WebNovels

Chapter 13 - Chapter XII: First Adventure

The trio managed to reach The Western Coliseum unobstructed after just over an hour of travel time. While they circled in the air they looked down onto the structure. I-It's so big!!! How can something this massive be abandoned?! Lucky gaped in awe as her eyes ran over the stone laid arena. They had been flying at cloud level for quite some time but the Coliseum seemed like it was just within reach, able to grab them if it had hands to grab with.

"It's closed up!" Taiga shouted, "Should we just land on the walls and work our way down?"

"No! If we get caught off guard by a murder of Crowdell or a Gryffin we'd be screwed. Let's just check the surrounding area first then meet at the front gate." Holly nodded her head to the side.

Splitting up, the trio all went to survey the area. Holly scoured the tree line out in the distance. Checking for any unusual tracks or signs of predatory monsters nearby. Taiga found herself inspecting a nearby pop up plaza that housed an inn, something akin to a convenience store and some restaurants. All abandoned. Yeah, that checks out. Taiga rummaged around in her Big Smol Bag for a moment and produced a shiny compass.

"Avarice." She said with a glint in her eye. "Let's go find ourselves some forgotten treasure!" Taiga wandered off into the oversized plaza leaving Delilah behind. Her tail bounced as she picked doors to open and routes to follow based on the compasses movements.

Lucky and Bobo remained suspended in the air not too high off of the ground a ways South. There are roads EVERYWHERE! She looked out into the great open expanse, her keen eyes could see for kilometers. She spotted a few travelers here and there spread out across the highway system, seemingly coming to and from Aegis. KABOOM!!! Lucky's head snapped towards the plaza Taiga headed for. Before Lucky had to say anything Bobo had already begun speeding over towards the sound. Lucky noticed Delilah flying in a pattern of a cross. She's hurt! Lucky pointed to Delilah, Hurry! Lucky could feel her pulse quicken but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Once closer Lucky could see that a couple of buildings had sustained damage and one in the center had completely collapsed. Without wasting any time Lucky pounced from Bobo and landed among the debris. Bobo joined Delilah in the sky and continued the pattern a set amount of paces off to the side.

"Taiga?!" Lucky yelled.

"Over here!" She responded.

Lucky followed her voice and ran to the northern building that got caught in the blast, "Where are you?!"

"In here!" Taiga yelled from beyond the door.

"Alright, I'm coming in." Lucky grabbed the door handle but caught a whiff of something suspicious and jumped several meters back. Upon landing she heard a groan. "Taiga?"

"We got mimic. Now get off of me." Taiga's voice came from the rubble of the destroyed building.

"Oh uh, sorry!" Lucky stepped to the side and kept her eye on the surrounding area.

Lucky heard Bobo let out a vicious roar, she looked over to her partner Wyvern only to see the horror of him biting into Delilah's neck.

"BOBO NYO!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Lucky's throat rattled and tears flew from her eyes.

Bobo and Delilah spiraled to the ground behind a building beyond Lucky's view. The scent reached Lucky's nose again, but this time from below. She wiped her tears and changed her focus to the imminent danger at hand by drawing her rapier. Something's not right. Lucky thought as she realized that the voice she heard earlier wasn't quite like Taiga's. A shadow darkened her vision and she leapt to the side, narrowly dodging the strike of Taiga's Broadfeather. The concrete rubble was cleaved cleanly in two. Lucky bounced back even further and shouted at the mimic.

"I thought the Mimics had a deal with Aegis! Why are you attacking me?" Lucky asked.

The mimic stood up and morphed into a perfect replica of Lucky, "Slade's a fool. Your city should belong to us, but he sided with you Earthkin, turning his back on our kind."

"I don't understand. We all just wanted to avoid further bloodshed. Isn't that a good thing?"

"Avoid further bloodshed? Do you know how many of our kind have been killed by yours? Don't answer... Thousands." It hissed.

"I understand your pain, I know what it means to have your land attacked and have people decide things for you. But this won't end well, I've seen this play out before." Lucky explained.

The mimic turned into Jamie this time, "You won't manipulate me like he did to Slade. I've taken an oath and I intend to follow through."

"That's a neat trick," Lucky skittered and turned into Jamie as well. "I can do that too, but I don't want to fight you." Lucky turned back to herself and took another step back.

