LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 31 – The First Quest
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed before I started to understand and think about myself again. I didn’t clearly remember what happened, but my thoughts kept circling back to three questions: Where am I? Why can’t I hear anything? And am I.... Still alive??? My body felt weightless, as if I was floating through space. Then, I heard my internal assistant’s voice, jolting my senses.
[Notice! – Harmful Debuff – Mind Seal – Is No Longer Detected On The Individual Named Kotato – Ailment Has Been Successfully Removed – Proper Mental State And Speech Functionalities Have Been Restored]
Thankfully, it appeared Inari was successful in removing the Mind Seal spell, based on my monotone assistant’s notification. However, there was still the problem of me being unable to hear anything!
Eventually, after some indiscernible amount of time, I felt another jolt throughout my body. This time, I was gradually able to hear noise again. I was still blind, but muffled sounds were starting to come through. Shortly after, my vision began returning as well.
“Ko.... Ko.... Can you hear me? Ko? Please... Respond if you can hear me... Anything! Please!!”
“Inari Nayn, give it some more time meown. I almeowdy said the opurration was a success nayn! Their mind is purrrobably still trying to recalibrate it’s senses after what you did meown!”
I felt incredibly groggy. Some of the faint specks of light that entered my eyes were painful, just like how looking straight into the sun would cause you to squint and recoil. But... My mind trying to recalibrate it’s senses? I... I guess that makes sense after what I experienced... But that’s something Inari did?
Felice and Inari continued to talk to each other while I was recovering. Eventually, I felt well enough to try speaking to them myself.
“Inari.... Felice.... My head feels... All sorts of messed up.... What... Happ—”
“KO!”
Before I could finish my sentence, I was interrupted and tackled by large and soft... Ball of fluff??? Furthermore.... It felt like it was... Squishing me???
...
My mind was eventually able to put the jarring sensory sensation into context. Seemingly, when I responded to them, Inari in her excitement had pounced onto me to give me one giant, Inari-styled hug! Carefully, I squished her back, which prompted Felice to look away from the situation. Then, I did my best to respond to the two of them. But first, I had to stop the rambling fox.
“Ko! I was so worried during the cleansing spell!! Everything was going well. But then, something started interfering with my weaving... And your shield! It was glowing — And... And I thought I heard voices speaking into my head! And—”
“Inari, please, slow down a little bit. My mind is still trying to make sense of everything”
“Oh! Sorry about the Ko, I was just really excited you finally woke up!!”
“Thanks Inari... And see? Everything worked out. I was right to trust you in cleansing the Mind Sealing spell.”
Inari, smiled. I guess she was glad at my comments for trusting her to cure the Mind Seal spell. Then, she seemingly remembered what she was currently doing, and jumped back, startled.
“Ahh! I’m sorry Ko! I... Uh...”
“It’s fine, you were just really excited.”
Once all of our thoughts were collected, Felice started talking to the both of us. To my surprise, they were actually quite praiseful of Inari for how well they handled the situation. Very different from the overprotective Felice I conversed with last night. I guess it was similar to the pride a teacher feels about their student, and wants to brag about to the public how amazing they are. From the conversation, I was able to learn how Inari uniquely cleansed the Mind Seal spell while her mana flow was being interfered with. Essentially, she noticed that there was an abnormal mana signature hidden at one of the spell anchor points when she was inserting her counter spell. It was located at cranial nerve VIII, or the channel pathways roughly responsible for auditory functions of an individual. It was very similar to the primary host identifier, but still varied as a signature. The closest comparison would be changing an rgb colour scale of (255,0,0) indicating pure red, to rgb (254,0,0), which is slightly not as red... Technically, it’s a different colour, but so close to the primary signature, it would be incredibly easy to miss.
Even though she noticed this, Inari didn’t pay too much attention since she was primarily focused on maintaining the Mind Seal spell bypasses. Apparently, for a fun fact I probably would have been better off not knowing, if she had lost focus at this stage, I literally would have died from the spell autoactivating from external tampering... A safety measure commonly attached to ancient magic spells.
Anyways...
