[Luna POV]
When we got to the third floor, I noticed how empty it was.
“Was it this empty when we were coming up here?” (Luna)
“There were a few people earlier.” (Velvet)
I looked around the room and noticed a small bar on one side with a person sleeping with their head on the counter.
“Well anyway, lets go and take some quests.” (Luna)
We walked up to the quest board to find something to do.
“Let’s see.” (Luna)
“Hmmmm.” (Velvet)
Both me and Velvet assumed a pose with our hands holding our chins.
“It’s sometimes annoying being as strong as we are. None of these seem fun, just tedious.” (Luna)
“I agree.” (Velvet)
“I think a few of these would be interesting, like this one.” (Soleil)
She picked up one quest paper and showed it to us.
“Hunt Stymphalian Birds, huh. Heh.” (Luna)
“What’s so funny about this?” (Ophidia)
“I already killed the hydra and Nemean lion, guess I’m going through the twelve labors.” (Luna)
“What are those?” (Velvet)
“I’ll tell you later. Let’s do this one then.” (Luna)
We brought the quest paper over to the reception counter next to the bar and accepted the quest. As we were leaving, the person that was sleeping woke up and looked over to us. After a few seconds, she got up and ran over to us.
“Ooohhh? New people up here? How rare nya.” (???)
My ear twitched when I heard the nya.
‘Do cat people actually say that?’
{Yes they do, it’s just the few you have run into before were the weird ones that don’t say it much.}
“Hey hey, who are all of you? I’ve never seen you here before.” (???)
“You should be the one introducing yourself first.” (Velvet)
“Nyahahahahahahaha. Right right, my name is Mio.”
“My name is Luna Reed.”
“I’m Velvet.”
“Soleil.”
“Ophidia.”
“Nyice to meet you all. So tell me, what quest did you take?” (Mio)
“The one to hunt Stymphalian Birds.” (Luna)
Mio’s eyes flashed as soon as I said that.
“Nyaaaa. Very good, those are really tasty birds. Hey hey, if you hunt more than the quest requires, I’ll buy them off of you.” (Mio)
I look at everyone and they all nodded.
“Why not, but only if we find more than the quest wants.” (Luna)
“Nyahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Very good, if you ever need to find me, I’ll be here.” (Mio)
She went back to the bar counter and laid her head back down. Shortly after I started to hear snoring. We started making our way down the stairs when I decided to speak up.
“Well, that was interesting.” (Luna)
“I agree.” (Ophidia)
“Is something up, Velvet?” (Soleil)
“I feel like I’ve heard her name before, I just don’t remember from where.” (Velvet)
“Hmmm. Maybe she’s a famous adventurer?” (Ophidia)
“Possibly, I’ll let you all know if I remember.” (Velvet)
We made our way down and out of the guild without any more interruptions and then left the city.
“Now to find the birds.” (Luna)
“The quest paper said they can be found near a marsh type place, do you know where that is?” (Velvet)
“I can find it.” (Luna)
I used my space magic and spread as far as I could handle.
“I see, the place we’re headed is several leagues away from here.” (Luna)
“Let’s move then.” (Soleil)
They all grabbed onto me and we started making our way to the location. After a few times of folding space, we arrived at the edge of the marsh land. I could hear the sounds of birds from the tops of trees. I pulled out a bow and a quiver, readied some ice spears, and opened several Gates.
“How do we make sure they don’t just fly away?” (Ophidia)
“Simple, we cover the area in a one-way space barrier.” (Luna)
“Why not make a domain?” (Velvet)
“I want to give Ophidia some practice with her space magic. I shouldn’t be the only one to ever use it after all.” (Luna)
“Fair enough.” (Velvet)
“Then allow me.” (Ophidia)
She raised her hands up and used her space magic. I felt the barrier cover us and the area around us.
“Very good, just let me know if you start running low on mana and I will transfer some to you.” (Luna)
“Understood, master.” (Ophidia)
“Now that their escape route is gone, how do we get them to come at us?” (Soleil)
“I’ll take care of that.” (Luna)
I pulled out a large gong from my inventory and got ready to hit it.
