Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit

"Why'd we have to come all the way up here? The air is so thin, it's hard to breathe, plus it's really cold," Grumbled Tacitus, shivering as a stiff breeze blew across, goosebumps appearing across his arms.

"That's exactly the point, the thin air and high altitude will wear us out and make us tire faster, which by extension, will help us improve faster. Furthermore, this is an isolated area, so we can feel free to go all out and spar against each other without needing to worry about collateral damage or attracting attention," Pointed out Aster objectively.

"What are you talking about? There are a lot of dangerous Monsters up here...most of them are primarily active at night, but if we make enough of a racket, we'll attract their attention even during the day."

"Well, I was talking about attention from people, but that's a good point...that said, the two of us are pretty tough, we can handle any Monster attacks that come our way. And if not, we've got a Teleport Spell to fall back on," Replied Aster with a grin.

"You're exhausting..."

The two of them had traveled to the Pearl Mountains, a cluster of large mountains looming over the northeast end of Pearl Forest, and they were on the peak of the tallest of the mountains, at Aster's suggestion.

Despite Tacitus's inherently slothful and lazy attitude, if he was presented with a logical, sound argument, he'd relent and accept it, however grudgingly.

Of course, that wouldn't stop him from complaining the whole time, but so long as the decision was properly justified, he wouldn't object to it, if nothing else.

"Let's loosen up and get started, shall we?" Suggested Aster, pushing his hair back with a headband as it fluttered in the wind.

"So, what then, are we just going to spar up here or something?" Inquired Tacitus, as he reluctantly began warming up.

"Mhm, that's right. We'll fight using our Relic Armaments, we should take this opportunity to get used to them," Replied Aster, stretching his arms out with his fingers laced, cracking them.

"Easy for you to say, your Relic Armaments are similar to the weapons you were already accustomed to using, but I've never used a weapon this heavy before, plus this is the first time I'm wielding a sword, I've only used weapons like axes, hammers and clubs before," Sighed Tacitus, as he brought the large sword out of his Storage Ring and raised it, his arms shaking slightly as he struggled to hold up the weight.

"Yeah, you've definitely got more of an uphill task at mastering your Relic Armament, but I've got a lot of work to do with mine, too...the balance and weight dispersion of these blades are different to my old pair, plus these ones have more of a curve," Responded Aster, swinging his blades across.

"Let's just get to it...so, how are we doing this? Any restrictions or handicaps?"

"Well, I'm not planning on using Magic since I want to focus on getting used to these blades...and if I'm not using Magic, there's no point in you using yours, since there'll be nothing to nullify," Replied Aster, as he finished warming up.

"Fine by me...you do realize that I had a massive advantage if we're only using physical attacks, right?" Pointed out Tacitus.

"I know...but sparring against you removes Magic off the table anyway, since you can nullify any and all Spells," Countered Aster with a wry smile.

"Fair enough."

"Let's keep switching up the handicaps every so often, the current restrictions make this more effective training for me than you...so once we've sparred sufficiently under these restrictions, let's switch it up, like I use Magic but you don't nullify it, something like that. Now, then, that's enough talking...ready or not, here I come!" Exclaimed Aster, as he swiftly shot forward.

He leapt forward as he closed in and swung his white blade across, a loud clang echoing out as Tacitus just barely managed to raise his large sword in front of himself, blocking Aster's slash before swinging the sword horizontally across.

But the swing was too slow, Aster able to easily respond and spring back before the blade could reach him.

Tacitus then raised the sword and swung it down at the ground, a deafening crash ringing out as deep cracks spread out from the point of impact, an intense shockwave shooting towards Aster, who swiftly shot back to avoid it, his legs wobbling slightly but he managed to maintain his balance.

He then glanced ahead as Tacitus came charging in towards him, leaping forward as he closed in and swinging his sword across at Aster's chest.

Aster swiftly ducked under the swing, before whipping the back of his white blade at Tacitus's side, who grimaced in pain as it thudded against him and sapped some of his stamina, transferring the energy to Aster.

"Ow...come on, don't take my stamina, I'm already out of breath," He groaned, before he shot forward and unleashed a powerful thrust of his sword straight towards Aster, who quickly raised his black blade up, deflecting the thrust with a stifled hiss of pain as the force jarred his arms.

"Damn, that hurt...you seem to be getting used to the weight of that thing already," Remarked Aster with a slight grimace, his arms trembling.

"Not really, I'm really straining to swing it around, my arms are aching like crazy...can we take a break?" He sighed in response.

"We only just got started, man, it hasn't even been a full minute yet..."

Meanwhile, in Malachite Town...

"I see...so these Irregulars survived a battle against the Commander Squad's strongest, including the Commander herself?" Remarked Bishop Morn Malachite with a gleam in his eyes as the gears in his head began turning.

"Yes, Father Malachite. I believe the Knights intended to cover up the incident, but the rumors are spreading faster than they can deal with," Responded an Inquisitor.

"Furthermore, the bounties on The Irregulars' wanted posters have increased astronomically, that all but confirms that the rumors are true."

"Also, the Homunculus is now on the wanted posters as well."

"Excellent, what a fortunate turn of events this is...with The Irregulars having stirred up so much trouble in such a short time, if I manage to capture them and hand them off to the Knights, that would surely improve my standing significantly. Yes, this is an opportunity I must grab with both hands," The Bishop thought to himself with a slight smirk, before addressing the Inquisitors, "I would like the lot of you to hunt them down, we cannot let these vermin terrorize our nation and people any further."

