Why has Dark Magician Girl not run out of time?
That was what was going on in my mind. I thought the two hour rule with my cards was absolute. How did Alice and Mana break it?
“What were the two of you doing?” I asked them.
“We were just practicing.” Alice answered. Well that’s to be expected, but you shouldn’t go overboard.
“And we talked about the boys we like.” Mana added. “I told her about Pharaoh Atem and his glorious win against Zorc the Dark One. And she said she wants to marry Mas, ah. Mh, gh.”
Alice slapped her hands onto Mana’s mouth in an attempt to keep her quiet, but I think she might have been too slow. I think the important part has already come out.
“Don’t say that.” Alice said. “It’s a secret.” I don’t think it really is Alice. You have sneaked into my room twice. And slept next to me, after knowing me for like a day. I think the confusing part would be, if you weren’t interested in me at all.
But the relationships are not really what I need to know about right now. This extended summon is more important.
“What kind of practice were you doing?” I asked them. As I did, Alice took her hands away from Mana’s mouth.
“We were just doing the basic mana circulation practice.” Alice answered.
“And I was teaching some spells to her, while at it.” Mana continued. “I wanted to give Alice some material to study with, in case Master was to leave soon.”
“...I don’t want you to leave yet.” Alice said quietly. Well, she would lose her teacher if I left. I guess I could leave Dark Magician Girl with her, but I won’t do it if Mana wants to come with me.
“I see…” I really don’t understand anything. Nothing about that seems strange. (Laura, do you have an idea?)
(Information on Master’s skill is limited, as such no absolute theory is available.)
(But you do have an idea?)
(Yes. It could be due to the bond between Alice and Mana. Or Mana could be forcing herself to stay active for a little bit longer.)
(She doesn’t seem strained.)
(She is a practiced magician. She might be used to dealing with and hiding pain.)
(I see. Better just to ask her.) I decided. “Mana, how are you feeling?”
“I feel fine, Master.” She answered. “Why do you ask?”
“It’s just that your summoning time should be up by now. Laura said you might be forcing yourself to stay here.” I told her.
“Oh, is it? I didn’t even notice.” She answered casually. Perhaps it really is just easy for her to stay here. Or was the two hour limit wrong? No, I remember with Kagemusha, he got noticeably weaker when the time limit ran out.
“You two must have done something strange to do that.” I said. “Well anyway, Alice, you should unsummon Mana now, before something bad happens to her.”
“But, she seems fine.” Alice argued.
“It’s fine Alice.” Mana told her. “You’ll get to see me again tomorrow. Isn’t that right, Master?” Mana got on my case about summoning her tomorrow.
“Yeah, I don’t mind summoning you tomorrow.” I told her.
“Fine then.” Alice gave in. “Mana, thank you for the second lesson. You can go now.” Alice said and the Dark Magician Girl’s card appeared.
“Sure. You better keep your promise, Master.” Mana said to me, before flying into her card.
“Alice, show me her card.” I asked Alice. I need to make sure it didn’t get damaged in any way from that extended summon.
“Sure.” Alice said and handed it over.
I inspected it from every angle, but I didn’t find any damage on it. That’s good at least.
“Is she fine?” Alice asked me, seeming a little worried.
“I don’t see any damage on the card and she seemed well when she left, so I it should be fine.” I told Alice.
“Good.” She seemed a little relieved.
“I still don’t think you should keep her here for too long at a time.” I told Alice. “Even if it was fine this time, you should be more careful in the future. I don’t really know the limits of these toploaders, so if it breaks, we might lose Mana’s card. Forever.”
“NO!” Alice yelled out. “That can’t happen. I won't let it.”
“Then don’t keep her here for too long. At least until I really get why she even could do it.” I told her as I placed Dark Magician Girl back into my collection.
“I promise I won’t.” Alice promised me.
—
“Brian, you should come visit the guild.” Alex said to me. “You didn’t register yet, did you?”
“No, I never got the chance.” I answered. “But I thought you said the guild was a mess or something like that, so it might be a better idea to wait a few more days.”
