"Warning!" "Warning!"
15 Minutes. That's how long the peace lasted before an alarm blared throughout.
Lena sat up quick. "What's that!?"
The automated warning continued. "Warning! The ship has been boarded by monsters! Please retreat to your cabins immediately!"
Lena gave a sigh of relief. "Good thing we're inside, we don't want to die and-"
Her voice was cut off as a different voice suddenly rang through the airship systems. A young woman spoke. "Greetings. The monsters have been identified as Suranen. Any who would like to engage them in combat may go and do so now."
Lena tilted her head and asked. "We can do that?" Her question was left unanswered as she felt a sudden grasp on her wrist. "O-oh!"
"Lena lets go!" Lumi practically dragged Lena outside as he grew excited and impatient. This was the moment he was waiting for! These were rare monsters! With their habitat being the sky, they were barely ever hunted.
"We're fighting?" Lena asked out loud. Seeing Lumi nod, she grinned. "COMBAT!"
"SQUACK!" They swiftly made their way onto the deck, where several people were already gathered, slaying monsters en masse. The beasts had thick blue metal features, making horrible sounds from their two heads when struck.
"Light Shower!" Lumi wasted no time and immediately launched an attack. The light pierced through one of the Suranen, causing merely a light shiver.
"Energy Bolt!" "Energy Bolt!" "Energy Bolt!" For the first time ever, Lena was casting spells. "Ahahahaha! I love this! Energy Bolt!" She landed hit after hit to the monsters which entirely ignored her attacks as they engaged in combat with others.
"Um Lumi my magic is broken." Lena complained to Lumi. "Don't tell me magicians are…"
"Just keep attacking!" Lumi replied with excite.
"SCREECH!" A Suranen dived down swiftly towards one of the men on the deck.
"Ha!" He looked up with anticipation. "Catch this!" He leaned back, tumbling, and a huge cannon appeared out of nowhere beneath him.
BOOM!
A huge cannonball exploded against the beast.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As he spun back, he also shot the beast several times with some guns. He brought one to his mouth and blew the smoke off, then gestured to Lena. "How was that, lil lady? Ya like?"
Lena: ???
Why is an NPC flirting with me?
"Um…" She noticed that she didn't get XP. "Energy Bolt!" She launched a spell directly at the bleeding creature.
[EXP +55]
The man looked on awkwardly. "So was I cool or…?"
Lena shook her head. "You were until you talked to me."
…
[Suranen - Level ???]
"Light Shower!" Lumi launched a spell at one of the monsters in the air. It struck at the same time an archer impaled it with several arrows.
[EXP +52]
It wasn't that the monsters had high magic resistance. It was just their sheer level making the damage from their spells minimal.
"Hey." A tall elf appeared in front of Lumi suddenly. "You shouldn't be here."
Lumi immediately put on an exaggerated smile. "I want to do my part! You heard the announcement, right? The ship is under attack!"
"You…" The elf was lost for words for a moment, her eye twitching. "No, you see, we can protect you. You're a bit too weak to-"
"Behind you!" Lumi interrupted her as he suddenly cast a Light Shower behind her towards a monster diving at her.
She swiftly turned, shooting four arrows which impaled through the monster, killing it instantly. She turned to Lumi again.
Before she could speak, Lumi did. "Nice! We took it down together. Thank you, Senior, for the hard work! Now let's repel these monsters!"
The elf was speechless. "You naive…" She shook her head. "Nevermind, you're a good kid. Keep it up."
She turned away from him and focused on the monsters once more.
Lumi gave a smile. His performance was very purposeful. He knew he was useless here, but he also knew no one would let him or Lena die.
The two of them leeched EXP for free, getting chunks of around 54 per monster, despite their near non-existent contributions.
After the beasts were repelled, Lumi let out an exaggerated cheer. "We did it guys!"
"YEAH WE DID!" Lena joined in excited. She had no idea why Lumi was acting so unusual but she figured she might as well play along. She jumped into his arms. "We did it hubby!"
"I'm n-" He thought about it. They were in public and he was causing this scene on purpose. He swallowed his negation. "Yeah we did!" He brought her into a hug.
"Oh my g-" Len was about to freak out at the physical touch, but she remembered something.
Wait aren't I in public?
So she channeled her excitement the only way she knew.
"AAAHHHHHH! YEAH WE DID!!"
As the two received many stares, a voice came out through the same system that the warning came from earlier.
"Slurrentous Airships thanks everyone who participated in defending the airship. Please do not touch the carcasses. Our experts will carve up the beasts, and you may claim your fair share of the loot upon landing."
"Oh!" At that moment Lena understood everything.
…
Ding!
A bell resonated throughout the air, followed by a voice. "The ship has reached its destination. All passengers, remember to obtain your share of the loot before disembarking. We have set up distribution right next to the exit."