“*Sigh* I’m not even going to ask where you got that from.” (Velvet)
I grinned and swung the stick I was holding and hit the gong. It made a very loud sound and all the birds on top of the trees started flying around erratically. I quickly put it away and readied my bow again.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So many.” (Luna)
“Are you sure Soleil and Ophidia can handle this many?” (Velvet)
“Of course they can. The both of us will be handling most of them, but we need to let them take a few. Soleil especially need to so she can get her levels up.” (Luna)
“Very well.” (Velvet)
Several of the birds looked our way and started diving at us while others started shooting feathers like arrows. We all dodged or blocked the feathers that were shot at us. I took a quick glance at one that landed close to me and stuck in the ground.
‘Metallic, just like the legend.’
I shot an arrow into one the eye of one of the birds that was diving towards me and Velvet cut a few down with her sword in whip form. Ophidia was punching the feathers that came at her which redirected them into other birds.
‘Grey really did a good job teaching her.’
Soleil was firing off fire and wind spears, doing her best to hit as many birds as she could.
“Patience Soleil, only take the shots you know you’ll hit.” (Velvet)
“Right.” (Soleil)
I shot several ice spears through the wings of a few birds, which Soleil finished off. The birds that Ophidia was dealing with started to dive at her which was a mistake on their part.
“Hahahahahaha! Come at me meat.” (Ophidia)
One of the birds that dove at Ophidia missed and she punched it in the chest sending it flying into the others. When that happened, they all fell out of the sky in a big lump and Ophidia was about to run towards them when several more birds pinned her down again with ranged attacks.
“Annoying.” (Ophidia)
After saying that, she started punching the feathers back at the birds again. While that was happening, Velvet was swinging her sword-whip around making it look like an actual snake. Every swing brought down several birds at once. She had a slight grin on her face.
‘Ha, and I thought me and Ophidia were the only ones who enjoyed a fight.’
{Has Velvet ever denied enjoying it?}
‘I don’t remember.’
I continued my assault on the birds with magic, arrows, and weapons. After about an hour of nonstop fighting, we all heard a very loud cry from above. I looked up and saw a Stymphalian Bird that was bigger than the rest and had silver colored feathers and beak. It was high in the sky and started to dive towards us faster than any of the others had before.
“I think it’s boosting its speed with wind magic.” (Luna)
“I can’t hit that with my magic. What about you Velvet?” (Soleil)
“Not with magic, but if I wait for the right moment, I think I can cut it.” (Velvet)
“Want me to create that opportunity?” (Luna)
“Go for it.” (Velvet)
I smiled widely and readied an arrow. I pulled the string of the bow back as far as I could until I heard the bow start to groan.
“Soleil, cover this arrow with as much wind magic as you can.” (Luna)
She did as I asked and the arrow was then covered in a layer of wind. I fired the arrow and just barely missed the silver bird that was diving towards us. Once the arrow was fired, my bow snapped. The wind that was covering the arrow managed to alter the bird’s trajectory some and just as it entered Velvet’s range, she swung her sword horizontally, cutting the silver bird’s head off.
“Nice going Velvet.” (Luna)
“Thanks.” (Velvet)
The remaining birds started trying to escape.
“Master, I can’t keep the barrier up much longer, do you want me to drop it or are we going to kill the rest of the birds?” (Ophidia)
“Drop it, we’ve killed more than enough.” (Luna)
She dropped the barrier and we started collecting our spoils. I picked up several feathers and looked over them for a bit.
‘Hey Tamamo, do you like feathers as hair ornaments?’
{Depends on how they look. I don’t think they would look good on me, but on you I bet they would look nice.}
‘Then I’ll take several from the silver one.’
Once we were finished picking up the birds, everyone gathered around.
“Do you want to teleport us back, Ophidia, or do you want me to?” (Luna)
“I can. Where do you want to teleport to, outside the city or in the guild?” (Ophidia)
“Outside the city is fine.” (Luna)
“Ok then.” (Ophidia)
We all grabbed on to her and she teleported us next to the city walls. We walked over to the gate and went inside. When we got to the guild and went inside, it was as empty looking as when we left. We walked up to the third floor and found Mio still sleeping at the bar. There were a few other adventurers up here this time, but all they did is glance at us before returning to whatever they were doing.
We walked up to the counter and reported our success to the receptionist. Once we shoed proof of our achievement, the completion was recorded and we were done. We then went over to Mio and I shook her awake.
“Nyaa?” (Mio)
“Hey, wake up for a bit.” (Luna)
She looked at me through squinted, sleepy eyes.