The faux Jamie raised an eyebrow, "Then don't, I'll kill you cleanly. No suffering." The mimic smiled.

The wind whistled and with it the real Taiga flashed from the sky striking at the mimic. It quickly turned into Taiga and used its Broadfeather to parry Taiga's surprise attack. Taiga rolled upon landing and positioned herself between the mimic and Lucky.

"Get out of here!" Taiga ordered, "Mimics are way beyond you! Especially the ones that can talk."

"Who me? Talking? I hadn't noticed." The mimic mocked Taiga.

"What's your name, Mimic?" Taiga asked while brandishing her sword.

"Harmony." It spat, "Ironic, isn't it?"

"Shut up." Lucky said, clenching her fist.

"Huh?" Taiga and the Mimic were caught off guard by Lucky's bloodlust.

Lucky stepped forward, "You should appreciate the names that are given to you."

"Why? So my fa- so Slade can tell me who I should be and what to do?" Harmony asked.

"Taiga... I have a selfish favour to ask. I'll let you ride Delilah on the ba- WAIT IS DELILAH OKAY?" Lucky yelled.

Bobo responded to Lucky's cries and dropped Delilah from the sky at her feet. Except this Delilah seemed to be made of clay.

"Yeah, she went to go get Holly." Taiga shrugged.

A giant hammer crashed into the ground at Taiga's feet barely missing her as she hopped back closer to Lucky, "Would you stop ignoring me? That's rude!" Harmony raised their voice.

Lucky pointed to Harmony and addressed Taiga, "I don't think we should kill them. This seems like a child's temper tantrum to me."

"I agree, I'll have to teach this little brat a lesson in place of their father." Taiga managed to slip into her preferred range within seconds thanks to her boots giving her perfect traction on the rubble.

While exchanging blows with Harmony, Taiga yelled back to Lucky, "Stay alert! I still don't know what caused the explosion or if there are more mimics!"

Lucky caught wind of the scent that reached her nose at the damaged building's door not too long ago. Where are they? Lucky spun around and brandished her rapier. Bobo's shadow continued to pass overhead as Lucky's eyes darted to likely hiding spots. She fixated on a suspicious pile of rubble but as she approached it a guttural cry came from behind. A javelin whooshed by her head as she slipped its tip. Turning to face her attacker she saw what appeared to be an amalgamation of parts and people. In the opposite hand of the javelin, this Mimic held a whip. The legs of this being appeared to be arachnid in nature, but its body and head were Elven. CRACK! Its whip missed Lucky by a hair as she retreated backwards.

"Shine!" Lucky called out and her rapier turned into a longbow.

She managed to quickly fire off three magical arrows of ice but the mimic's javelin arm became a tower shield. With the arrows easily blocked and the mimic pushing ever forward Lucky created some distance. Glancing quickly towards Taiga, Lucky could tell neither Taiga nor Harmony seemed to have gained any meaningful ground. While Taiga's adaptability and reflexes allowed her to keep Harmony on their toes. Harmony was shifting between different adventurers with ease to deal with Taiga's onslaught. So this is a battle of attrition we will probably lose if anything else shows up. Lucky clenched her jaw and briefly closed her eyes. Sorry Jamie, it looks like yet again, I have to break my end of the deal. Lucky quit performing the training Jamie had instructed her to do all day long and instead she let her mana run freely throughout her body. Focusing just a drop extra into her feet and by extension her boost boots put a smile on her face. Ahhh it's been so long since I could do this. Lucky reopened her eyes to the sight of a warhammer centimeters above her head.

"Shine!" Lucky chanted once more, her longbow morphed into a twin pair of daggers.

The sound of the air warping was followed by the ground at Lucky's feet being devastated by the force of her launch. She managed to slip to the hammer side of the mimic and run her blades through its legs. Meticulously dicing up the weak points, Lucky caused the mimic to lose balance. The Mimic screeched in pain as it started to morph into a more humanoid form, but before it could finish the process Lucky had already boosted from behind and severed its head. Now, before anything else happens. Lucky pivoted mid air with her boost boots and with great strain shot over towards Taiga.

"Ack, Shine!" Lucky's daggers turned into a bo staff.