“Registering a new adventurer won’t make a difference. The problems are mostly on the back end, after all.” Alex explained.
“I hope the young adventurers are not getting into problems due to this. I would feel bad for them.”
“That’s part of the reason Rico stayed behind today. He was going to help them.” Alex said to me. “Lua has also been draining the blood of all the boars that were taken down today. And Zayaan took the guild master’s seat temporarily.”
“What happened with that B-rank party you talked about? Did they come back from the guest? They were hunting something B-rank, if memory serves.”
“Yes, Diamond Sword had a successful wyvern hunt.” Alex answered. “They came back late last evening and were resting until noon. We just saw them as we made our way here.”
“And they are helping to keep the guild up?”
“I would assume so.” Alex told me. “High ranking adventurers want their home guild to be strong after all.”
“Has the news of the dungeon spread to the guild yet?” I asked.
“I don’t think so.” Alex answered. “There are some rumors, and a lot of the guild staff know about it, but I think most junior adventurers still think it’s just a rumor. But we did make a lot of noise yesterday and you even made a path in the woods, so theories are going to fly.”
“Yeah, and then there were the trees that are going to be cleared away.” I said. “I know Brandon asked the transporters to clear them, but wouldn’t they also hire some adventurers to act as muscle?”
“They do, yes.” Alex answered. “I think they left for the first pickup in the morning. But, considering the work there is, it will take at least a week to clear it all the way to the dungeon. Even the explorative juniors will be afraid to walk too far into an unexplored forest.”
“People don’t go there?”
“Not really. There is little of value in that forest. The main thing is these berries that grow there. Every year the baron buys a large amount of them, so the guild sends a group to pick them up. But they don’t go as deep as the dungeon during the picking.”
I remember those berries. They tasted good. I think the juice I had on the first day was made of them. But they really don’t go that deep? The dungeon was only like a two hour trip through the forest. Well I guess it would be easy to get lost without system support. Or just a compass. Do they not have compasses? Or they might be too large to carry on your person. Like the ones they had on old ships.
“I see. Well, I’ll try to visit the guild tomorrow.” I told Alex.
—
After the guests (or summoning students) left, I had some tea and snacks with Alice and her mother.
“So Brian,” Christina began. “When will we visit the dungeon again?”
“Why would you need to go there?” Alice asked. I think she still remembers all that blood everywhere. I did clean it when I absorbed all the monster corpses, but that won’t destroy the memories.
“Brian said he is going to make me the dungeon master.” Christina replied.
“Really? But then you won’t be able to leave the town, right?”
“As long as we name someone from the guild as a secondary dungeon master it will be just fine.” Christina told the worried Alice. Where would Christina even need to go? The capital probably. I think there might be some big parties that would require the presence of all nobles in the country.
“I think we should wait a few more days.” I told her. “I think you would have heard, but I had a summon clear a path in the forest, so it will be easier to get to and from the dungeon. But the fallen trees are still there, and a road has not been made yet, so if we wait a few more days, we can get there easier.”
“That is true, but didn’t you speak of a flying summon? Couldn’t we just fly there?” Christina asked.
“I only have one, so we could only fly one way.” At least if my assumption is right about Cyber Falcon. Sonic Bird might be able to handle it, if it was just one person and Twin-Headed Fire Dragon would probably just burn us. Queen Bird seems nice, but it’s too small to carry a person. I think. I could always try summoning one, but waiting a few more days shouldn’t be a problem. I can just check up on the dungeon every day.
“I see.” Christina answered. “That’s too bad.”
“The dungeon won’t run away. And I did kind of promise the position of dungeon master to you. And I do tend to keep my promises.” I said to Christina.
“Of course you do.” Alice commented.
Thank you for your trust, Alice.
With that, our tea time came to an end.
Announcement So CH.49 won, by a lot. CH.48 is going to come out on April 7, at 2PM GMT. And CH.49 will come out at the regular time at 4PM.
