"Good morning Senpai~"
"Mornin BB"
"Sleep well?"
"Until you woke me"
"Cry about it"
"I'll punt you again"
As I finally open my eyes I now see BB on the other side the room covering her behind with her hands as if I just assaulted her.
Honestly the pout on her face is pretty damn adorable
"You know I can hear your thoughts right"
"You heard them alright"
*insert bigger pout and her turning away, face red*
There you go again, oh well, it seems this is how this day begins.
Resigned, I get up of my bed, the stars glowing behind me, I am pretty damn sad my best outfits got ruined, thankfully welt had some bigger suits... not sure why he had my size but oh well.
Anyway, I dressed up and put on sunglasses only to look like a mafia grunt.... you know what? I dig. Can do.
"You know you look ridiculous in those clothes right" giggling girlishly BB commented.
"Better than you do in your one trick pony ah outfit"
"Hey take that back!"
"Wear something different for once then"
*hmpf"
Tsundere ai. Anyway, it is about time for breakfast on the train, best to go and eat. Why? Cause I damn hungry.
It takes me about a minute to get to the dining room, of course I am given several questioning stares from the rest of the crew- but I choose to ignore it, one because I am hungry, two because I am about to be hangry.
I finish the food in about 20 minutes, it wasn't much, a ceaser salad and chicken soup, warm, hearty and home like....
Home.....
Anyway I am about to leave when to my surprise Kafka appears almost in my face. I am quick to back off, only to notice it is but a hologram.
Well no shit, she can't tp.
The others are soon to gather, and she is quick to explain her purpose of sending us to the XiAnZhoU LouFu. God I just can't with Chinese names, the fuck are they so complicate for?!
Then I notice a group chat notification from Rover, apparently she is inviting one person from the chat group to help her. Welp ACCEPT!
No stupid China immortality quest for me!
----------------
Mission: Help Rover
Status: Accepted
Transporting in 3, 2, 1;
---------------
"Bye people" I shout before I end up teleported to Solaris-3
Then in a flash, I find myself falling from the sky, looking around I recognize the landscape...
It is Mt. Firmament
Fuck!
Escaping one Chinese naming scheme only to fall into another one! Damn it rover why couldn't you be in Renasita already, or maybe even at the Black Shores!!!!
Now that I have time to think while falling, I am brought to the realization that it is going to be a good 10 minutes before I receive fall damage.
"Hey BB ya here?"
"No"
I turn around only to see her still slightly mad at me.
"Get over it"
"No"
"I'll buy you candy"
"You think such a childish thing is enough to satisfy me"
"Yes"
"... You aren't wrong"
Deadpanning I reach out and ruffle her hair while also pulling out a random box of sweets that I had in my inventory....
Unfortunately it flew off as soon as appearing since it was far lighter.
BB just stared at me before starting to chuckle a little and with my face becoming comically sad her chuckle turned into full on laughter.
*Bang*
A huge crash sound happened as I went splat on the room of an overhang, somehow also burying someone.
Worried I look under only to find a fractsidus member and splitting his skull open.
Perfect landing, unfortunate that my that the sunglasses got twisted though...
Somehow the suit was perfectly fine though-
Meh- Not my problem, it is my benefit!
Around me, several fractsidus member shake their head in surprise at the uninvited guest before firing several rifles at me.
Fortunately for mua I had already setup a wall of ice around me so the bullets done jack nothin.
As I turn around, my choice is, violence as the only answer. Summoning the weapon that would most likely not try and kill me.
The very shiny and beautiful titanium stick, though is looked closer to a pole that just isn't completely straight.
Pouring some power into it I strike the ice with enough force to shatter it and send it's fragments to skewer most of the grunts.
*Sigh* Of course not all yall are dead
BB smiles then appears, holding the now open box of candies, and just sits back to watch... damn I wan to punt her smug smile of her face.
My attention back on the annoying nuisances in front of me I speak "Well of course it is just a bunch of useless grunts, I'd have at least hoped to see Phrolova, she pretty after all"
Then without another pause I charge, one gets knocked out, another has his heart skewered, and the last few have their heads sent flying by a few nicely aimed kicks.
Damn has my speed and strength improved, no wonder people praise systems! This shit is op!
I put away my stick back into the inventory and pat away the dust on my suit.
*Ahem*
Slightly startled I jump a bit then turn around only to find Rover and Changli, a yes the phoenix of this world, Bright, light red hair, almost pink. Golden eyes, wearing a white short dress with a black and red over coat.