“Oh, it’s the new people. How did the quest go?” (Mio)
“We finished it and we got a lot extra.” (Luna)
When she heard me say that, her still sleepy eyes started to shine and she grabbed my shoulders.
“Truly!?” (Mio)
I nodded my head in affirmation.
“Nyahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! How many, I’ll buy them all.” (Mio)
“I’m not sure but there are at least over two hundred.” (Luna)
Her smile cramped a bit and her shoulders slumped a bit.
“I can’t buy that many nya.” (Mio)
“Don’t worry about it, I was only going to give you as many as you could buy and take the rest for us.” (Luna)
Her smile returned to what it was before I told her the number we still had.
“Nyaha! Then I’ll take 30, just put them in this bag while I count out the payment.” She said as she handed me a bag.
I transferred 30 birds from my inventory to my space magic inventory then transferred them into the magic bag I was handed.
‘Even if it’s limited, Authority over space is so handy.’
{So, you can reach inside of anyone’s magic bags?}
‘Yep, though I won’t do it if I don’t have to. I’m not a thief.’
Once I was done with that, I placed the bag next to Mio on the counter. She then placed several stacks of gold coins on the counter and slid them over to me. I picked them up and stored them.
“Thanks friends, I’ll be eating good for a while with this.” (Mio)
She smiled as she said this before her eyes got a sleepy look to them again.
“*Yawn* So sleepy.” (Mio)
She laid her head back on the counter and went back to sleep.
‘How very cat-like.’
We decided to leave the guild and look around the city for a while before heading back to the temple.
Chaos Realm:
Tamamo: Have you seen Atmos around lately?
No, but I do hear her laughing from the isolation room from time to time, so she must be enjoying whatever she is buying from that mysterious sphinx.
Tamamo: Is that really a good idea to let her do that?
Probably not, but none of us can really do anything about it.
Tamamo: Not even you?
I mean I could, but I won't. *I smile a bit* I'm sure whatever she gets into with that stuff will be entertaining to me.
Tamamo: *Sigh* Are you really that bored?
I can be. It's not like I'm constantly watching Luna. It would be creepy if I was and I don't want to be seen that way.
Tamamo: Fair enough.
[Luna POV]
When we got to the third floor, I noticed how empty it was.
“Was it this empty when we were coming up here?” (Luna)
“There were a few people earlier.” (Velvet)
I looked around the room and noticed a small bar on one side with a person sleeping with their head on the counter.
“Well anyway, lets go and take some quests.” (Luna)
We walked up to the quest board to find something to do.
“Let’s see.” (Luna)
“Hmmmm.” (Velvet)
Both me and Velvet assumed a pose with our hands holding our chins.
“It’s sometimes annoying being as strong as we are. None of these seem fun, just tedious.” (Luna)
“I agree.” (Velvet)
“I think a few of these would be interesting, like this one.” (Soleil)
She picked up one quest paper and showed it to us.
“Hunt Stymphalian Birds, huh. Heh.” (Luna)
“What’s so funny about this?” (Ophidia)
“I already killed the hydra and Nemean lion, guess I’m going through the twelve labors.” (Luna)
“What are those?” (Velvet)
“I’ll tell you later. Let’s do this one then.” (Luna)
We brought the quest paper over to the reception counter next to the bar and accepted the quest. As we were leaving, the person that was sleeping woke up and looked over to us. After a few seconds, she got up and ran over to us.
“Ooohhh? New people up here? How rare nya.” (???)
My ear twitched when I heard the nya.
‘Do cat people actually say that?’
{Yes they do, it’s just the few you have run into before were the weird ones that don’t say it much.}
“Hey hey, who are all of you? I’ve never seen you here before.” (???)
“You should be the one introducing yourself first.” (Velvet)
“Nyahahahahahahaha. Right right, my name is Mio.”
“My name is Luna Reed.”
“I’m Velvet.”
“Soleil.”
“Ophidia.”
“Nyice to meet you all. So tell me, what quest did you take?” (Mio)
“The one to hunt Stymphalian Birds.” (Luna)
Mio’s eyes flashed as soon as I said that.
“Nyaaaa. Very good, those are really tasty birds. Hey hey, if you hunt more than the quest requires, I’ll buy them off of you.” (Mio)
I look at everyone and they all nodded.
