Holy Relic: Sun-bask (1)
"This isn't good..."
I muttered it in a trembling voice. A battle I couldn't win no matter how many tactics I threw at it. Something I had only ever imagined was actually happening. The world swam. The final moment was closing in.
"I can't die like this..."
"Well, that's only natural. Everyone thinks that when their final moment arrives! Hehehe!"
My opponent spoke in a tone far too cute for anyone who was supposed to be a formidable foe. It completely shattered the immersion.
"Can't you talk with a little more dignity?"
"This is the best I can do!"
The water spirit waitress protested her innocence. Then again, asking a spirit born simple and sunny to sound imposing had been an unreasonable request from the start.
"Anyway, it's my turn!"
Two dice tumbled vigorously across the floor. A total of eleven. A number that drove the final nail into a contest already long decided.
"Yes! I'll take the Kudaks Dungeon as well. That's another win for me!"
"How do you keep rolling nothing but fives and sixes? Did you soak the dice in water or something?"
"Doubt me all you want. I'll laugh at you with a winner's privilege!"
That made it five matches, five losses. My complete and utter defeat.
"How does it feel to be a loser!"
A thrill shot through my chest. It was only a board game, but it still packed a certain punch of its own. The feeling of being thoroughly crushed by a spirit who wasn't even human had a unique flavor, different from fighting with my own body.
"You're way too good at this."
"Hehe! Challenging a water spirit to a game of luck was your first mistake!"
Watching her preen so proudly sent another jolt through my heart.
"Can I ask you something?"
"What do you want to know?"
"Why do you smile every time you lose?"
Hearing a question like that from something that looked like a child made me feel as though I'd been caught doing something wrong.
"There's something more precious than victory."
"Ah, could it be the friendship we've built up until now?!"
"That's right."
"I knew it!"
Maybe the phrase "white lie" had been invented for moments exactly like this. Seeing how happy she looked over something so trivial, I'd handled that rather well.
"Let's play again sometime."
"Of course. I'll be going, then. I'm a rather busy spirit, you know!"
The waitress spun in midair with a flourish and vanished in a spray of water droplets. Busy? There were barely any customers.
I tidied up the magic game board in a halfhearted sort of way and flopped onto the bed, then just lay there staring at nothing. A quiet meditation. Sometimes you needed to sink into stillness if you wanted to keep a healthy mind.
Once I stepped away from the stimulation, my heart grew calm. Even the pulse that had raced from my first defeat in a long while gradually settled. It worked well. Combined with Sun-bask's mental-stability function, my head soon felt refreshingly clear. My body grew languid, as if I were lying in a patch of sunlight — enough that I slipped into sleep without even noticing.
A short, honey-sweet nap. My eyes opened on their own, and I slowly sat up — then flinched.
"...Giph?"
"You're awake."
Why was he in my inn room? All sorts of thoughts flashed through my head in that instant, most of them tangled up with a certain vigorous orc appetite.
"Did you not call for me?"
"Ah. Right."
Had he figured out what I was thinking? Giph pulled a chair over and sat down with an expression of utter disbelief.
"I'm sorry, but I don't see you as a woman."
Even if that were true, it wasn't something I particularly cared about — but the remark still managed to get under my skin.
"A long time ago, some incredible orc said the exact same thing, and the very next day..."
"We promised never to bring that up again!"
Depending on the situation, even old memories could become strategic weapons. A cruel explosive device that loaded someone's dark history and painted their face bright red.
"The people of Serda would be shocked if they knew what kind of orc our Gale Winter Wolf used to be."
"...I was wrong. Could you just tell me what you wanted already?"
I won. Victory felt pretty good at times like this, too.
"It's nothing major. I just have a favor to ask."
"Don't tell me you want my help because you want to lose to the Hero?"
"No. I already fought her."
"That was fast."
He'd gotten used to it, apparently. Giph didn't even look surprised anymore.
"But it is related to the Hero. I want you to teach her Aura."
That was the conclusion I'd reached after our last bout. The Hero's Aura was in urgent need of improvement. She'd piled on so much flashy style that she'd completely lost her sense of direction. Fortunately, it wasn't too late. Giph would be able to set her straight. When it came to generating and controlling Aura, he was better than I was.
