Chapter 26.

CHAPTER 26.

Time quickly passed and Amber saw no fighting whatsoever, but she thought that was alright. Velda, Liz’s sister had basically volunteered herself to fight whatever monster came, and now that Liz was strong enough, she was able to allow her sister to do that. So, in the end, the two siblings repelled all the monsters that came. By the time the journey ended, Velda had risen from level 15 all the way to level 22.

Amber commended the enthusiasm.

During the journey, a lot of her time was spent mostly relaxing and talking with Liz and Velda; mostly with the former given that the latter had developed a rather subservient attitude to her. It wasn’t something Amber enjoyed. She didn’t want to be praised, she could praise herself after all. Instead, she wanted to just enjoy someone’s company.

She hated crowds of people, but small groups were nice. However, she was just as fine fighting monsters for weeks on end.

I’m not as much of an introvert as I thought.

Amber however, did indulge Velda’s questions. Answering a good chunk of them for the most part. However, she did decline to answer some; such as how her abilities actually worked or what her class even was. But she did, however, share every fight she could remember with Velda.

By the last day, Amber didn’t really have anything to talk about except for the things she couldn’t talk about; being from Earth and meeting a Primordial Spirit. She had even shared her experiences in Ax’thra’s tower. Which earned quite a lot of confusion given; the tower was supposed to be devoid of monsters. In the end, Liz gave her a knowing glance as she dismissed all of the notions.

Shortly after that, they began to pass a familiar forest⁠— the Arthra forest. She considered hopping down and going straight towards the tower, but she decided against it. She wanted to see Thieney again before leaving Laria, and also she wanted to give everyone proper farewells. However, in the end, Amber couldn’t resist one thing.

Nudging Liz.

“Hey, remember when I saved your life?”

Liz sighed. “I miss the old you; the you I first met. You looked lost and innocent, now you are… whatever you are.”

Amber blinked. “That’s quite the compliment.”

And the mage snorted in response.

She turned back to the forest. In the end, things were odd. Amber found it all hard to believe when she thought about things a bit too much. Not too long ago, she was a college student majoring in finance. She was an athlete, she had run several marathons and even gotten a medal or two, and she was also a girl who was estranged from her only parent. But now, none of that really mattered.

She was in a whole fucking other world.

A world with twin moons that broke the laws of physics, their shadows facing each other. A world with unbearable gods who were quite mean when talking and yet oddly endearing. A world where death was almost the norm.

She found it so fucking odd.

Of course, it wasn’t as if she had completely forgotten about Earth or anything. Killing people still bothered her a tiny bit. To her, it seemed that she had made a weird distinction between the people she killed and people. The people she killed were her enemies, and more importantly, they were evil. She hadn’t wronged anyone she had killed so far, they had all tried to take her life for one reason or another; that or they wanted to take other people’s lives. Just like monsters.

In the end, she had classified them as monsters.

A lot changed…

Amber stared at the passing dirt road. Soon, she would arrive and free herself of all the weird thoughts, but for now she indulged in them.

It’s what makes me human, she thought. I’m not some kind of machine who only wants to push their limits… For a moment she wondered if she was meant to come to Vir, or if it was just coincidence, but regardless she was thankful that it happened.

Amber closed her eyes and finally allowed the time to pass.

* * *

And when she finally opened her eyes, she could see the familiar road that led to Laria. She turned to see the large city a mere minute away at most. Then she saw Liz smiling at her sleeping sister who was perched on top of the mage’s thighs. It was a nice sight, but she unfortunately had to break their moment.

“We are arriving,” Amber said, her voice neither quiet or loud.

Liz blinked before turning her head towards the road. “Oh, we are… that’s nice.”

Amber nodded. She was glad to arrive and the traders seemed very happy too as well. Fervently discussing what they would do upon arrival. They were, of course, practically shouting at each other given the distance between the carts, which is why Amber got to learn all of the contents of the conversation. Things like, what they would be selling, what they would store for the winter, how the prices may have changed after the lockdown of the capital.

It seemed to her that it was a good time to potentially profit with goods from the capital; unfortunately the traders didn’t get to make use of that. But, Amber didn’t care all that much about that, instead she was glad that they finally had arrived.