Why has Dark Magician Girl not run out of time?
That was what was going on in my mind. I thought the two hour rule with my cards was absolute. How did Alice and Mana break it?
“What were the two of you doing?” I asked them.
“We were just practicing.” Alice answered. Well that’s to be expected, but you shouldn’t go overboard.
“And we talked about the boys we like.” Mana added. “I told her about Pharaoh Atem and his glorious win against Zorc the Dark One. And she said she wants to marry Mas, ah. Mh, gh.”
Alice slapped her hands onto Mana’s mouth in an attempt to keep her quiet, but I think she might have been too slow. I think the important part has already come out.
“Don’t say that.” Alice said. “It’s a secret.” I don’t think it really is Alice. You have sneaked into my room twice. And slept next to me, after knowing me for like a day. I think the confusing part would be, if you weren’t interested in me at all.
But the relationships are not really what I need to know about right now. This extended summon is more important.
“What kind of practice were you doing?” I asked them. As I did, Alice took her hands away from Mana’s mouth.
“We were just doing the basic mana circulation practice.” Alice answered.
“And I was teaching some spells to her, while at it.” Mana continued. “I wanted to give Alice some material to study with, in case Master was to leave soon.”
“...I don’t want you to leave yet.” Alice said quietly. Well, she would lose her teacher if I left. I guess I could leave Dark Magician Girl with her, but I won’t do it if Mana wants to come with me.
“I see…” I really don’t understand anything. Nothing about that seems strange. (Laura, do you have an idea?)
(Information on Master’s skill is limited, as such no absolute theory is available.)
(But you do have an idea?)
(Yes. It could be due to the bond between Alice and Mana. Or Mana could be forcing herself to stay active for a little bit longer.)
(She doesn’t seem strained.)
(She is a practiced magician. She might be used to dealing with and hiding pain.)
(I see. Better just to ask her.) I decided. “Mana, how are you feeling?”
“I feel fine, Master.” She answered. “Why do you ask?”
“It’s just that your summoning time should be up by now. Laura said you might be forcing yourself to stay here.” I told her.
“Oh, is it? I didn’t even notice.” She answered casually. Perhaps it really is just easy for her to stay here. Or was the two hour limit wrong? No, I remember with Kagemusha, he got noticeably weaker when the time limit ran out.
“You two must have done something strange to do that.” I said. “Well anyway, Alice, you should unsummon Mana now, before something bad happens to her.”
“But, she seems fine.” Alice argued.
“It’s fine Alice.” Mana told her. “You’ll get to see me again tomorrow. Isn’t that right, Master?” Mana got on my case about summoning her tomorrow.
“Yeah, I don’t mind summoning you tomorrow.” I told her.
“Fine then.” Alice gave in. “Mana, thank you for the second lesson. You can go now.” Alice said and the Dark Magician Girl’s card appeared.
“Sure. You better keep your promise, Master.” Mana said to me, before flying into her card.
“Alice, show me her card.” I asked Alice. I need to make sure it didn’t get damaged in any way from that extended summon.
“Sure.” Alice said and handed it over.
I inspected it from every angle, but I didn’t find any damage on it. That’s good at least.
“Is she fine?” Alice asked me, seeming a little worried.
“I don’t see any damage on the card and she seemed well when she left, so I it should be fine.” I told Alice.
“Good.” She seemed a little relieved.
“I still don’t think you should keep her here for too long at a time.” I told Alice. “Even if it was fine this time, you should be more careful in the future. I don’t really know the limits of these toploaders, so if it breaks, we might lose Mana’s card. Forever.”
“NO!” Alice yelled out. “That can’t happen. I won't let it.”
“Then don’t keep her here for too long. At least until I really get why she even could do it.” I told her as I placed Dark Magician Girl back into my collection.
“I promise I won’t.” Alice promised me.
—
“Brian, you should come visit the guild.” Alex said to me. “You didn’t register yet, did you?”
“No, I never got the chance.” I answered. “But I thought you said the guild was a mess or something like that, so it might be a better idea to wait a few more days.”