"Approaching her shouldn't be hard for you, right?"
"Well, that's true, but..."
A note of doubt crept into his deep voice.
"You can use third-stage Aura yourself. Why leave it to me instead of teaching her directly?"
"I've got things to do. I need to be out and about."
I had to meet the Hero's future companions before she did and put them through some mental training. It was going to take some fast moving to pull off.
"Besides, does it make any sense for the Hero to take lessons from a notorious Public Enemy?"
As the Goddess's proxy, the Hero always had to remain noble. I needed to minimize any further entanglement with her going forward. Liam was neither refined nor anywhere close to pure, but he was the exception. Every group had one or two people who stuck out.
"Understood. I'll do as you say."
Giph made up his mind surprisingly fast.
"You've already decided?"
"There's no harm in helping the Hero grow. If you think about it, it's for the good of the entire world."
"It's not because you fell for her looks?"
"......"
He glared at me with such a fearsome expression that I quickly looked away.
"Even after everything, it's a shame your personality hasn't changed."
"Better than being out of my mind, isn't it?"
"Hard to argue with that."
We spent a while exchanging pointless conversation. It was a familiar, friendly chat — the first we'd had in a long time.
"I'm heading out."
Unfortunately, it was time to leave. Putting on my robe was all the preparation I needed.
"I have a request of my own."
Giph met my eyes with a serious look and spoke in a low voice.
"From now on, don't create any more innocent deaths."
It was a duty I would have kept even without being asked. I nodded as though swearing an oath, putting every ounce of conviction into the gesture.
"I'll come again."
"Take care."
After our farewells, I left the inn and headed straight west of Serda. The start of my full-scale mental-training tour.
The first of the Hero's companions to receive my teachings would be the Sage, a mage belonging to the Purple Magic Tower. She was also the first companion the Hero intended to seek out.
I wonder if those two know each other?
I picked up my pace, heading toward the Purple Magic Tower — the destination where a reunion with an old friend awaited.
Selen pressed her throbbing temples and stared down at the paper spread across the desk. Geometric patterns crisscrossed in a chaotic tangle, annotated with tiny lettering. It was a magic-circle blueprint for Unbalanced Space.
That distinctive, convoluted structure had grown familiar by now. As long as you kept in mind that senior mages had designed it bloated with elitism and empty posturing, analyzing it wasn't all that difficult. The problem was how to improve it. She couldn't begin to guess where to even start poking at the thing.
I have to make it so it can't be broken...
A restless anxiety kept gnawing at her. How stunned she had been when the Banished Saintess dismantled Unbalanced Space so effortlessly. It still felt as though her heart, which had dropped like a stone in that moment, had yet to climb back into place. The shock had been all the greater because she'd believed it was her trump card. As expected, humanity's Public Enemy was still a wall she could not yet surmount.
Though she was a little strange for a Public Enemy.
Selen had gone into that fight prepared to die, and instead come away loaded with advice and criticism. Harsh, but the teaching had a clear sense of direction. Thanks to it, a path that had been hopelessly fogged over now lay clearly open.
Of course, that didn't mean she could afford to mistake the woman for a decent person. The Banished Saintess was a Public Enemy who would have to be put down someday — a clear and obvious villain who had gone around slaughtering people all across the continent. Still, the next time they met, she ought to thank her properly. It was the greatest respect one could offer an enemy.
"Lady Hero."
Selen pulled herself out of her thoughts and met the eyes of the person who had spoken. An old man with a full head of white hair and a face mapped in wrinkles — the Serda branch director of the Purple Magic Tower.
"Are you occupied at the moment?"
She'd asked him not to, and here he was using formal speech again. For Selen, who had lived with a grandfather of about the same age, the deference was unbearably uncomfortable.
"Not at all. What is it?"
"There is an orc who has requested an audience with you, Lady Hero."
"An orc... Do you mean the adventurer Giph?"
The only well-mannered orc who made requests instead of demands was Giph, the famous S-class adventurer.
"I'll see him."
"Yes. Please wait a moment."
A short while later, the branch director returned with a massive orc in tow. Savage eyes and scars carved across his body — he had the bearing of a truly formidable warrior.
