Elemental Accords 1-3

Good Evening everyone! Sorry that i haven't been diligent with Dungeon Robotics uploads recently. I am trying to finish Azaria book 2 for an upcoming deadline. Technically, i am very behind, though that is my own fault. Anyway, Here is something to hold everyone over. 

Chapter 3

I held Rai for almost ten minutes. It was nearly noon by this point and the sounds from the city were only growing worse. If my guess was correct, the military had finally gotten involved as gunfire was the main noise I heard in the background. At the moment, we were leaning against the counter with Rai’s head buried in my shoulder.

“What am… am I… going to do now?” She asked in between sniffles.

I rubbed my head not sure what to say. I certainly couldn’t just leave her here by herself. “I’m not sure I can even defend myself, but if you want you can come with me.”

Rai looked at me with wide eyes. “But. But, we’ve only known each other for an hour if that. I’m not sure I can impose you on.” I had heard the Japanese were courtesy to the point of irritating.

I smiled. “I would rather have someone with me than be all alone. I don’t have any family, and most of my friends are in a completely different part of the country.” I had moved here for my job. It was my luck something like this would happen only a few days after I got here.

“O… Okay! I’ll go with you. Please let me know if I’m a burden.”

“Since that’s decided find a bag and pack some cloths and some food. I want to hit a few more places before nightfall.”

“Hit a few more places?” She asked then it dawned on her. “AH! Gold. Okay. Let me go get my things.”

I had to hope that gold wouldn’t be on most people’s mind for the first day of this change. It’d been nearly two hours since I reached this shop. That was a decent amount of time for things to change from bad to worse outside. I strapped the staff and spear to my back. I played with a few different ways to make sure I was able to get it quickly.

The sword had a sheath and I strapped that to my waist. Adding in the backpack full of stuff, I was loaded down as much as I could be. Finally, the bag of gold was strapped to the other side of my waist. All the gold touching me at once made me feel like a completely different person. I was glad that cloth didn’t reduce the effect or I’d have to wear all the jewelry. Wouldn’t that be a sight?

Rai rushed back into the room with her own backpack. “Here!” I looked at her curiously but held out my hand. She placed a gold bar that was a few centimeters wide and at least fifteen centimeters long. Just this bar alone added as much strength as the entire bag did. “It was in my parents safe. Consider it payment for protecting me.”

I smirked then bobbed my head. “As you wish your highness.” I placed the bar in the bag with the other gold. I was sure the reason the smaller bar added more than the entire bag was its purity. I would need to find out how to purify the gold and make it smaller. Thinking about it, I pulled out my phone, but the internet had finally went out. Thankfully, I had saved images of the maps to the other stores figuring something like this would happen.

“Ready?”

“Yes!”

Both of us nervous for various reason, I pulled the door out of the entrance and moved out onto the street. I looked around making sure not to miss anything then waved Rai forward when I didn’t see anything. With much stiffer movements, she came out of the shop.

“You should probably pay respect to your parents while you can. I’m not sure we’ll ever get the chance again,” I said moving over to the pair. I knew that the Japanese were very family based on my international studies in college. That might not be true for Rai’s family, but considering they were the first thing on her mind, there was a good chance that was the case.

“Thank you.” We moved over to them and while I kept watch, Rai clapped her hands and said a prayer. I let her have a few minutes. This would be her last time seeing them after all. “I’m okay now,” she said as she got up. I patted her shoulder as there was tears in her eyes but there was nothing wrong with that.

I bent down clapping my hands like she had. “I’ll try to protect your daughter. Please be at peace.” I then reached out and closed their eyes, so they looked to be sleeping rather than in terror.

Rai and I moved down the street keeping our eyes open for anything. From the looks of the street, it wasn’t a very good part of town before the change, which might explain why we didn’t meet anyone. Rai glanced back several times at her parents, but I never said anything. Mourning your loved ones was a process that took more than ten minutes. I’d been alone in the world since I was seventeen, but I still missed my parents on occasion having been close before their accident.

We reached an intersection, and I checked the map just to be sure. Turning left to peek around the corner, the relative peace that we’d been experiencing on the last street vanished. People were screaming while various monsters chased them. A military hummer was burning on one side of the street, the solders in various states of dismemberment surrounding it.

“Oh my god!” Rai cried out and hide behind my back.

“Was our street easy mode?” I mumbled and backed up. I needed a moment to consider what to do next.

“Should we try and help those people?” Rai asked.

“I counted at least a hundred monsters. The street is over two kilometers long. It… It would be hard.”

I suddenly felt a pain in my head then a screen appeared in front of me.

--

Mission

Save at least five people on Chester Street.

Time limit: 50 minutes

Reward: Ability

--

“Aurum! A screen popped up in front of me.”

“Yeah, me too.” Abilities were proving to be very useful. If the mission was to save everyone one the street, I probably would have ignored it. Since it was just five, we might have a chance. “I think we should try.”

