tedious series of events attached. It was still early. The shades are still doing shade things and filling up every street. I chose a random rooftop to rest a bit. I checked the status of the dimensional anchor simulation. Nothing yet. I took the tail out of who was responsible.
Are you taking this seriously? I said as I grabbed my tail and scolded it. I looked around. Phew nobody saw that. I hid my tail again and started to slack off. After an hour of slacking, I saw a group of people approaching over the rooftops. Oh, please let it not be them. Some chunky guy almost slipped off a roof and it made me chuckle. That was funny but that also means they are who I think it is.
“Hey, it’s you! Did you decide to join us yet?” Oh hey, I’m sorry I get anxious in big groups. I can’t join you guys.
“Oh, that is no problem! Because I’m the mighty Dunkey Hurado I’m also able to do private tutoring!” I’m sorry I'm not into guys…
“No! Not that kind of tutoring!”
“Haha, Dunkey this guy is funny we need to recruit him!” Uhm, I got a confession to make, I deceived you that was not my joke I'm not funny.
“You surely are an interesting kid.” Please, anyone, tell me how to get rid of these idiots! Oh, I got an idea. I got up and pretended to slip and fall into the mass of shades. Aaagh! Remember meeeee! I saw how my illusion fell dramatically into the sea of shades from stealth.
“Wha! What! What do we do Dunkey?”
“I... I don't know!”
“You can save him, right? You’re the mighty Dunkey!”
“I... I... don't know! I can try!” He started charging his long-ass lightning spell. I hate to break it to you Donkey but that isn't going to save anyone. Now that that happened and I escape it is just finding this new root that is left. I don't know what is worse, that group trying to bully me or trying to recruit me. I met up with Ted 30 minutes later.
Yoo Agnis. Sup! What did Paul and Paula say?
They advised against destroying 2 roots simultaneously especially now since there are shades everywhere, who knows what other unexpected obstacles the pink broccoli made for us? That is fair, did they have any idea what these things are?
Paul hypothesized that these things were made by the tree to defeat the problematic elements, in which we were the problematic element. Although something seems to be interfering with its ability to do so. so that is why these shades are relatively useless in driving us out or defeating us. Hmm, maybe that is a good thing, I can't shake the feeling that next timeline they might actually be able to fulfill their purpose.
Hmm, Paula said something similar. We had some appear last timeline but besides your adventure, there were only 2 who were invisible. Now they are visible and in huge numbers but still useless, it isn't illogical to think that the next step is that they will be able to track us down and swarm us. I was thinking a bit about it and I think we should just go all out next timeline. It is starting to become hard to hide who we are right now. We might not be able to clear out all the shades but if Gregory and I get serious we might be able to clear out a lot of these shades. They are quite harmless now so I think we can get away with not doing anything about them for now… but if they become aggressive next timeline, we have no choice but to fight back. I overheard you and I agree. Gregory and Raishin arrived. Ted and I were talking on a rooftop which could be considered relatively in the middle of where Raishin, Gregory, and I live so it wasn't surprising that they found us. Ted lives too far down south to take his house into account.
So that means we can blast them next timeline? That is not what Agnis said at all… I wonder how the townspeople will react. Hmm, I wonder too, there are only humans and 1 troll living in this town. Hmm, maybe that isn't completely correct. I’m sure Azu isn't a human.
Hey I’m curious about that Azu why don't we visit her? You’re only interested because Agnis said that she’s hot.
Ugh. I don't think we can find her easily; I never was able to spot her until she appeared. It is as if she is a ghost but I know that she isn't a ghost. Sadly, we just have to wait till she comes to us. Hmm, you guys might not know this but it seems that in general humans have a bit of prejudice against beast kin, which is how they are going to see us.
don't care, they can choose between accepting us or getting mauled by shades. Wait! is this going to ruin my chances with the chicks?
You can't get worse than a 0% chance. Oof that’s savage. As a fire user, it is only normal that Agnis is skilled at handing out burns and roasting people.
Oh, about that I witnessed Agnis using fire yesterday, there were none of the usual issues. I didn't sit still during that training period! That is good news! So now we don't get hit in his crossfire! Hey, I wanted to make that pun!
You both are idiots, let's go check that root out. We jumped from rooftop to rooftop to leave Boshi town.
Any of you have suggestions on how to get rid of these shades? No, I think we have to wipe them out again in the night, judging by the sheer number of shades present I will get something to do this time.
Well, I don't have many choices if I use normal ice, I will turn Boshi town into the biggest popsicle on the planet. Hmm, this might get tricky then I will have to siphon energy out of you while [Shadowmelding] the shades.
Let’s see how it goes then I have found quite some effective ways to waste mana. We arrived at Raishin’s hut.
Shall we go for a teleport by the way? It is quite far. As long as you don't drag us around at super speed, I’m up for whatever teleport method. If you would be so kind Raishin. Where are we going again?
Over there! Gregory pointed at the Umbra mountain range. The mountain range looked normal from here but there was a mountain missing that you couldn't see from here even if it was still standing.
A teleport is incoming! Make sure you don't drop us in the hole or the lava. The teleport went off and we were where the mountain was supposed to be.
Ugh, this is on me I should have teleported us here. Despite my warning, we were falling into the hole I burned into this mountain several days ago. Really Raishin? I point at a whole mountain range and you manage to teleport us to the one spot that is not safe to teleport to? Hey, you were very vague! I did my best! Hey instead of arguing could we do something to make sure we don't turn into ingredients of that magma soup down there?