“Why not, but only if we find more than the quest wants.” (Luna)
“Nyahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Very good, if you ever need to find me, I’ll be here.” (Mio)
She went back to the bar counter and laid her head back down. Shortly after I started to hear snoring. We started making our way down the stairs when I decided to speak up.
“Well, that was interesting.” (Luna)
“I agree.” (Ophidia)
“Is something up, Velvet?” (Soleil)
“I feel like I’ve heard her name before, I just don’t remember from where.” (Velvet)
“Hmmm. Maybe she’s a famous adventurer?” (Ophidia)
“Possibly, I’ll let you all know if I remember.” (Velvet)
We made our way down and out of the guild without any more interruptions and then left the city.
“Now to find the birds.” (Luna)
“The quest paper said they can be found near a marsh type place, do you know where that is?” (Velvet)
“I can find it.” (Luna)
I used my space magic and spread as far as I could handle.
“I see, the place we’re headed is several leagues away from here.” (Luna)
“Let’s move then.” (Soleil)
They all grabbed onto me and we started making our way to the location. After a few times of folding space, we arrived at the edge of the marsh land. I could hear the sounds of birds from the tops of trees. I pulled out a bow and a quiver, readied some ice spears, and opened several Gates.
“How do we make sure they don’t just fly away?” (Ophidia)
“Simple, we cover the area in a one-way space barrier.” (Luna)
“Why not make a domain?” (Velvet)
“I want to give Ophidia some practice with her space magic. I shouldn’t be the only one to ever use it after all.” (Luna)
“Fair enough.” (Velvet)
“Then allow me.” (Ophidia)
She raised her hands up and used her space magic. I felt the barrier cover us and the area around us.
“Very good, just let me know if you start running low on mana and I will transfer some to you.” (Luna)
“Understood, master.” (Ophidia)
“Now that their escape route is gone, how do we get them to come at us?” (Soleil)
“I’ll take care of that.” (Luna)
I pulled out a large gong from my inventory and got ready to hit it.
“*Sigh* I’m not even going to ask where you got that from.” (Velvet)
I grinned and swung the stick I was holding and hit the gong. It made a very loud sound and all the birds on top of the trees started flying around erratically. I quickly put it away and readied my bow again.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So many.” (Luna)
“Are you sure Soleil and Ophidia can handle this many?” (Velvet)
“Of course they can. The both of us will be handling most of them, but we need to let them take a few. Soleil especially need to so she can get her levels up.” (Luna)
“Very well.” (Velvet)
Several of the birds looked our way and started diving at us while others started shooting feathers like arrows. We all dodged or blocked the feathers that were shot at us. I took a quick glance at one that landed close to me and stuck in the ground.
‘Metallic, just like the legend.’
I shot an arrow into one the eye of one of the birds that was diving towards me and Velvet cut a few down with her sword in whip form. Ophidia was punching the feathers that came at her which redirected them into other birds.
‘Grey really did a good job teaching her.’
Soleil was firing off fire and wind spears, doing her best to hit as many birds as she could.
“Patience Soleil, only take the shots you know you’ll hit.” (Velvet)
“Right.” (Soleil)
I shot several ice spears through the wings of a few birds, which Soleil finished off. The birds that Ophidia was dealing with started to dive at her which was a mistake on their part.
“Hahahahahaha! Come at me meat.” (Ophidia)
One of the birds that dove at Ophidia missed and she punched it in the chest sending it flying into the others. When that happened, they all fell out of the sky in a big lump and Ophidia was about to run towards them when several more birds pinned her down again with ranged attacks.
“Annoying.” (Ophidia)
After saying that, she started punching the feathers back at the birds again. While that was happening, Velvet was swinging her sword-whip around making it look like an actual snake. Every swing brought down several birds at once. She had a slight grin on her face.
‘Ha, and I thought me and Ophidia were the only ones who enjoyed a fight.’
{Has Velvet ever denied enjoying it?}
‘I don’t remember.’
I continued my assault on the birds with magic, arrows, and weapons. After about an hour of nonstop fighting, we all heard a very loud cry from above. I looked up and saw a Stymphalian Bird that was bigger than the rest and had silver colored feathers and beak. It was high in the sky and started to dive towards us faster than any of the others had before.