"I shall wait outside."
The door closed, leaving the two of them alone. Giph, who had been silent, opened his mouth at an unhurried pace, his tone even.
"I heard you lost to the Banished Saintess."
"......"
A fact she had concealed for fear of unsettling the citizens of Serda. Selen tensed at once, bracing for a fight.
"No need to be so wary. I came to help you."
"Help me with what, exactly?"
"Aura. I'll raise your mastery by another level."
Giph lifted his index finger.
"Watch closely."
In an instant, a biting cold overflowed. The blue Aura blooming from his fingertip froze everything around them solid.
"Well?"
"...It's astonishing."
It was wondrous. Aura that could fairly be said to have reached the realm of art.
"Feel like learning?"
"Is the reason you want to teach me Aura... revenge?"
She had already heard the news that Giph had been defeated by the Banished Saintess.
"That's right. If not the Hero, who else is going to take down that crazy woman?"
He didn't seem to be hiding any other motive. No matter how she turned it over, there was no reason to refuse.
"I understand. I will gratefully receive your instruction. I look forward to learning from you."
Selen bowed deeply at the waist — as the Hero who fought in everyone's place, and as a disciple about to receive a teacher's guidance.
"But, Master Giph... you weren't a match for the Banished Saintess either, were you?"
"...That's not true. I lost by the slimmest of margins. It was truly a close call."
The denial was suspiciously vehement.
I took in the lake, which at a glance could have been mistaken for the sea. The Great Lake sat at the midpoint between Serda and the Purple Magic Tower. Once a tourist destination famous for its beautiful scenery, it was now nothing short of a demonic realm.
Amphibian-type monsters croaked in a grating chorus. A hybrid of crocodile and hippo prowled the water. Monstrous birds tore wildly through the sky. The clean scent of nature was gone, replaced by the reek of rotting corpses. Even the wind blowing in was so foul it made my eyes squeeze shut on their own. Even the Demon King would probably take one look, mutter that this was a bit much, and beat a hasty retreat. A wretched spectacle that assaulted the eyes and the nose at once.
The culprit behind it all was the temple sitting at the center of the Great Lake. That was why I had come.
At last...
Until now, I hadn't been able to put my knowledge of Apolis Tales to any real use. This was a point in time before the main story even began, so there had been almost no events worth exploiting. But the opportunity had finally arrived. It was time to do something worthy of a transmigrator for the first time.
I loosened up my body and studied the light radiating from the center of the lake. Holy Power of a murky hue. Proof that a temple no one used anymore — too inconvenient to reach — had turned into a dungeon.
It wasn't a desirable development, but I was glad to see it all the same. This was the Abandoned Temple that had appeared in the game. A dungeon that inflicted trials upon the minds of those who entered. In short, a place that attacked your mental state.
It would be tricky, but I was going to clear it. I needed to draw out Sun-bask's true power.
I want to hear that voice.
Sun-bask originally had an ego, as a proper holy relic should. Right now, though, it was dormant from the aftermath of the excommunication. Waking it would require injecting Holy Power — which was, of course, impossible for me as I was now.
So I had come here. I was going to use the Abandoned Temple's Holy Power to force it awake.
Truthfully, leaving things as they were wouldn't cause any major problems, but there was a lot to be dissatisfied with. It was, so to speak, a situation where only the passive skills were in effect. Triggering the active skills was Sun-bask's job. With Sun-bask's help, my combat power would multiply several times over — a clear advantage that more than offset the drawback of talking far too much.
Considering the Hero's talent — enough to grow into a threat even to the Demon King — I needed to get stronger too. Training alone had reached its limit. I would have to borrow the power of a holy relic.
"How long are you planning to sleep? It's time to wake up."
I stirred my mana and wrapped it around my entire body. Second-stage Aura. This was about right for fighting ordinary opponents.
"Here's your prey!"
Then I bellowed at the top of my lungs without taking a single step. Monsters responded to my voice at once, charging in with terrifying force.
Time to do a little cleaning first. Unlike fighting paladins or the Hero, I didn't even need to hold back. Perfect for a warmup. An uncountable swarm of monsters came rushing in all at once, but that was fine.
One minute would be plenty.