![Grand Master [2000]](https://i.imgur.com/SGD5XSW.png)
![Master [1000]](https://i.imgur.com/AQXM4xC.png)
![Senior [500]](https://i.imgur.com/Nmfn8cD.png)
![Novice [250]](https://i.imgur.com/lrYlde6.png)
Last Part
A flash of light blasted the two into the middle of a bay, spluttering and gasping as they instantly found themselves in knee-high water, Sorano slipping on the rocks and scrambling to find her balance while Hoshi roughly tried to fly up and away from the water. It was a clear, calm, and sunny day on Crescent Island like it usually was, and only the barest wisps of clouds were visible in the sky. A soft breeze was blowing, and the calming sound of water lapping up against the rocks could be heard. However, something wasn’t quite right, was it? Glancing around them in a confused manner, Hoshi realized what had happened. The two were very, very far away from the main island, covered in palm trees, white sand, and other inviting avenues of tropical enjoyment. Instead, they were stranded on a small pile of rocks sticking out the top of one the crescent’s ends, standing in the water on the little sandbar they’d been teleported to. Why here, of all places? Glancing over at Sorano, it seemed that the letter mage was equally confused, squinting at the island, then glancing out at the great sea that stretched out behind them.
“Why did they drop us here?” The mumbled comment was confused and uncertain, as the letter mage clambered onto the sandbar, looping a simple spell around her to dry herself off. It wasn’t the most convenient of places to be dropped off, that was for sure. If the beacon was on the mainland, why not put them there? Unless… Carefully, Sorano extended her senses outwards as far as they’d go, tracing the energy of the life and magic that surrounded them. Sure enough, just as she had guessed, the magical energy in the waters around them was far stronger, and radiated much darker power than the land. It seemed that whatever opponent they were going to face here would be found within these waters, huh? It was definitely a change from before, and the terrain had become so much harder for them to navigate. “How do you think we should handle this, Hoshi?” The letter mage voiced her question aloud, glancing over at Hoshi before standing up and stretching, now all dried off and ready to go.
The exceed tipped her head to one side, considering the prospect. The situation right now could be fixed if she carried Sorano around all the time, but in a situation that would require battle, that really wasn’t the greatest of ideas. Battling while holding someone in midair was a dangerous prospect – dropping the girl meant Sorano would be plunging straight into the waves. Although the guild master was more than capable of handling herself in such a situation, it would waste her precious energy and time, making it difficult for her to get back on track. Instead…Hoshi thought about it. If this time, they went straight to the boss, locating the beacon first before having to encounter any opponents, then she could fly Sorano right over and they would waste so much less energy by confronting the key first. The idea sounded rather solid to the exceed, and thus Hoshi voiced it aloud to Sorano, who pondered it. “Yeah, that works. Unless the beacon is underwater, which would be quite disastrous, you carrying me out to look at everything and find the location of the beacon first should be fairly simple. The magic I’m sensing seems to be limited to the water, so if we fly above, it shouldn’t really get in our way.” She nodded affirmatively down at the exceed, before adjusting the carrying straps on her shoulder to allow for Hoshi to get a good grip.
“You ready?”
Hoshi nodded back, a shy smile on her face. “Let’s get this show on the road.” By now, the girls had slowly gotten into the routine of searching, finding, and eliminating. While it was tiring, dangerous work, the reward was definitely enough to greatly motivate them. After all, the destruction of Earthland was always something you’d want to avoid, right? In a great puffing of wind beneath her wings, Hoshi lifted up into the air, Aera powering the glamorous white wings that spread through the air behind her. Feathers and light, shimmering dust cascading down behind her, the two burst into the air. Sorano could feel the wind rushing against her face, stomach dropping as they rose higher and higher into the sky. It was an exhilarating feeling, even after having done this with the feline so many times. Flying over water definitely had a much higher risk than usual, especially when the water below was infested with creatures that could potentially all kill you. Eventually, they reached a height that both exceed and human were happy with, and Hoshi settled into a lazy soaring over the bay of Crescent Island, just below the wispy clouds that decorated the sky.