"Yes, but...where would we even begin to look for them?"

"From what we can tell, the Knights aren't searching for them, it's more like they're just preparing to be ready to respond if and when The Irregulars make a move."

"Yeah, they've opting for a reactive approach instead of a proactive one, but with no indication as to where they may be hiding, searching for them blindly feels like it would be a pointless endeavor."

"For all we know, they could be hiding inside a hidden cave or something, it just isn't feasible to search through the entire nation."

"It's a good thing this Charm Ring doesn't turn them into completely mindless puppets, they'd be far less useful if that were the case. What an incredible Magic Item this is, even though they've been brainwashed to be unconditionally loyal to me, they can still think properly and make logical conclusions," Thought Bishop Malachite, before speaking, "I've given it a lot of thought...and I may have an idea of where they could be hiding. Ever since they first appeared, they've made moves in the following places; Amethyst City, Opal Town, Amber Village and this place, Malachite Town...all of those attacks were relatively small-scale, so they were regarded as a petty group of thugs. But their most recent moves changed that perception, namely the attacks on Ruby Village and Garnet City. In both cases, they failed to accomplish what they set out to do, but they acted much more boldly than they did during their previous attacks and made a strong impression, particularly one of their members very nearly killing Captain Zilk Plore."

"I don't understand, Father, how does that indicate where they're hiding?"

"There's also this last incident, their trespass into the Quartz Ruins. Is there a reason you didn't mention that one?"

"Indeed, I believe that was an outlier. Those who know about the Quartz Ruins are very secretive about the place, very few people in the church besides the Pope himself have any knowledge about it, and of course, the Royal family knows about it too, and likely a select few Knights and high ranked Nobles...I've thought about it for a long time, and based on circumstantial evidence and a process of elimination, I came to the conclusion that the legendary weapons of the Age of Ancient Magic, the Relic Armaments, are located in those ruins. That's likely what The Irregulars were after, and hence why I determined that incident to be an outlier.

Getting back to the point and how I was able to determine where they may be hiding based on the places they've attacked...all the places I mentioned are located in the southwest half of the Kingdom, they haven't attacked any of the locations set in the northeast half. That likely means that their hideout is somewhere in the southwest half of the nation...it's highly unlikely that they're hiding out in any of the villages, towns or cities, we've seen no indication of that.

Which means, they're likely hiding in one of the forests or mountains outside of those places. The possible locations are Howlite Forest, the Petalite Woods, the Kyanite Grove...or either the Pearl Mountains or Pearl Forest. And I believe that the most likely of those locations is Pearl Forest...after the Homunculus destroyed the Ruby Village Church, he flew away in the direction of Pearl Forest. It's not exactly concrete evidence, but I've got a strong hunch about this.

Pearl Forest is quite large, it won't be easy to search...and there's every possibility that I'm wrong and they're hiding somewhere else. But somehow, I feel confident that I've reached the right conclusion...I know it's a lot to ask, but I would like all of you to head there and look for them," Stated the Bishop, putting on a righteous, noble expression.

"Your reasoning is quite convincing, Father...but should we not inform the Knights of this, as well? Not to mention the other Inquisitors."

"Yes, the more of us there are, the higher the chances we have of locating them."

"Shit, that's the last thing I want!" Bishop Malachite thought to himself in alarm, wracking his brain for a convincing reason, before calming down and responding as something came to mind, "Of course, I did consider that...but the problem is, if too many people move out against them, there's a higher chance that those accursed Irregulars will catch on before we can find them. I have faith in all of your abilities, you've always carried out your tasks effectively, so I know I can trust you to handle this. But I can't say the same of the Knights, nor of any Inquisitors I haven't met...this matter is of utmost importance and could impact the Kingdom drastically. That is exactly why I can only entrust such a crucial undertaking to you...there's no only else I can trust to carry it out."

"We...we won't let you down, Father!"

"Yes, you can count on us!"

"We'll repay the faith you've shown in us, we will not fail, even at the cost of our lives!"

"Okay, good, that worked. Hm...maybe I should send her too, it could be just the kind of psychological surprise attack on The Irregulars, and the Homunculus in particular, that could give us a critical advantage," He mused cunningly, before glancing at one of the Inquisitors and speaking, "Tell me, how's the girl's training progressing? Is she ready?"

"Yes, Father...she is progressing at an unnaturally fast rate, I've never seen anything like it. I'd say she's already at least at the level of a First-Class Knight, she has mastered multiple Level 2 Spells and is on the verge of mastering a Level 3 Spell."

"What? She's made that much progress in such a short time? Is it the Royal blood coursing through her veins? No, I doubt that's it, even the Royals themselves have to train hard in order to realize their potential. Which means, the most likely explanation is the Devotion Collar I placed around her neck. Ancient Magic truly is amazing, almost terrifyingly so...no wonder it was declared to be Forbidden Magic all those centuries ago," Thought Bishop Malachite in bemusement, before responding, "Very well, then, I think it's time for her first assignment. Take her with you to Pearl Forest, this will be a good opportunity to assess the results of her training."

"Understood, Father Malachite."

"Ravella Kyzer, potentially one of my most valuable pawns...let's see what you're capable of and just how useful you could be to my plans..."