“Me too.”

I remembered that she was able to use magic from her screen. I wish we had tested that ability before leaving her shop as well. “I wish we knew how to use your magic.”

“About that. When I think about the ability it sort of gives me an option. I hadn’t chosen anything yet since I was still overwhelmed from the situation.”

“Go ahead and chose something. Don’t ask me. You should choose something that is in line with your character.”

“I understand.” Only a moment or two went by before she replied. “Ready.”

“Alright.” I pulled the compound bow off my back and took aim. I hadn’t messed with a bow in nearly ten years. My dad and I used to go to the range every now and then, so I at least knew the basics. I took a deep breath then released the arrow. Sadly, I missed where I was aiming, but I took the goblin in the back of his leg.

I shot five more arrows steadily getting a tad better with each shot. After that, the cars were in the way and I didn’t have a clear line of sight. I replaced the bow and grabbed the spear. I was hoping that my next level up would give me the skills for the weapons that I used. I looked at Rai who nodded.

We rushed at the downed goblins. I stabbed the first one, while Rai went of the most incapacitated one and began punching it. Her father had some brass knuckles on sale so she’d grabbed them. After three strikes, the goblins finally stopped moving.

“Thank you!” a man shouted as he crawled out from under a nearby truck.

“Don’t mention it.” I pointed at the street we came from. “I’m not sure how long it will remain peaceful, but that street is calm at the moment.” He nodded and took off.

A thunk preceded a goblin jumping over a car at Rai. I was almost two meters from her, but it was moving quickly. I saw a frenzied expression likely due to Rai being a female. Her karate training must have kicked in as she suddenly spun, and roundhouse kicked the goblin. Its head turned one hundred and eighty degrees.

“Nice!” I shouted giving her a thumbs up. She returned it with a weak smile. She had just killed two creatures in the span of twenty seconds. I’m sure she was quite rattled. “Come on!”

The street might have been in chaos, but it turned out to be a good thing for Rai and myself. The people screaming and fleeing without direction turned into decoys for us and we were able to take out the goblins in surprise. It helped the creatures were one hundred percent morons. Rather than deal with the threat the two of us made, they continued to chase the women and children while clearly trying to kill the men.

“How much longer do we have?” Rai asked as she brought her fist up into the jaw of a goblin that was rushing her. She had mostly gotten over the gore by this point and was even using the fact she was a female to lure the goblins away from the other people.

Checking my watch, I replied. “Roughly two or three minutes.” Spinning my spear, I knocked back two goblins, then lunged at a third using the other two as steps. With a loud crack, I managed to break their necks. I had gotten a better understanding of my new strength and found I could exert roughly one hundred kilograms of force.

A roar sounded from nearby and a large goblin that was wearing armor burst out from an alley. Even the cars on the street were pushed out of its way. Its glared landed on us in only a second and it started to charge us.

“A boss!”

I raised my eyebrow at Rai’s shout but pulled my bow from my side. I’d slung it there for quick drawing. I grinned at the large target running at us, before I started shooting. I wasn’t just stronger, but also faster. I was able to unload ten arrows into the large goblin in under fifteen seconds. The only ones that did damage though were one that hit an eye and the forearm. The rest bounced off that armor.

I slung bow back, and grabbed my staff. The techniques given to me by the world would help in the fight. Another ten seconds, and the large goblin was on top of us. I met its sword swing with the staff causing it to bounce back from the impact of the weapons. Twisting my body, I used the recoil to bring the staff around. It slammed heavily onto the goblin’s head, but whether it had a thick skull or the helmet, my attack barely jarred it.

The thing roared and swung its free arm, punching me square in the chest. Like a sack of bricks had been slammed against me, I was flung back crashing into a car. It stalked forward with murder in its eyes. I fruitlessly tried to lift my staff, but the impact had driven all the air from my lungs.

Rai saved me as she came in and punched the goblin square in the jaw. “Light lance!” A blinding light flashed as the large goblin lost his head. Its body fell backward as in slow motion. Rai collapsed to the knees breathing heavily. “It… worked… used… too… much.”

I coughed regaining my composure and stood up. I grabbed her and dragged her to the nearby alley. It happened to be the one that the large goblin had come out of. In the center, looking ridiculous, was a wooden chest of all things that glowed lightly in the shadowed passage.

Rai saw it and started laughing. “Of course. After the boss is the reward.”

“What did you mean by boss earlier?” I asked setting her down against the wall.

“Gaming term. Areas that have lots of minions usually have a boss at the end of the event.”

“Oh. You’re going to have to teach me some since it looks like the world has been turned into a game.”

“Sure thing.” I moved over to the chest and carefully opened it. I might not know anything about games, but I had watched my share of movies. Chests had a high chance of being booby trapped. I guess this was too earlier in the game as nothing happened. A book laid on the bottom along with a sack of what appeared to be crystals.