“Alright, what are we looking for here?” Hoshi’s question caused Sorano to quickly snap out of her musings about the state of the world around her and the new view she could see. This time, her eyes focused on the waves below her, dark eyes coldly analyzing the patterns of islands that could be seen below them. Small spots of brown and green dotted the bay they had come from, small islands, boulders, or sandbars like the one they had come from. Getting a whole map of the place, Sorano used her magic to trace out a spell that recorded a map of the islands below, pressing everything into the surface of a mirror for easy navigation. “Okay, Hoshi, let’s go lower.”
The two dropped down, getting closer to the surface of the water, and Sorano’s eyes carefully scanned each small clump of land, crossing it off when no irregularly powerful magical energies were found. Most were bare of the same energy she had felt from the other keys with the past beacons. By now, a pattern was emerging with these keys, and it appeared that whoever was controlling the scheme of things, it was the same for each beacon. These malefic magical energies held the same general pattern and signature on each island, and were easy enough to identify. Moving on to the next sandbar, Sorano found herself crossing off yet another island on the map. So far, there had been no results, and the concern that they’d have to go underwater entered her mind again. It wasn’t in a human’s nature to be able to go underwater and survive, so it was perfectly reasonable why the letter mage might be reluctant. Death was so much easier to come by when you were submerged under kilometers of water, after all.
But as the two drifted over island after island, something new began to pop up on Sorano’s radar. A strange, yet familiar energy was beginning to emerge within her radar as they moved toward the center of the bay, a strengthening magical energy that they had already encountered. The letter mage nodded as her theories were confirmed by the pedestal they would find floating in the center of the bay, surrounded by dark, malefic energies. Sure enough, the mark of the Magic Council’s seal on the pedestal revealed that this was one of the seven beacons. But…where was the key? The girls hovered down closer until they were only a few meters above the pedestal, gazing around and searching for whatever great monster would be protecting this beacon. They floated ever closer, Hoshi’s brow furrowing in worry the closer they got to the water. There wasn’t much land surrounding this pedestal, instead a few bare rocks sticking up around it that was nowhere near enough land to fight safely on. Whatever this battle would be like, it would not be easy. In fact, just as Sorano’s feet brushed the edge of the pedestal, a giant tentacle would lash forth from the waves, slamming into both mages and hurling them into the water. Well…this was unfortunate.
Sorano spluttered and gasped in shock as salty liquid filled her lungs, back slamming into a rock-hard ocean, the wind being pushed out of her at the harsh impact. It was all too easy to underestimate the power and strength of water when you just observed it from the outside. Without a ship, without an island to stand on…it was not going to be an easy battle for her. Casting a spell in a quick moment’s decision, Sorano would furiously scribble out words one after another, even as she sank into the waves, another lash of the octopus’ tentacle hurling her out of the water again as she continued to scribble through the air, desperately writing out the spell. The situation was deadly and dangerous, and this particular spell was extremely complicated. The prospect of messing up on it was disastrous as well, and the letter mage was honestly quite cynical of her ability to pull this off. But it had to be attempted, because ending up as octopus food was not a particularly appealing thought to her. Finishing off the last descriptive sentence, a giant sea turtle suddenly came crashing out of the air, splooshing into the water with a gargantuan burst of water, unsettling even the octopus. Sorano came slamming down on its patterned surface, feeling the surface of the giant sea turtle beneath her hands in a strangely comforting reassurance. After all, this was the creature who was going to ensure her success in the upcoming battle. Now having a surface to stand on, Sorano could get cracking. The impact of the sea turtle had broken off one of the octopus’ limbs, much to her delight, and as such it would be much easier to finish off the rest with the creature in pain.
Writing out the familiar spell, a burst of lightning slammed down into the octopus, shoving it deep underwater with a crackle of electricity. A moment later, the letter mage followed the move up with a blast from Fanirvuh, slamming into the creature first an arrow of paralyzation, causing it to sink even deeper into the sea before blasting a tentacle with an explosive arrow. Now lacking in two tentacles, the octopus was unbalanced. It became easy to launch a volley of ice bullets down at the creature, simultaneously freezing it and then cracking off three more of the limbs. It seemed the water would be both a disadvantage as well as something the letter mage could turn to her advantage. Hoshi, meanwhile had barely managed to make it onto the turtle, struggling weakly to settle into the dip between its shell and neck. Sorano, on the other hand, was ready to finish this thing. A volley of spears pierced deep into the water, and the liquid turned red and black as blood was spilled, splashing out and dying the entire bay with darkness as the octopus died. The beacon began to glow, and a burst of light surrounded the mages.