Spinning the staff wildly Lucky rotated her body midflight to gain a bit more momentum on her swing. Once she reached the dueling pair Taiga ducked and Lucky drove the side of her staff's head towards Harmony. Harmony attempted to dodge but while leaning back Lucky connected with the tip of their chin. Too shallow. Lucky's muscles felt rigid as she flew a few meters by and dropped on her chest. Harmony's face flickered through a handful of familiar ones before they took on Nepped's form. Harmony began flicking around an Ouroboros clone. Its lethal dual heads cleaved the ground and sliced through the air. Lucky struggled to get to her feet but Taiga had already launched a follow up assault. Harmony couldn't seem to get a read on Taiga as she aptly weaved the attack patterns of the fake Ouroboros.

"That's the wrong person to clone!" Taiga yelled from directly beneath Harmony.

"How did you? UGH!" Harmony gasped for air as Taiga plunged her shield into their gut.

Harmony folded into themself and morphed into a full blown Lycan with light reddish brown fur. It was nearly twice the size of Taiga and managed to land a solid strike on Taiga's sword arm with its paw. Taiga skidded across the rubble using her shield to minimize the damage she took but wound up smacking the back of her head on a rock. Dazed, Taiga arms fell from beneath her as she tried to get to her feet. I should have just run them through with my sword.

"You may be fast but nobody can take a hit from this guy," Harmony approached Taiga, "What the?!"

Harmony's shock was warranted as a mysterious arm materialized from Taiga's Big Smol Bag. It latched onto anything in the area to pull Taiga away from the beast.

Harmony began running after her, "GET BACK HERE YOU!"

"HALO TRIGGER!!!" Lucky's voice echoed through the plaza.

A streak of black light screeched by Harmony causing their entire soul to quake. They turned their head towards Lucky and saw them holding their arm out in a finger gun position with a ring of mana dissipating from around her finger.

"Next time, huff. I won't-" Lucky's chest heaved in between her words, "Miss."

Harmony snapped back to Jamie's form and wore a cocky expression as he changed his direction toward Lucky, "You talk a big game for someone so spent." Harmony pointed out.

"And?" Lucky sounded annoyed, "I chose not to kill you. See for yourself."

Harmony shrugged and turned their head in the direction the beam of light had gone. W-What? Harmony's jaw hung leaving their mouth open. For the first time in their life they felt primal fear. Before, where they had seen rubble and buildings they now could only see emptiness. On either side of the attack destruction was everywhere, but the entire path of the beam showed no trace of said destruction. Instead in its place was a cutout in the ground and a clean hole through one of the buildings. No explosions? No mana residue? No heat or cold? What in Calamity's good Earth is this?! Against Harmony's own will they took a step away from Lucky. One step, but through Jamie's eyes Lucky saw all she needed to know.

"I've never seen Jamie make that face, it's over Harmony. Let us take you back home before it's too late." Lucky's breathing had begun to stabilize.

"I-I don't-"

KABOOM!!!

A second explosion blasted the two of them into the air. Before Lucky could even begin to freefall, Bobo had snatched her gently with his talons. Harmony was sent flying towards the arena and landed just a handful of meters outside of the demolished plaza. Smoke and debris filled the air but Lucky picked up on a new scent. Acidic fumes? She tried to peer through the smokescreen but couldn't quite see the cause of the damage. Swinging back up onto Bobo, she changed her focus to look for Taiga. Her vision began to blur a little and she felt a strange warmth on the left side of her abdomen. Uh-oh. Lucky pulled her right hand away from the spot and saw that it was covered in her blood. I really did it now. Looking down she noticed a softball sized hole that went straight through her.

"Mmmmph." She moaned, "This shit is so ass..."

She began to slide off of Bobo but he easily compensated to keep her upright, "Sorry about that Bobo, it must be hard flying with me right now. Let's find Taiga and get out of here."

Bobo suddenly veered to the left, catching Lucky off guard. A spray of liquid showered the sky and then caused a chain reaction of mini explosions.

Lucky turned her attention to the ground below them while she skittered to maneuver her wound to a different location. What are THOSE?! Lucky stared in disbelief at the Mawbear sized insects. They had what appeared to be a scorpion's tail and stinger. The forelegs of a mole cricket and the mandible of a bullet ant. The nest of freaky insectoids was roughly twenty in number. Occasionally the area around their stinger would flicker with mana and make a disturbing clicking sound. Within moments Bobo was dodging an array of the explosive sprays from earlier that stemmed from their stinger chamber.