"Yo, Arbiter, as you can see it is my idiot self that accepted your request" I speak while looking pointedly at Rover
She pauses, then nods, her golden eyes flicking over my form, slightly off put by my choice of clothes.
Changli obviously notices this interaction and after giving a questioning look to rover talks.
"So, your a friend of Rover? Seems your pretty good at fighting" while looking around she continues "your resonance ability is Glacio right?"
"Something like that" I state while nodding
"Good"
"We shouldn't waste time here" speaks up Rover looking over at Changli
"Where to?" I ask, slightly wary at the immediate crazy I got dropped in.
Changli turns and starts walking without waiting for an answer, clearly the type that explains while moving.
"Mt. Firmament. Jinhsi — our Magistrate — has gone missing inside. We need to find her."
I fall into step, Rover on my other side.
"The mountain has a time problem" Changli continues, "every day spent inside costs lifespan upon leaving. Currently it's worse than that — the Sentinel lost control, time's gone haywire in there. Quite unpredictable."
I already knew this but I keep my mouth shut for once.
"How much worse?" asks Rover.
"Leaving could turn a person to dust. Instantly."
"Cool, cool, cool" I mutter under my breath.
BB materializes just behind my shoulder, candy box still in hand, now very interested. "Oh this is exciting~"
I ignore her.
Changli glances back at me briefly, something unreadable in her expression, then faces forward again. She'd been doing that since I landed. Not suspicious exactly. More like... calculating.
The bridge comes into view shortly after.
Or what's left of it.
"Well." I state.
"The Chronosorter should fix it" says Changli, already moving toward the device, "Court of Savantae technology. Mimics the Sentinel's time manipulation on a small scale."
Rover looks at me. I look at the broken bridge.
"Time manipulation~" BB sing-songs cheerfully, "on a mountain where time is broken~ what could go wrong~"
I have a very bad feeling about this.
The Chronosorter hums under Changli's hands, gears clicking in reverse as the broken bridge pieces drag themselves back together across the gap. Stone grinding on stone, mortar reforming, the whole thing playing backwards like someone hit rewind on a recording.
I watch this with my arms crossed.
"That's deeply unsettling" I say.
"You get used to it" says Changli.
"I don't think I will"
"I think it's neat~" BB comments from somewhere above me, floating with her candy box. "Time going backwards~ very aesthetic~"
The bridge locks into place with a final thunk. Solid. Changli steps onto it first without hesitation, Rover follows, and I go last, resisting the urge to test it by jumping on it.
The other side opens up into the Luminous Shore — wide, pale stone flats stretching toward the mountain proper. A slightly off put feeling permeates the current air.
Pausing, Rover looks around, the place being slightly wrong to her "Very... silent"
Changli pauses as well, her eyes scanning the treeline.
"Seems we were the expected guests" she says quietly, "We've an entire party to welcome us"
The first shot comes from the left.
I am startled but I move, ice wall up before the second and third follow, bullets sparking off the surface. From the right, two Fractsidus break cover, bigger than the grunts I landed on, finally a bit more interesting, having coordination and all that.
Changli's already on one, flames licking up her arm as she closes the distance with a speed. Ah. Shit. Right. Fire. Distance is my friend here.
Rover handles the other, clean and efficient, blade frequency humming as she dismantles its guard and drives through.
I pull the titanium branch from inventory and turn to the treeline where the shots came from. Three of them, reloading.
I send a sheet of ice across the ground and watch them lose their footing, then close the gap fast, one strike I cut through one of them as well as an entire tree trunk when then takes out the other two.
Damn effective if I say so myself.
Fifteen seconds maybe. Probably less.
The shore goes quiet again.
I straighten my twisted sunglasses, which does nothing to actually fix them. So I just throw them away, they looked tacky anyway, Welt can cry me a river if anything.
Changli looks at me. Then at my work. Then back at me.
"Glacio and a staff" she says.
"Pole" I correct.
"...Pole." A pause. "Effective."
High praise. YAY I GOT PRAISED!!! WHO HU!
Rover is already checking the perimeter, because of course she is. She comes back thirty seconds later.
"That appears to be all of them, for now"
Changli nods, gaze drifting toward the barrier ahead, the shimmer of the Photon field visible even from here, two vaults flanking the entrance like guards.
"We need to take those down before we can proceed" she says, then glances at me sideways, "ranged capability?"
I look at my pole.
I look at her.
"I'll figure something out."
"You absolutely will not~" BB says helpfully.
"Ehe"
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A/N: Uh- Didn't think I'd write again for this fic but I got a boner of motivation for whatever reason so here we are. Hopefully it ain't bad.... bye.