That's when just before Inari activated her counter spell, I screamed about my eye being on fire. The mana flow within my body started acting erratic. My oculus dexter region, or the right eye, was apparently overflowing with mana, well beyond a reasonable limit for that channel size. That’s probably what caused the thin burning feeling through my eye, so she had to quickly intervene to prevent a full channel collapse. Then, her mana flow started being interfered with from that abnormally close mana signature. Inari also described hearing a “hissing” sound in her head, which was probably from the snakes on the shield. Unfortunately, even though she was still maintaining proper mana flow, she was rapidly losing control of the situation. So, with the bypass channels on the verge of collapse, Inari had the idea to jumble my senses by rapidly changing the mana concentration from my right eye, to the left. This sudden concentration shift apparently distracted the interference just long enough for Inari to safely activate the counter spell. That’s why my vision get all messed up, and I subsequently passed out. Felice was quite impressed at Inari’s quick thinking for distracting the interference, while maintaining control of the mana flows. Then, it came time to test if I was actually cured...
“Summoned, Hero, Other World.”
A dramatic pause... No sudden swells of energy, or my head feeling like it’s going to explode... So, I guess I’m in the clear!
Thus, with my new, uhhh, restored verbal freedom, I excitedly retold what actually happened to me when I visited the castle. I explained how King Solar and his advisor, Daemonium, read the letter, burned it, then dismissed me since they currently had a present batch of heroes to take care of. Felice was furious, and disappointed at the negligence of the royal family for how they were abusing the hero summoning spell. Furthermore, they were quite concerned with how Daemonium learned the incantation for Mind Seal, along with the proper technique to weave the spell successfully. They decided they would investigate this information as best they could through their connections. Inari was thrilled there were more people from another world in Terra, but didn’t appreciate how the spear hero appeared to act.
When I had mentioned my concerns about appraisal for entering the castle, Felice reassured me that they had already foreseen and taken care of that “purrobmeown”. Apparently, they had cast a high-level illusion spell on me, while cleaning up the jumbled text to appear like an “above average” adventurer if I was appraised. Since my status sum was 80 for strength, defence, magic, and dexterity, I would 100% get identified as a cheat, or a hero due to the magnitude of my values at level 1. For context, the average new adventurer had a status sum of 30, so Felice gave me a sum of 40, along with hiding all of the summoned hero titles with hidden or unknown status so I wouldn’t stand out too much. After learning about the rough power levels of adventurers, Felice officially registered me as an adventurer with the Paws & Beans Tavern Guild Branch. They also accepted the completed goblin subjugation request and handed me 3 silver Solara coins, along with my identification tag. It was a small, bronze metallic plate, similar to a military dog tag from Earth. On the back, my name, rank, and adventurer branch were etched into the metal. Felice told me to never lose my guild tag, as it was used when accepting or completing quests, and even to enter cities as a form of identification.
Eventually, I steered the conversation towards wanting to take on my first official quest as an adventurer! This topic caused Felice to smile menacingly towards me. When I looked at Inari, she simply let out a long, drawn sigh, almost as if she knew what Felice was about to assign us.
“Well, Ko Nayn. If you want to become an adventurer meown, then I know just the quest fuuurrr you! This is something all beginners love to complete nyan! It also suurrves as a puurrrfect foundational skills building challenge meown!”
With a flick of their wrist, and a snap of their fingers, Felice conjured a piece of parchment, bathed in a white and blue light, then floated it over to my hands. Eagerly, I caught the paper and quickly began reading the contents to discover what my first official quest would be! The paper read:
“Rank G ---URGENT--- Medicinal Herb gathering in the forests of: Eldermyst, Great Pine, and Willows Retrieve. Please deliver 10 “Adventurer’s Sage” to the Paws & Beans Tavern. Minimum herb quality of C or above.”
Heck ya!!!!!!! It was the stereotypical beginner herb gathering request!!! Something all adventurers just starting their journey in a fantasy novel are forced to slog through before being granted the opportunity to take on more advanced, dangerous requests!!! Herb gathering, or basic monster subjugation for slimes or goblins, were usually the first ever requests taken in isekai novels, and I would be no exception! My eyes were beaming at the thought of getting to experience one of the classic fantasy scenarios!!! After seeing my response, Felice looked quite proud of themselves, wearing a rather smug look across their face, while Inari, who was still seemingly disappointed, spoke up to the smug cat.