--

Skill book (Legendary): Itembox

Able to storage items in a sub-dimension. Counts as touching and does not reduce weight. Skills that affect items can still reach your item box. Grows the more it is used.

--

Item: God Crystals.

Contrary to their name, they are simple currency. Used at select locations.

--

“We got some money and a skill book.” I showed her the contents of the chest.

“You should use the book. I’d still be hiding my closet if it wasn’t for you.”

“That may be the case, but you did finish off the large goblin.”

Rai shook her head. “No. Take it. I’ll take the next one if it suits me.”

I wanted to argue more, but there was steel in her eyes. I sighed and concentrated on the book as I opened it. There was a flash of light then the book vanished. I thought about using the skill and a screen appeared in front of me. A 3D visualization of the space available to me was displayed. I tossed the backpack, the bag of gold, as well as the bar into the space and was pleased that it only took up about one percent of the space.

I closed it then moved over to help Rai up. I only took a few steps before another screen appeared in my vision. I also saw that Rai got it.

--

Mission complete!

Saved: 67

AA rank clear.

Reward: Knight Summoning – Summon a living armor to fight along side of you. Duration: 1-hour. Cooldown: 1-hour.

--

I whistled at the reward. This would improve my survivability by a lot, depending on the actual skill of the being summoned. Given that Knights were usually the best of the best in medieval armies, I had high hopes.

I dismissed the screen and knelt next to Rai to check on her. “I got a pretty nice skill.”

“So did I!” She quickly told me the skill she got.

--

Skill: Dread armor – sacrifice a piece of your mana to create armor that is as strong as steel.

--

“That is pretty good.” I grabbed her arm and helped her stand.

“Too bad I used all my mana a few minutes ago when I used Light Lance.”

“Plenty of time to play with our skills later.” I peeked around the corner. Most of the people that had been on the street fled after we helped them. Most made for the street we told them about. Checking my watch, I found it was nearly three in the afternoon already. Winter was nearly here meaning the sun would set around six.

“The shop is on the next street, but I’m not sure about trying for it with you out like this.”

“I’m sorry.” She looked pretty depressed and I worried she was one of those girls that could switch moods in an instant. Not that it was a big deal, it would just be a headache if we ever got into a fight for some reason. I shuddered at the memory of some of my past ex-girlfriends.

I pulled my head from the clouds. “No. You saved me. I’m just trying to make sure we both survive the day.”

Considering the issue, I pointed my hand and concentrated on using the Knight summoning skill. A magic circle appeared on the ground before a silver-plated suit of armor rose from the ground. It was over two meters tall, with a helmet that leaked white light from the eye sockets. Where most of the armor appeared connected, the helmet floated a few centimeters above the body. A large shield covered its back while a long sword was attached to its belt.

“Um. Knight. Pick up Rai and carry her. Your job is to protect her no matter what.”

The knight did as told and picked her up. I was worried that I didn’t say to be gentle, but it was either quite smart or understood from my intents and was careful. I nodded then waved for us to head out into the street. Along the way I collected the arrows I shoot earlier. Of the original thirty I’d managed to find in the pawn shop, I’d broken four already. Three of them thanks to the large goblin.

I glanced down the street we came from and found it deserted. The people must have just kept running once they thought they were safe. It was disappointing since I wanted to tell them about the screens and even potentially enlist their help. No use crying over spilled milk at this point. I shook my head then jogged back to Knight and Rai.

There were a few goblins on our path, but I had grown stronger where they seemed to stay the same. I was using my sword to try and gain the skill for it as we moved down the street. A few minutes later, we came to the next intersection and I held up my hand. We had to turn left here, and the next shop was almost at the end of the street.

I peeked around but didn’t see anything over than three groups of goblins. I sheathed my sword and pulled my bow back out. It was a lot easier now that I had Itembox. I could literally think about the items swapping and they would. I could understand why it would be labeled Legendary.

“Let’s go!” I said then moved around the corner. I shot at the nearest goblins aiming for their bodies. With how much strength I had, the arrows were exploding through the goblins if the arrow didn’t strike bone. I managed to take out the entire group from a distance.

“Nice!” Rai said excitedly. I was glad that she seemed to have recovered her mood.

“Let’s get to the shop quickly. We only have forty minutes or so.” I dreaded the thought of trying to fight at night.

Ten minutes and about twenty dead goblins later, we arrived at the shop. The door had been torn off partially off its hinges, but it appeared like whatever had been attempting to get in gave up after a while. Knight and I managed to finish the job.

Knight tried to enter after us but couldn’t fit into the smaller than normal door. Internally I was glad I saw this problem before I needed to rely on Knight in a tight situation. “Go hunt monsters until your timer is up. I will see you next time.” Knight nodded before it turned heading into the distance with unnatural speed. I had no idea at the time, but Knight ended up saving over three hundred people during his rampage.

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