“Registering a new adventurer won’t make a difference. The problems are mostly on the back end, after all.” Alex explained.
“I hope the young adventurers are not getting into problems due to this. I would feel bad for them.”
“That’s part of the reason Rico stayed behind today. He was going to help them.” Alex said to me. “Lua has also been draining the blood of all the boars that were taken down today. And Zayaan took the guild master’s seat temporarily.”
“What happened with that B-rank party you talked about? Did they come back from the guest? They were hunting something B-rank, if memory serves.”
“Yes, Diamond Sword had a successful wyvern hunt.” Alex answered. “They came back late last evening and were resting until noon. We just saw them as we made our way here.”
“And they are helping to keep the guild up?”
“I would assume so.” Alex told me. “High ranking adventurers want their home guild to be strong after all.”
“Has the news of the dungeon spread to the guild yet?” I asked.
“I don’t think so.” Alex answered. “There are some rumors, and a lot of the guild staff know about it, but I think most junior adventurers still think it’s just a rumor. But we did make a lot of noise yesterday and you even made a path in the woods, so theories are going to fly.”
“Yeah, and then there were the trees that are going to be cleared away.” I said. “I know Brandon asked the transporters to clear them, but wouldn’t they also hire some adventurers to act as muscle?”
“They do, yes.” Alex answered. “I think they left for the first pickup in the morning. But, considering the work there is, it will take at least a week to clear it all the way to the dungeon. Even the explorative juniors will be afraid to walk too far into an unexplored forest.”
“People don’t go there?”
“Not really. There is little of value in that forest. The main thing is these berries that grow there. Every year the baron buys a large amount of them, so the guild sends a group to pick them up. But they don’t go as deep as the dungeon during the picking.”
I remember those berries. They tasted good. I think the juice I had on the first day was made of them. But they really don’t go that deep? The dungeon was only like a two hour trip through the forest. Well I guess it would be easy to get lost without system support. Or just a compass. Do they not have compasses? Or they might be too large to carry on your person. Like the ones they had on old ships.
“I see. Well, I’ll try to visit the guild tomorrow.” I told Alex.
—
After the guests (or summoning students) left, I had some tea and snacks with Alice and her mother.
“So Brian,” Christina began. “When will we visit the dungeon again?”
“Why would you need to go there?” Alice asked. I think she still remembers all that blood everywhere. I did clean it when I absorbed all the monster corpses, but that won’t destroy the memories.
“Brian said he is going to make me the dungeon master.” Christina replied.
“Really? But then you won’t be able to leave the town, right?”
“As long as we name someone from the guild as a secondary dungeon master it will be just fine.” Christina told the worried Alice. Where would Christina even need to go? The capital probably. I think there might be some big parties that would require the presence of all nobles in the country.
“I think we should wait a few more days.” I told her. “I think you would have heard, but I had a summon clear a path in the forest, so it will be easier to get to and from the dungeon. But the fallen trees are still there, and a road has not been made yet, so if we wait a few more days, we can get there easier.”
“That is true, but didn’t you speak of a flying summon? Couldn’t we just fly there?” Christina asked.
“I only have one, so we could only fly one way.” At least if my assumption is right about Cyber Falcon. Sonic Bird might be able to handle it, if it was just one person and Twin-Headed Fire Dragon would probably just burn us. Queen Bird seems nice, but it’s too small to carry a person. I think. I could always try summoning one, but waiting a few more days shouldn’t be a problem. I can just check up on the dungeon every day.
“I see.” Christina answered. “That’s too bad.”
“The dungeon won’t run away. And I did kind of promise the position of dungeon master to you. And I do tend to keep my promises.” I said to Christina.
“Of course you do.” Alice commented.
Thank you for your trust, Alice.
With that, our tea time came to an end.
Announcement So CH.49 won, by a lot. CH.48 is going to come out on April 7, at 2PM GMT. And CH.49 will come out at the regular time at 4PM.