7,061 / 12,000 words
Next Part
A flash of light blasted the two into the middle of a bay, spluttering and gasping as they instantly found themselves in knee-high water, Sorano slipping on the rocks and scrambling to find her balance while Hoshi roughly tried to fly up and away from the water. It was a clear, calm, and sunny day on Crescent Island like it usually was, and only the barest wisps of clouds were visible in the sky. A soft breeze was blowing, and the calming sound of water lapping up against the rocks could be heard. However, something wasn’t quite right, was it? Glancing around them in a confused manner, Hoshi realized what had happened. The two were very, very far away from the main island, covered in palm trees, white sand, and other inviting avenues of tropical enjoyment. Instead, they were stranded on a small pile of rocks sticking out the top of one the crescent’s ends, standing in the water on the little sandbar they’d been teleported to. Why here, of all places? Glancing over at Sorano, it seemed that the letter mage was equally confused, squinting at the island, then glancing out at the great sea that stretched out behind them.
“Why did they drop us here?” The mumbled comment was confused and uncertain, as the letter mage clambered onto the sandbar, looping a simple spell around her to dry herself off. It wasn’t the most convenient of places to be dropped off, that was for sure. If the beacon was on the mainland, why not put them there? Unless… Carefully, Sorano extended her senses outwards as far as they’d go, tracing the energy of the life and magic that surrounded them. Sure enough, just as she had guessed, the magical energy in the waters around them was far stronger, and radiated much darker power than the land. It seemed that whatever opponent they were going to face here would be found within these waters, huh? It was definitely a change from before, and the terrain had become so much harder for them to navigate. “How do you think we should handle this, Hoshi?” The letter mage voiced her question aloud, glancing over at Hoshi before standing up and stretching, now all dried off and ready to go.
The exceed tipped her head to one side, considering the prospect. The situation right now could be fixed if she carried Sorano around all the time, but in a situation that would require battle, that really wasn’t the greatest of ideas. Battling while holding someone in midair was a dangerous prospect – dropping the girl meant Sorano would be plunging straight into the waves. Although the guild master was more than capable of handling herself in such a situation, it would waste her precious energy and time, making it difficult for her to get back on track. Instead…Hoshi thought about it. If this time, they went straight to the boss, locating the beacon first before having to encounter any opponents, then she could fly Sorano right over and they would waste so much less energy by confronting the key first. The idea sounded rather solid to the exceed, and thus Hoshi voiced it aloud to Sorano, who pondered it. “Yeah, that works. Unless the beacon is underwater, which would be quite disastrous, you carrying me out to look at everything and find the location of the beacon first should be fairly simple. The magic I’m sensing seems to be limited to the water, so if we fly above, it shouldn’t really get in our way.” She nodded affirmatively down at the exceed, before adjusting the carrying straps on her shoulder to allow for Hoshi to get a good grip.
“You ready?”
Hoshi nodded back, a shy smile on her face. “Let’s get this show on the road.” By now, the girls had slowly gotten into the routine of searching, finding, and eliminating. While it was tiring, dangerous work, the reward was definitely enough to greatly motivate them. After all, the destruction of Earthland was always something you’d want to avoid, right? In a great puffing of wind beneath her wings, Hoshi lifted up into the air, Aera powering the glamorous white wings that spread through the air behind her. Feathers and light, shimmering dust cascading down behind her, the two burst into the air. Sorano could feel the wind rushing against her face, stomach dropping as they rose higher and higher into the sky. It was an exhilarating feeling, even after having done this with the feline so many times. Flying over water definitely had a much higher risk than usual, especially when the water below was infested with creatures that could potentially all kill you. Eventually, they reached a height that both exceed and human were happy with, and Hoshi settled into a lazy soaring over the bay of Crescent Island, just below the wispy clouds that decorated the sky.
“Alright, what are we looking for here?” Hoshi’s question caused Sorano to quickly snap out of her musings about the state of the world around her and the new view she could see. This time, her eyes focused on the waves below her, dark eyes coldly analyzing the patterns of islands that could be seen below them. Small spots of brown and green dotted the bay they had come from, small islands, boulders, or sandbars like the one they had come from. Getting a whole map of the place, Sorano used her magic to trace out a spell that recorded a map of the islands below, pressing everything into the surface of a mirror for easy navigation. “Okay, Hoshi, let’s go lower.”