Lucky finally managed to move her wound's location to her left shoulder. She positioned it in such a way where she still had control over her arm at the cost of some strength and an indescribable amount of pain. Lucky spotted Taiga limping towards the cover of one of the few buildings left standing.

"Bobo, can you keep their attention for a little bit without getting hurt?" Lucky rested her head on the Wyvern.

Bobo gave an affirmative hum before performing a barrel roll and slipping a stream of explosions. Lucky dove off of Bobo's back and used her boots to hover slightly before landing. As soon as her feet reached the ground she took off running around the perimeter to reach Taiga.

"Are you okay?" Lucky looked worried.

"I'll live." Taiga's left leg wobbled violently.

Lucky gave her a quick once over and could see that Taiga's head was bleeding, she had a concussion, broken ribs, twisted knee and her sword arm was broken.

"You might not if we don't get you out of here." Lucky looked around the corner at the nest of insects, "Seriously, what are those things?!"

"Could you quiet down? I have a headache." Taiga pressed her fingers against her temples, "Vulcanis Vinsectum, Not native to this region."

"That... Doesn't really answer my question." Lucky said dryly.

"Oh please, be quiet. Bomber Bugs are fine. They are a hybrid monstrosity created by the denizens of Burgn'snatch during one of the wars." Taiga winced.

"You're smarter than you look! So how do I kill it?" Lucky asked happily.

Taiga sighed, "Fire usually, just a little bit of it will cause a set chain of explosions. This tends to eradicate entire nests. But if you don't have that you can always target the glands on its back. One of the sections of its armour is softer than the rest. Cut through there and they usually die." Taiga coughed and fell to their rump.

"Alright, you stay here, Bobo is gonna get you. I'll go deal with these Bomber Bugs."

Lucky turned the corner but stopped when she saw Holly diving headfirst from the sky towards the Bomber Bugs. Her body was engulfed in flames as she plummeted downard. They frantically sprayed in her direction but she managed to preemptively ignite and explode their streams before they could pose a threat. The Bomber Bugs began to scatter but their demise was already written.

"This blazing inferno of mine, ROAR!" Holly's voice ricocheted through the area.

KA-BLOOM!!!

The deafening impact was quickly overshadowed by a shockwave of extreme temperature that knocked the bugs over and caused them to roll. What followed could only be described as a terrible hellscape. A plume of fire scorched the ground causing a chain reaction of explosions as it conquered each of the bugs. In the epicenter of the blast, Holly rose to her feet. Steam hissed from every pore of her body and flames erratically shot from her aura. Holly inhaled deeply and surveyed the area. The nest of bugs had been decimated. The only sign that they were ever there belonged to the destruction and their scattered body parts. Holly turned around as if she was looking for something.

"Holly!" Lucky called out, "Over here!"

Holly jogged over to Lucky and Taiga, "Sorry I'm late."

"Late? That was perfect timing." Taiga winced.

Lucky's eyes sparkled, "That was amazing!!! you were like vrooooooom, BOOM KAPOW!!! And blew all of them up!"

"Will you please hush? My head hurts." Taiga reminded Lucky.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Lucky clasped her hands together and bowed slightly.

Delilah and Bobo landed near the trio and Lucky ran off to them to give them love.

"So what did I miss?" Holly asked.

Taiga gave Holly the rundown causing Holly's expression to turn dark, "Interesting. An invasive species, another Ennobled Mimic, an Alpha and whatever Emila was..." Holly trailed off.

"Yeah, they said the mana was off lately but this seems different." Taiga sighed.

"I think it's best we collect Harmony and head back to the guild for today." Holly eyed Taiga, "Then we get you to the hospital."

"But what about the treasure?" Taiga pouted.

"This place hasn't been abandoned that long, ya know? The guild will send someone else to take a look on the inside. Probably a full party now that we encountered those things."

Holly helped Taiga to her feet and supported her over to the Wyvern's. Lucky and Holly loaded Taiga onto Delilah before Holly got on her Wyvern and Lucky on Bobo. Before the trio left the area, Holly's Wyvern lifted an unconscious Harmony into the air. After a longer flight home the group reached Aegis's Northern dropoff. Holly had called for an enforcement team on their way back. So when they landed a group of seven armoured adventurer's hauled Harmony off. Their destination was The Fool's Carol armory located to the east.

"Now that that's settled." Holly sighed, "Can I trust you to submit the report, Lucky? I want to take Taiga to the hospital right away."