“Seriously Felice??? MORE Adventurer’s Sage?!?!? And after I just delivered 200 to you earlier today??! What the heck do you even need all of these herbs for anyways!”
“Nya nya nya, Inari Nayn. That request was for Inari Nayn to complete. This request, is for Ko Nayn. Herb gathering is a basic skill all advenmeowers require to be successful nayn! You are more than welcome to join them, but Ko Nayn needs to learn the basics first meown.”
“Wait... Inari already gathered 200 Adventurer’s Sage today???”
“Yes Ko, that was my “punishmeownt” for yesterday’s behaviour... And now Felice wants you to gather even more of those silly plants!”
“Well, if you join me, I’m sure that would be a great opportunity for us to chat about magic. Plus, I would be more than willing to talk about things from my world since I won’t die now.”
After a short pause, Inari reluctantly gave her response in a mellow tone.
“Fine... I’ll help show you what the herbs look like and how to gather them... But then you have to answer my questions!!”
“Haha, well of course Inari! It’s a deal then!”
Confidently, I stuck my hand out towards her for a handshake. Without hesitation, Inari took my hand to shake it, confirming our agreement.
“Deal! – Felice, we’ll be heading out now to gather 10 Adventurer’s Sage. Ko, I know just the location we should visit!”
“Meowright nayn, but remeowber, only herb gathering nyan!!!”
And so, with Felice’s kind reminder to only focus on herb collecting, Inari and I made our way out of the tavern for our first official adventure together. Along the way, I made sure to wave at Yarn, but I don’t think she noticed due to the increasing number of customers ordering food.
Once outside, Inari opened her journal and shared some pages with me. The first was a map of the immediate surrounding area. To the north and south, spanning to the visible mountain ranges, was Eldermyst, categorized by a dense, jungle-like collection of maple trees. Well, they were like the maple trees I was familiar with, but the tree species was apparently called Eldermyst here in Terra. To our west, roughly an hour out, was Great Pine, which was probably filled with pine trees of some sort, then finally, even further west, nearing the boarders of Colosseum, was Willows Retrieve. Having flashbacks to the naming conventions I experienced in Solara, I asked Inari if it was common for places to be named literally, to which she replied, yes, isn’t that how things should be named?
Next, she showed me a picture she had drawn in her journal of what the herb actually looked like. It was a basic plant, with 5 main stems, adorned with prickly, wide leaves. Apparently, it was the primary ingredient for making a healing potion. Eventually, Inari led us north to a large, sparsely filled clearing. The area was similar to when I first encountered her and the bandits. Satisfied we were in an acceptable location; Inari happily began teaching me how to use magic to assist in gathering the herbs.
Removing an herb from her spatial storage, she had me examine it using magic to detect it’s mana composition. After several attempts, I was able to get a general idea as to what an Adventurer’s Sage looked like, both on a physical, and magical level. In Terra, each object had it’s own unique mana signature. While living beings had stronger signals that would radiate out into the world, inanimate or smaller objects, also had their own identifiers as well, albeit, with a less noticeable mana particle leakage. Next, Inari had me cast appraisal on the herb. The status window was fairly detailed, reminding me somewhat of the scientific naming conventions from Earth.
---
Item Name: Adventurer’s Sage
Family: Herbus
Genus: Sageus
Species: Adventuerus
Quality: Poor (D)
Stats: Recovery Boost (Inert)
Magic Conductivity: N/A
Summary: A relatively common plant found all throughout Terra. It is commonly used by adventurers to brew healing potions by crushing the herb into a fine paste then mixing it with mana-infused water. Faint recovery and medicinal properties are present in the stems and leaves.
---
Then, came the difficult part.
Inari loves coming up with new ideas for spells, and this next one was a combination of several weeks of practice and theory. Essentially, it would scan a wide area around the caster’s visual range, casting appraisal on everything. Then, you would remove the appraisal windows that didn’t match the mana signature of the target you were searching for. Once all of this was done, you just had to walk over to the floating status screen which indicated the location of the item you were looking for. Inari called this spell “Filter” which was an aptly put name in my opinion.