The two dropped down, getting closer to the surface of the water, and Sorano’s eyes carefully scanned each small clump of land, crossing it off when no irregularly powerful magical energies were found. Most were bare of the same energy she had felt from the other keys with the past beacons. By now, a pattern was emerging with these keys, and it appeared that whoever was controlling the scheme of things, it was the same for each beacon. These malefic magical energies held the same general pattern and signature on each island, and were easy enough to identify. Moving on to the next sandbar, Sorano found herself crossing off yet another island on the map. So far, there had been no results, and the concern that they’d have to go underwater entered her mind again. It wasn’t in a human’s nature to be able to go underwater and survive, so it was perfectly reasonable why the letter mage might be reluctant. Death was so much easier to come by when you were submerged under kilometers of water, after all.
But as the two drifted over island after island, something new began to pop up on Sorano’s radar. A strange, yet familiar energy was beginning to emerge within her radar as they moved toward the center of the bay, a strengthening magical energy that they had already encountered. The letter mage nodded as her theories were confirmed by the pedestal they would find floating in the center of the bay, surrounded by dark, malefic energies. Sure enough, the mark of the Magic Council’s seal on the pedestal revealed that this was one of the seven beacons. But…where was the key? The girls hovered down closer until they were only a few meters above the pedestal, gazing around and searching for whatever great monster would be protecting this beacon. They floated ever closer, Hoshi’s brow furrowing in worry the closer they got to the water. There wasn’t much land surrounding this pedestal, instead a few bare rocks sticking up around it that was nowhere near enough land to fight safely on. Whatever this battle would be like, it would not be easy. In fact, just as Sorano’s feet brushed the edge of the pedestal, a giant tentacle would lash forth from the waves, slamming into both mages and hurling them into the water. Well…this was unfortunate.
Sorano spluttered and gasped in shock as salty liquid filled her lungs, back slamming into a rock-hard ocean, the wind being pushed out of her at the harsh impact. It was all too easy to underestimate the power and strength of water when you just observed it from the outside. Without a ship, without an island to stand on…it was not going to be an easy battle for her. Casting a spell in a quick moment’s decision, Sorano would furiously scribble out words one after another, even as she sank into the waves, another lash of the octopus’ tentacle hurling her out of the water again as she continued to scribble through the air, desperately writing out the spell. The situation was deadly and dangerous, and this particular spell was extremely complicated. The prospect of messing up on it was disastrous as well, and the letter mage was honestly quite cynical of her ability to pull this off. But it had to be attempted, because ending up as octopus food was not a particularly appealing thought to her. Finishing off the last descriptive sentence, a giant sea turtle suddenly came crashing out of the air, splooshing into the water with a gargantuan burst of water, unsettling even the octopus. Sorano came slamming down on its patterned surface, feeling the surface of the giant sea turtle beneath her hands in a strangely comforting reassurance. After all, this was the creature who was going to ensure her success in the upcoming battle. Now having a surface to stand on, Sorano could get cracking. The impact of the sea turtle had broken off one of the octopus’ limbs, much to her delight, and as such it would be much easier to finish off the rest with the creature in pain.
Writing out the familiar spell, a burst of lightning slammed down into the octopus, shoving it deep underwater with a crackle of electricity. A moment later, the letter mage followed the move up with a blast from Fanirvuh, slamming into the creature first an arrow of paralyzation, causing it to sink even deeper into the sea before blasting a tentacle with an explosive arrow. Now lacking in two tentacles, the octopus was unbalanced. It became easy to launch a volley of ice bullets down at the creature, simultaneously freezing it and then cracking off three more of the limbs. It seemed the water would be both a disadvantage as well as something the letter mage could turn to her advantage. Hoshi, meanwhile had barely managed to make it onto the turtle, struggling weakly to settle into the dip between its shell and neck. Sorano, on the other hand, was ready to finish this thing. A volley of spears pierced deep into the water, and the liquid turned red and black as blood was spilled, splashing out and dying the entire bay with darkness as the octopus died. The beacon began to glow, and a burst of light surrounded the mages.
7,061 / 12,000 words
Next Part