"Yup, you can count on me!"

"Great, check your phone for the details and we can discuss payment in the group chat or in person tomorrow. Take care now, and good work!" Holly waved goodbye to Lucky as she helped Taiga limp away.

"Good work." Lucky said happily.

Vendors and merchants alike turned their heads as Lucky joyfully pranced down the street to The Fool's Carol. Upon returning she was greeted by Karyl first.

"Welcome back Luck- WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR SHOULDER?!" She shouted, scaring a nearby patron.

Lucky smiled sheepishly, "I got caught."

"Why didn't you go to the hospital?!" Kayrl guided Lucky out of the cafe and to the guild hall in the back.

Karyl slammed a metal box down on a table and opened its lock revealing various medical supplies. "What the heck am I even supposed to use on this?"

"Let me help," Stella walked up from behind the pair, "But uhm, can we go somewhere more private?" Stella held her arm awkwardly and looked away.

Lucky smiled, "Oh, hey Stella!"

"Sure," Karyl said, "But what do you plan to do?"

"You'll see." Stella said quietly.

The three walked over to Karyl's office. It was a spacious place, and neater than Lucky expected. Karyl had various photo frames of a blonde elven woman with green eyes hung on her walls.

"She's beautiful." Lucky said plainly.

"I know." Karyl blushed.

Lucky sat down in a chair closest to the door and Karyl sat down in her personal chair on the opposite side of the desk. Stella hovered her hands over Lucky, "I'd appreciate it if we kept this between us." Stella said.

The two nodded in silent agreement.

"Lucky, this won't feel great and it might start making you feel depressed or anxious. If it becomes too much just let me know."

"I trust you, Stella. But I have no idea what you're talking about." Lucky's tail wagged.

"So silly." Stella's voice couldn't hide her glee.

Stella's hands gave off a green glow and emanated some heat outwards. Her eyes began to glow and her magical circuits appeared from her hands to her head.

"Something's not right," Stella said, "This isn't a shoulder injury."

"Yeah you're right, how did you know?" Lucky asked.

"Doesn't matter, can you tell me where you actually got injured?"

"I'll just show you." Lucky's skin skittered and the wound slowly moved downwards back down to her abdomen.

"What the?" Karyl said, looking at Stella anxiously, "This doesn't leave this room either, okay?"

"Oh definitely not." Stella confirmed.

Moving her hands to the correct location Stella attempted to heal Lucky once more. Lucky's skin began to cover the hole that ran through her body and she felt a burning sensation mixed with the feeling of her body ripping apart. Lucky clenched her jaw and balled her fists. After another minute of enduring the process Stella sighed and crossed her arms.

"You're not supposed to get holes blown through you on your first quest." Stella scolded Lucky.

"And you should have gone to the hospital." Karyl continued.

Lucky looked between them and grinned, "Thank you both for caring so much! But I'm okay! Stella healed me and Team Decima finished the mission! Everything worked out alright! Oh, I almost forgot! I need to send this to you, Karyl." Lucky whipped out her phone and hovered it over a terminal on Karyl's desk.

A document full of information appeared on Karyl's computer screen. Karyl took a moment to review the document while Lucky leaned her head on Stella's shoulder, closing her eyes.

"Hmm, okay. I'll forward this to Vladimir, Betty and Jamie. I'm sure they'll want to read this report themselves." Karyl said, "Thank you for your assistance Stella. Lucky, good job today. Why don't you call it a day? Jamie should be finishing up in a bit, so in the meantime why don't you just relax?" Karyl turned her attention back to Lucky.

"That's probably a good idea, Lucky." Stella agreed, "Lucky?"

"She actually passed out." Karyl tried not to giggle, "I can put her in the bed upstairs."

Stella shook her head, "No it's okay, I can stay with her until she wakes up."

"You're a good friend, sweetie. I'll leave you two to it then. Duty calls!" Karyl left the room to head back to the cafe.

Stella carefully leaned back and positioned Lucky's head so that she wasn't cranking her neck as much. Stella rubbed her head and pet her ears as Lucky dreamed of adventure. The bustle of the guildhall and cafe quickly became white noise as Stella joined Lucky in her slumber. 

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(Uploaded version is the initial draft of the work LxD. The final edited version will be available for purchase in the future and you can check the progress of the book by visiting Lucky's streams twitch.tv/TheLuckyTempest)

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