“Alright Ko, are you ready to give it a try?”
“I think so Inari. I kind of understand what you are trying to accomplish. It’s a basic operation I’ve performed many times.”
With that said, I began focusing on the world around me. I closed my eyes, and started to picture my surroundings through the connection and innate understand of mana that I apparently possessed. I imagined seeing the appraisal box for everything around me, and to highlight all of the objects just like the Adventurer’s Sage. My body felt warm as mana particles gathered around my right hand. Then, I opened my eyes and spoke with command internally.
Filter!
A spherical wave of energy burst forth from my hands, rapidly covering the immediate surroundings. As the sphere of magic passed through each object, from trees, grass, dirt, and plants, an army of accompanying status menus aggressively assaulted my mind while remaining visible in the tangible world. Then, the ones that didn’t match the Adventurer’s Sage rapidly began closing.
“Gah!!”
I yelped in pain as my head was overcome with an intense headache after casting the spell. The feeling was akin to a brain freeze one would experience when eating ice cream or drinking a slushy too quickly. Not the worst, but definitely not something I wanted to experience each time I cast a magic spell. After recovering and composing myself, I was able to see roughly 9 status menus left floating in the world. Inari was also excitedly wagging her tail at my apparent success for casting the Filter spell.
“That was amazing Ko! And on your first try too!!! That spell took me several attempts before I finally got it right! Oh! It also looks like your head bothered you as well. The same thing happened to me when I cast Filter too! That’s to do with inefficiently transcribing your will into the spell on activation, so a large portion of your MP got used to compensate for the spell’s effect.”
“No kidding... That wasn’t the nicest experience. Does all magic cause this effect if you’re inefficient? How can I improve so it doesn’t affect me as much?”
“Well, that’s the thing. Each type of magic has a different affect on the body, which also varies between races as well. For example, since this is an adaptation of typeless magic, and you’re a human, you probably felt a sharp, cold pain at the rear of your head. Conversely, someone that’s a beastkin like myself, would experience a throbbing sensation in the temporal region of their skull instead! But, with enough practice, you can almost completely eliminate the consumption of MP as you get more efficient with your casting!”
“Interesting, I’m once again impressed at your knowledge about magic Inari. You also use a lot of medical terminology when describing symptoms or locations... Is that a common thing for spell casters to be aware of?”
I mean, I had to ask the question. The level of detail and diagnostic capabilities she possessed were essentially that of a doctor and a scholar, neatly wrapped into an anthropomorphic ball of fluff! If this was the standard for learning about, and communicating findings related to magic, then I would 100% need to rack my brain to uncover the deeply buried knowledge I had tossed aside after completing my introductory biology and anatomy classes at university! From my question, Inari’s tail was now uncontrollably wagging around, along with her emerald green eyes glistening with enthusiasm for another long-winded, Inari-styled rant!
“Ah hem, so, initially no, but Felice mentioned that having a methodological way to communicate findings should be a standard for all magic researchers and enthusiasts everywhere! Felice also happens to be one of the best diagnosticians and healers in the southern hemisphere of Terra, so all of their lessons have focused around combining medical terminology with practical application. Furthermore, since I’m studying under them support and recovery magic, I had to spend countless hours learning these definitions myself.
Additionally, on the broader side of magical studies and scholars, there is—”
Well... I had seemingly, unintentionally gotten Inari ranting about the history of magic in Terra from my simple question. Nonetheless, I was essentially able to learn the following from the fox’s 20-minute, enthusiastic, impromptu lecture:
Each of the major nations study magic independently, with little interest in sharing findings due to national security concerns.
There is no standard for communicating information or discoveries, so Felice has proposed the usage of medical naming standards.
Very few scholars are adopting this, and instead insist on using their own methods and terminology
Inari is very... VERY... Passionate about magic research.
Somehow, I managed to find an appropriate point to interrupt her rambling, which was now starting to delve into the niche topic of mana flu variations after suffering acute mana sickness...