“I think it’s boosting its speed with wind magic.” (Luna)
“I can’t hit that with my magic. What about you Velvet?” (Soleil)
“Not with magic, but if I wait for the right moment, I think I can cut it.” (Velvet)
“Want me to create that opportunity?” (Luna)
“Go for it.” (Velvet)
I smiled widely and readied an arrow. I pulled the string of the bow back as far as I could until I heard the bow start to groan.
“Soleil, cover this arrow with as much wind magic as you can.” (Luna)
She did as I asked and the arrow was then covered in a layer of wind. I fired the arrow and just barely missed the silver bird that was diving towards us. Once the arrow was fired, my bow snapped. The wind that was covering the arrow managed to alter the bird’s trajectory some and just as it entered Velvet’s range, she swung her sword horizontally, cutting the silver bird’s head off.
“Nice going Velvet.” (Luna)
“Thanks.” (Velvet)
The remaining birds started trying to escape.
“Master, I can’t keep the barrier up much longer, do you want me to drop it or are we going to kill the rest of the birds?” (Ophidia)
“Drop it, we’ve killed more than enough.” (Luna)
She dropped the barrier and we started collecting our spoils. I picked up several feathers and looked over them for a bit.
‘Hey Tamamo, do you like feathers as hair ornaments?’
{Depends on how they look. I don’t think they would look good on me, but on you I bet they would look nice.}
‘Then I’ll take several from the silver one.’
Once we were finished picking up the birds, everyone gathered around.
“Do you want to teleport us back, Ophidia, or do you want me to?” (Luna)
“I can. Where do you want to teleport to, outside the city or in the guild?” (Ophidia)
“Outside the city is fine.” (Luna)
“Ok then.” (Ophidia)
We all grabbed on to her and she teleported us next to the city walls. We walked over to the gate and went inside. When we got to the guild and went inside, it was as empty looking as when we left. We walked up to the third floor and found Mio still sleeping at the bar. There were a few other adventurers up here this time, but all they did is glance at us before returning to whatever they were doing.
We walked up to the counter and reported our success to the receptionist. Once we shoed proof of our achievement, the completion was recorded and we were done. We then went over to Mio and I shook her awake.
“Nyaa?” (Mio)
“Hey, wake up for a bit.” (Luna)
She looked at me through squinted, sleepy eyes.
“Oh, it’s the new people. How did the quest go?” (Mio)
“We finished it and we got a lot extra.” (Luna)
When she heard me say that, her still sleepy eyes started to shine and she grabbed my shoulders.
“Truly!?” (Mio)
I nodded my head in affirmation.
“Nyahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! How many, I’ll buy them all.” (Mio)
“I’m not sure but there are at least over two hundred.” (Luna)
Her smile cramped a bit and her shoulders slumped a bit.
“I can’t buy that many nya.” (Mio)
“Don’t worry about it, I was only going to give you as many as you could buy and take the rest for us.” (Luna)
Her smile returned to what it was before I told her the number we still had.
“Nyaha! Then I’ll take 30, just put them in this bag while I count out the payment.” She said as she handed me a bag.
I transferred 30 birds from my inventory to my space magic inventory then transferred them into the magic bag I was handed.
‘Even if it’s limited, Authority over space is so handy.’
{So, you can reach inside of anyone’s magic bags?}
‘Yep, though I won’t do it if I don’t have to. I’m not a thief.’
Once I was done with that, I placed the bag next to Mio on the counter. She then placed several stacks of gold coins on the counter and slid them over to me. I picked them up and stored them.
“Thanks friends, I’ll be eating good for a while with this.” (Mio)
She smiled as she said this before her eyes got a sleepy look to them again.
“*Yawn* So sleepy.” (Mio)
She laid her head back on the counter and went back to sleep.
‘How very cat-like.’
We decided to leave the guild and look around the city for a while before heading back to the temple.
Chaos Realm:
Tamamo: Have you seen Atmos around lately?
No, but I do hear her laughing from the isolation room from time to time, so she must be enjoying whatever she is buying from that mysterious sphinx.
Tamamo: Is that really a good idea to let her do that?
Probably not, but none of us can really do anything about it.
Tamamo: Not even you?
I mean I could, but I won't. *I smile a bit* I'm sure whatever she gets into with that stuff will be entertaining to me.
Tamamo: *Sigh* Are you really that bored?
I can be. It's not like I'm constantly watching Luna. It would be creepy if I was and I don't want to be seen that way.
Tamamo: Fair enough.