"Woah." Lena gazed out at the city below them. It covered a large expanse, stone and wood aplenty. She turned to Lumi. "I can't… it looks so real…"
Lumi understood entirely. Your first shock in Masteria was when first entering. Your second shock was seeing how varied the world was. "It does…" He trailed off, taking in the sight as well. "Maybe it is…"
"It can't…" Lena replied, breathlessly. "But this is just… wow."
The two followed the crowd, getting in line. Once they reached their turn, the receptionist turned to Lumi politely. "Sir, you have 153 contribution points." She turned to Lena. "Miss, you have 204." She guided their eyes to a wooden tablet where the various redeemables were listed, alongside their price.
"Wooah!" Lumi gazed through the items.
Chaos Wing - 50 Contribution Points.
Vinish Tongue - 25 Contribution Points.
Bonler - 125 Contribution Points.
Aoogah - 16 Contribution Points.
And countless more listed.
"I have no idea what this is!" She gazed to Lumi after. "Do you?"
He took a step forward to the stand to signify he was ready. "I would like to redeem two Eyes of Change."
"That'll be 175 points each." She turned to Lena.
"Yeah!" Lena affirmed. "Use my points."
"Understood."
She turned to the storage behind her, obtaining the two items and putting them in small boxes.
After handing them over, she hesitated for just a moment then spoke. "Excuse me. It's clear the two of you have good hearts. Though it may not be my place to say, I'd like to advise you two to be more careful in the future. That battle was beyond your capacity to participate in."
Lumi replied diplomatically. "Thank you for the advice."
They disembarked with the crowd, Lena grabbing his hand as they navigated.
"So many people! And they all smell different! That one's like old cheese, that one's like flowers, that one's like-"
"Please stop sniffing strangers."
"My nose is just better than yours!"
They made their way through the city streets. Unlike Elenora's winding paths, Macres was laid out in a rigid grid. Signs pointed clearly to major locations such as the Bowman Academy, Central Market, North Gate, and more.
"Convenient!" Lena noted. The gates were the main entrances and exits to the city. You didn't have to use them. But it made little sense to hop the walls to leave, making yourself look suspicious.
They passed weapons shops displaying gleaming bows, fletchers arguing over arrow designs, and practice ranges where beginners fumbled with basic shots.
The North Gate was lightly fortified with guards checking everyone who passed through.
"Purpose?" A scarred woman in archer gear asked. "And names?"
"Clearing Slimes." Lumi replied, lying. "I am Lumi, this is Lena."
She looked them over, nodding, "Sure, okay." She was a bit apathetic. Her real job wasn't to monitor suspicious people, it was to note down who left in case they never came back. After writing in her notebook she waved them off. "Just don't die, two people isn't alot."
"Don't worry," Lena added helpfully. "We're going to be heroes!"
The guard's expression didn't change. "Heroes die just as easily as idiots. Don't say you weren't warned." She waved them through.
Beyond the gate, the landscape started identical. Large plains of grass, with trees every once in a while. As they continued upon the weathered path, however, it soon turned into a somewhat travelled path, which then turned into deviations into where those barely walked, which eventually turned into an abandoned broken stone road. In the distance, ancient structures jutted from the earth.
It consisted of half-buried temples, crumbling towers, weathered statues.
And moving between them, countless golems.
They were nothing like the complicated golems often seen in fantasy. These were crude things, barely humanoid, made of whatever materials were available. Stone golems stomped with grinding steps. Even if they broke themselves apart, the pieces would fuse back into them.
And they were everywhere.
"Pretty!" Lena exclaimed. "Can we keep one?"
"They're not pets. They're aggressive monsters that will try to kill us."
"So are cats, but people keep those."
Lumi checked his messages again. Everyone else still needed time.
He took out the two Eyes of Change. Each resembled a glass orb, with countless rifts and forms within. He passed one to Lena, who took it carefully. "Woah…" She stared into the eye. "It looks… um." She looked up to Lumi. "Evil?"
"I-It is." It was difficult for Lumi not to lose his composure as Lena kept predicting everything. "How did you know?"
"I just got that vibe." She looked down at the eye. "Look at the way it's changing. That mist in the eye, from fire to lightning, then plasma to darkness. So much change is… ominous."
"You are right." Lumi affirmed her words. Then, in clear view of Lena, put one in his mouth.
"LUMI WHAT!" Lena watched in horror as he ate the evil eyeball. "Didn't you just say it was evil!? Also ewww?"
She grabbed on to his shoulders. "LUMI!!!!"
"Calm, calm down, hahaha!" Lumi chuckled while replying. In the corner of his eye he saw the system notify him.
[INT +5%]
"You ate an eyeball!" Lena was about to performatively cry. "That's like cannibalism!"
"It's not human." Lumi swiftly replied. "And you'll be eating one too."
"No."
"It gives stats."
In a swift blur, the second eye was already gone as Lena swallowed it.
[INT +5%]
"Woah… OP…" Lena's eyes shined. "Can we eat more!?"
"Naw." He shook his head. "They don't stack." He faced the golems. "Now onto our next objective…"
Soon, very soon, they'd be hunting these things. But more importantly, somewhere in these ruins, there was the Puppeteer.