“While I appreciate the level of detail and your enthusiasm on the history of magic research, and am also eagerly awaiting my accompanying quiz from you later, I do believe we should get back on track with gathering the Adventurer’s Sage Felice requested. After all, I still haven’t collected the ones from my initial Filter cast yet, and it would be very embarrassing for me to fail my first ever collection quest.”
“That’s right! The herb gathering request! Thank you for reminding me Ko! Yes, I agree, lets quickly finish it up so we can continue our conversation back at the Tavern! I’ve also already planned a short list of 200 questions to quiz you about!! I hope you’ve been paying attention! I’ll make sure to keep them simple to start since it is a rather new topic for you.”
...
I had the bone chilling feeling that my next several weeks were going to be anything but relaxing.
Eventually, Inari and I were able to gather the 9 Adventurer’s Sage I had found, which were aptly placed into my spatial storage. Inari was also quite impressed I was able to utilize this magic, since it was very rare for humans to possess the capabilities. Traditionally, something called a “spatial storage bag” was purchased instead, which is usually created by elven or demi-human scholars. This was probably related to my granted skills as a summoned hero. When I questioned my passionate partner about how she was also able to use spatial magic, she was simple able to learn the technique by applying proper theory learned from Felice.
What followed next was several miles of hiking through Eldermyst as we searched for the elusive last Adventurer’s Sage of quality C or above. It turned out I had gotten exceptionally lucky that the first 9 I identified all exceeded the criteria, but all my recent Filter casts only returned qualities of D or below.
I also took the opportunity to ask Inari about incantationless casting since the topic was now essentially open for discussion. Apparently, I was able to cast magic this way as well, but once again, differed from how Inari learned and implemented this technique herself. In my scenario, I was able to vividly picture the effects of the spell in the tangible world, and it would activate. Sometimes words appeared in my head, but they weren’t required. Subconsciously, my body appeared to be compensating for all of the theoretical frameworks needed to weave, combine, and mutate mana particles, and just... “did the thing”, for lack of a better explanation. It was basically like cheating, and made her somewhat jealous that I was able to invalidate years of study and practice. Ya, this was basically like the cheat powers heroes would receive when summoned to another world. We both agreed that my magic casting and combat capabilities were related to this phenomenon, and that further testing would be beneficial to understand the limits of the “summoned heroes” cheat powers. Additionally, I agreed with Inari’s point that understanding the basics was always a good thing, and if I wanted to communicate to others how to reproduce the spells I cast or invented, then a strong understanding of the underlying frameworks for how magic functioned in Terra, would be essential. After all, what use was a prodigy or “cheat” in magic, if they couldn’t explain to the academic world how they accomplished their marvels? Simply being good, was not enough.
Moving on, in Inari’s case, she had to picture the intended effects of the spell, along with visualizing the incantation in her head. Then, after speaking in her mind the spell’s activation, it would materialize and come into effect. However, when she invoked a new, custom spell that didn’t have a known incantation, then it functioned similar to my spell casting. The purpose of the incantation, was therefor; to standardize the spell so others could reproduce its effects. We continued this topic for what felt like hours, trying to discern the nuances between incantationless casting between individuals.
This discussion continued as we wandered throughout the Eldermyst forest. As we moved, I had gradually begun perfecting the casts of Filter, which allowed me to incorporate the information received and translate it into a 2D map in my peripheral vision. This is something Inari had mentioned she usually did and kept active all the time. It was essentially a personal mini map in the corner of my vision so I could quickly locate the relativeness of identified objects based on my position. This was typically used as an enemy detection radar to protect against surprise attacks.
Therein, was the problem...
On my most recent cast of Filter, I had finally managed to find an Adventurer’s Sage that matched the C quality requirements. But, it was unfortunately amongst the middle of a group of goblins, who were seemingly undisturbed by the spontaneous floating status screen for the plant. I, being thrilled at the prospect to experience such a classic, typical isekai introductory battle, was all the more eager to engage them in a fight. Unfortunately, Inari seemed opposed to the idea, under fear she would receive another “punishmeownt” from Felice.
“Ko... I really don’t think we should fight those goblins. Felice will get really mad if we go against their instructions. Plus, I’m detecting an abnormal mana signature, and I can’t quite pinpoint the species it originates from.”