The joke’s on you that just feels like a lukewarm bath to me. Yeah, I remember I fished him out of the lava. Wow, you can chill in lava? That is so cool! Ugh, guess I have to do it myself! Ted got out his bear avatar and made its claws dig into the wall. After decreasing its speed, a lot, it caught us with its left paw.
Good job Ted! Raishin patted Ted’s back. You need some discipline! Raishin and Ted started to fight. Hmm, we need to go a bit deeper, you see that opening there where the lava is coming out from? There should be a cave structure leading up a bit. We are below the root altitude wise but we have no way to get there unless we take that path. Raishin and Ted stop fighting!
Ahem, sorry what? We need to go there! I pointed at our destination.
We will turn into ash before we get there. Right, let me improvise a bit. I tried to copy Gregory’s shadow cloak but I used frost so that would make this a [Frost cloak] I had never made this before so I had to be creative with my frost wall skill and form it into a [Frost cloak] but I got met with some difficulties.
Hey Greg, if you would have to use magic to make your [Shadowcloak] would it use the same magic circle as [Shadow wall]? Hmm, I think using the magic circle for the [water ball] that you modified to make into those water and ice/frost barriers would work better.
Hmm, that makes sense. I used the magic circle for water ball to make a [Frost cloak]
Oh using this one makes it way easier. Right, this should protect your squishes from the heat. You are enjoying this, aren’t you? Very much so. We climbed on the bear avatar's head so that it could use both its paws to climb down. It climbed into the cavern with the lava river.
Oh, I see the path we need to take. There were some rocks we could jump on to take a cave that led upward and northwest. We hopped off the bear avatar and I grabbed Raishin with one of my tails because he lost balance and almost fell into the lava. Be careful. We walked the path for about an hour when we got into an open space. There were luminescent crystals on the ceiling of the cavern. Well, I thought I’d seen it all but I didn't expect to find a village underground. As Gregory said, what we found was a village. It is hard to describe how spacious this place is. If there wasn't a ceiling filled with crystals giving off some light blue light it would be hard to believe we were underground. The space was about as big as Boshi town. The village was quite small and it would take some walking to get there but still.
How do they even get water or supplies here? I think the more important question is. Who lives here? Look it's the root! It was hard to see but some pink could be seen at the far end of the village.
A village built around the root? I’m getting a bad feeling about this. Don’t tell me we have to fight the whole village to defeat the root… Hmm, I'm feeling unique and weird energy here.
Yup, I’m seeing some weird energy in that village, this can't be anything good. Can these guys just stick to just magic and simple stuff? First, it was some guardians only Agnis can hit, then it was some dumb puzzle! Then we had a training arc what now?! Do we have to do stupid quests like; find my kitten and gather 10 flowers for these village people to satisfy them and gain access to the root?
Please no! Not the fetch quests! What are you guys talking about? Trust me, you don't want to know!
Right, let's see what is going on in this village. I put my eyes to work and looked at what was going on in this village.
Hmm, this is problematic. I see about 200 people in this village, they seem to be worshipping 2 stone tablets. Somewhere else they are holding some cultist ritual. Hmm over here! Some villagers are acting weird, wait is that mana corruption? Well, if they are camping this close to the root all the time that is to be expected. I looked to the far side of the village.
It seems there is a group of 20 villagers fighting some corrupted bats mixed with some corrupted humans. Hmm, these corrupted humans have a similar style of clothing as the other villagers. What is going on? Great a cultist village exactly what we needed.
The two tablets that they are worshipping are giving off that weird energy, permeating throughout the whole cave. I've also spotted some exits of this cave where that energy is also coming from but it is weak. We sat down. You know suddenly I don't feel like doing this anymore, is there a skip button somewhere?
Real life doesn't have a skip button. Can’t you use your time magic to skip through stuff?
Not like how a skip button works, the best I can do is put us in a space where time flows slower but nothing will happen if we don't do something. Normally I wouldn't suggest this but how about we just nuke the root village and all?
Ooh, I like that idea. Hey, Gregory aren't you supposed to be our voice of reason? I don't think it is reasonable to deal with a group of cultists that have their village seeped in funky magic, I’d say nuke the place. I like to nuke stuff but is that really the best idea?
Hmm, even though I like that idea Raishin might be right. From what I could see the tablet has some ancient writing on it. It looks similar to one of the languages that dragon put in my head, with some time I might be able to decipher them. Ooh, any chance they have historical value or important information?
There is a possibility. There are so many things off about this place I would hit myself over the head if we nuked a place with perhaps useful information and got blasted because we got impatient. Somehow you guys always find the wrong reasons to do something good and decent. Hmm did you guys feel that? Feel what?
Hmm, not sure it's as if something is calling me. Seems Raishin’s intuition says that there might be something interesting here.
Uhh, guys? I think the villagers noticed us. A group of 10 villagers approached us. They seemed to be on alert and seemed to be able to jump into battle at any moment.
“Who are you?” Ooh, they talk Hourai! It’s not Hourai it's old Kaledonian. Uhh, we got lost but we’re in awe of this place is there any chance you guys can give us a tour?
Hey, what the fuck Agnis that is never going to work! Said Ted in modern Kaledonian.
“Oh sure, you want to join our religion? We can show you around.” I leaned over to Ted and whispered: See? Easy! Ugh, why do I feel we’re going to regret this? Probably because we will. We followed the cultists. They seemed to be wearing some relatively primitive clothing and on closer inspection, they were wearing spears and physical weapons.
Hey, where did Raishin go? It seems he went off, probably to check out what was calling him. Is it fine to leave him alone? Unless it's a guardian or a beautiful woman I don't think anything can do something meaningful to him, he will be fine.