“But Inari... Look! The last Adventurer’s Sage we need is right in the middle of their encampment! I’m sure with a proper plan, we could easily eliminate them.”
Based on my personal enemy detection radar, I was also recognizing approximately 8 goblins, along with the abnormality Inari had mentioned as well. It appeared to be nestled inside the cave the goblins were having a “party” outside of. Examining the encampment in detail, I was able to observe that the goblins were dancing around a giant, metal cauldron. There were meats smoking over a metal spoke, and what looked like...?
Oh god, those were definitely human limbs in the cauldron! I could make out what looked like arms and legs, crudely butchered and sticking out of the sickening metal pot. The flesh was still a vibrant colour, indicating these were potentially “recent” victims. Additionally, in a primitive attempt to enhance the “stews” flavour, the goblins were happily adding rocks, twigs, and a whole other assortment of objects I would never image could be utilized in making a human stew. Moving my thoughts aside about how I would personally make a proper human limb stew, I shared my concerns with my hesitant partner.
“Inari, clearly those goblins have recently killed another group of adventurers. I’m detecting faint mana signatures of once living humans. Based on our earlier discussion, they were probably killed within the last hour? As adventurers, shouldn’t we try to avenge them? Ethically, it would be the correct thing to do.”
That’s right, from our earlier discussions on magical theory, Inari was able to introduce the concept of basic “forensic identification” in this world. When all living things died, their mana signature would essentially disappear, but still remain detectable, gradually decreasing over hours until it eventually became “indistinguishable” from inanimate objects. Essentially, decomposition. The byproduct radiation of mana particles became so small, it was impossible to identify the unique sub signature of the individual from the primary signature they belonged to. I’m not sure how we exactly got onto this topic of conversation, but it actually ended up coming in handing for describing the current scenario. Eventually, Inari voiced her concerns over my ethical pleas to avenge the fallen adventurers.
“Ko, while I’m also saddened those adventurers died to those goblins, Felice was very adamant that we should only focus on herb gathering. We also don’t know anything about that weird mana signature. It would be reckless to engage them in combat when we don’t have enough information.”
I agreed with Inari’s assessment of the situation. But the last herb we needed was literally right there! What problems could possibly occur from a small engagement with some goblins and an unknown factor? Plus, we’ve already determined I have “cheat-like powers” so why the hesitancy?
Did I... Just raise a red flag event with those comments? That’s totally something a protagonist would say before everything goes wrong!
...
Brushing aside my concerns about possible cliché ramifications for thinking a simple battle would have no possible problems, I once again, tried to convince Inari of my resolve for getting the last herb in the goblin encampment.
“Well, what if we devised an in-depth battle plan with various contingencies? That would help eliminate some of the risks of engaging them. Also, we could tell Felice that we came under attack from some goblins while we were picking the last herb.”
Inari paused. I could only imagine the thought process going on in her head at the moment. Here was the opportunity to gain some more valuable combat experience, vs. wandering aimlessly through the Eldermyst forest while I attempted to find the last Adventurer’s Sage. Both choices came with their respective risk and rewards, but would clearly cause problems back at the tavern. Eventually, with a sigh and defeated attitude against my enthusiasm, Inari agreed under one condition.
**Sigh**
“Alright Ko, we can take on these goblins, but only if we follow a proper assault plan. Based on their positions, and the unknown mana signature... I am propo—”
Excited at the prospect of finally getting to experience the classic “protagonist fights a horde of goblins to avenge fallen adventurers” scenario, I whole heartedly agreed to Inari’s proposal. Essentially, we would follow what Inari called “Goblin Camp Elimination Plan #43”. While I once again was interested in her numbering scheme, it would essential play out as follows.
Before engaging, Inari would cast Bolster Strength, Bolster Defence, and a whole slew of other enhancements to improve my status, while protecting against harmful debuffs, such as curses, poisons, etc. Next, she would pre-emptively cast several Unstable Ground spells masked with an illusion spell so the dirt would seem completely normal, but retain it’s movement restricting effects. She would place them in several defined areas I had to remember beforehand. Then, I would approach and gather all of the goblin’s attention. All of the goblins appeared to be “melee types”, so we were going to manipulate their movements in a structured way. Directly next to the goblins, Inari would cast a spell to raise the earth around them forming an approximately 3ft high wall. It would be shaped like a “V” to funnel or “encourage” their movements towards me into a narrow corridor. Directly Infront of me, would be one of the Unstable Ground spells. Finally, as they approached and lost their footing, I would simply stab them with my sword to disable or kill them on the spot. In this manner, we would precisely control how the goblins engaged us, while eliminating the potential for unexpected variables. Finally, once all of the goblins were eliminated, we would be able to engage the unknown mana signature deep within the cave. Satisfied I had an understanding of the upcoming action plan, I gave my affirmations to Inari.
“Alright Inari, I am ready to put our plan into action. I’ll engage the goblins once you’ve setup the Unstable Ground and mini earth walls.”
With another sigh, yet cheerful expression, Inari smiled at me. Her tail was also excitedly wagging at the prospects of the upcoming fight. While I don’t think she realized it, her unconscious behaviour was heavily indicating to me she enjoyed planning out these battles, and was most likely a “battle junkie”, craving such engagements and challenges.
Then, without speaking, her hands rapidly glowed various colours while my helpful internal assistant chimed in to explain the accompanying lightshow...
[Notice – Detected Bolster Strength Cast On Individual Kotato – Duration 5 Minutes]
[Notice – Detected Bolster Defence Cast On Individual Kotato – Duration 5 Minutes]
[Notice – Detected Bolster Dexterity Cast On Individual Kotato – Duration 5 Minutes]
[Notice – Detected Bolster Magic Cast On Individual Kotato – Duration 5 Minutes]
[Notice – Detected Bolster HP Cast On Individual Kotato – Duration 5 Minutes]
[Notice – Detected Bolster MP Cast On Individual Kotato – Duration 5 Minutes]
[Notice – Detected Strong Curse Resistance Cast On Individual Kotato – Duration 5 Minutes]
[Notice – ...]
Gah! Seriously!?!?!? You crazy fox! My mind was being spammed with a whole slew of buffs, resistances, and strengthening magic that even I was starting to think this was excessive! I had received well over 50 unique status enhancements and was starting to get disoriented from the constant verbal barrage of my assistant’s structured and monotone explanations! She even gave me a buff for enhanced underwater vision, and we aren’t even near any water!!! What the heck Inari! Also, how are you possibly casting so many spells without suffering any consequences to your MP?!?? Who amongst us actually has the cheat-like abilities here?!?
Finally, I felt the effects of Unstable Ground get cast by the excessive vulpine, along with her accompanying signal to begin.
“Alright Ko, Inari Goblin Camp Elimination Plan #43 is a go! Let’s do this!!!”
At her words, Inari cast the earth spell for blocking off the surrounding area to funnel the goblins. Taking the hint, I jumped into visual range of the demonic beings to draw their attention. Then, seemingly as if prompted by an underlying script, they took up nearby clubs and stones for melee weapons, and rapidly began closing the distance to me.
In a word, it was scary how well Inari had predicted their behaviour. All of the 8 goblins had charged at me in single file, down the directed pathway created by the earthen walls. The goblins never once tired to break the spell through brute force, or climb over the walls, but instead opted to follow the path of least resistance. Was this through practical experience? Or theoretical knowledge? Perhaps I should pressure her about this later. Regardless, I needed to do my part now as the centre piece of the battle plan.
Calmly, I readied my resolve for the upcoming slaughter of goblins. As each individual green, and thinly clad being approached me, I stabbed them with my serpent-like blade through their left chest cavity as they lost their footing. After each kill, I would “hop back” several feet so as not to get entangled in the Unstable Ground spell and make room for the next goblin. It was a delicate dance of precision, and extermination. As goblin after goblin fell, I could hear the hissing sounds from my serpent shield complaining about the “lack-luster” quality of each devoured foe, but it’s not like I was trying to fight challenging opponents here! I only wanted to gather the last remaining Adventurer’s Sage near the cauldron!
Finally, after what felt like a minute, all 8 of the goblins had been methodically slain, leaving only Inari, myself, and the unknown mana signature, detectable.