She got down from the cart, and Liz woke Velda up. They too got down from the cart, and began to make their way towards the city. Amber waved at the merchants.

“Thank you all for the food and the campfires.”

“No, thank you for keeping us safe!” one replied.

“We are grateful!” the other said.

Amber of course, didn’t voice out how she hadn’t killed a single monster during the travels. Instead, she continued along with Liz and Velda. The latter seemed to be staring at the city with some level of shock.

“Is something wrong?” Amber asked.

“It’s just my first time seeing another city, that’s all,” Velda explained, looking at Laria’s walls. “It’s so much different from Cytel.”

Liz chuckled at that. “It is. I haven’t been to Laria all that long, but Amber likes it here.”

“Well, that is because it’s my first city⁠—” And Amber stopped herself. She couldn’t exactly say that it was her first time seeing a city in another world or anything. “I just like it.”

“Is that so?” Liz asked her with curiosity.

Velda however, was way too busy looking at the city even as they passed through the gates. The day was close to ending when they stood at the town square, and Liz took the chance to bow.

“Thank you so much for helping me, Amber.”

Amber blinked. “Right… you’re welcome.”

Liz straightened and promptly nodded. “I know I said it last time, but if there is anything I can do for you I will. I’ll try to look into the matter in regards to the Arcane Council.”

She blinked once more. “You don’t have to do that, but I appreciate it.”

“It’s the least I can do.” Liz smiled sincerely. “I will take a few days to spend with my sister, what will you be doing?”

Amber placed a hand on her chin. Given they spent a week together, Amber knew that Liz didn’t intend to stick around as a travel partner or anything, even if she would’ve admittedly welcomed her.

“I think I'll go to the tower in the Arthra forest,” she said after a moment. “But not today.”

Liz nodded, and Velda finally turned to them, seemingly having enough of city sightseeing and instead deciding to partake in the conversation.

“If… Amber needs information about an organization, I can try to help,” Velda said hesitantly. “We may not be in the capital but the Starkell name should have some pull here in Laria.”

Liz nodded at that and Amber was once more surprised.

“Thank you.”

“Also, if I can say something… it’s… important.” Velda added shyly.

“What is it?”

The blonde girl took a deep breath, her gaze shadowing over as she seemed to start shaking. For a moment Amber felt worried, Liz was too. But after taking a deep breath, the blonde girl looked up with resolution in her eyes.

“I want to become an adventurer that is just as strong as you, Amber,” she said.

Liz seemed shocked, and Amber meanwhile, just smiled. She smiled at the fact that the girl wanted to be her; at the fact that Velda wasn’t placing her on some sort of unreachable pedestal; she smiled at everything that that declaration presented. And so, she nodded.

“I shall wait then.”

Velda nodded.

“It’s getting late, we should get some sleep,” Liz said, reaching out to hold her sister’s hand. “Velda, I’ll help you with the adventuring stuff too.”

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The noble girl paused and then nodded. “Thank you.”

Liz then turned to Amber. “Thank you again, I hope your night is nice Amber. Velda and I will stay at the inn you and I used. So, you know where to find us.”

“Alright.” Amber nodded. “As for where I'll stay…” She thought. “I don’t know, I’ll figure it out.”

Amber expected Liz to snort or something, but instead she nodded and said goodbye. After saying goodbye back, the two sisters left. And now, Amber was alone.

She took a deep breath, for a moment she felt lonely but the feeling quickly was replaced by feeling liberated. She found it strange.

“I’d normally look for an inn, but… if possible I’d like to do that first.”

And so, she embarked on a quest to find her friend.

* * *

Her first stop was the Guild. And upon arriving she was met with a familiar figure, though not someone she was looking for. A man of golden hair and blue eyes, a mage. A familiar mage in fact. Luka. And his eyes were wide with surprise.

“Wait… Demonkiller…” his mouth dropped. “How are you… Diamond rank now…?”

Amber looked at the mage and used Identify.

[Mage. Lvl. 74]

“How are you not at Diamond rank?” Amber asked, confused. “You were level 71 when I last saw you.”

The man however, was unbothered by the comment and simply blinked as if he was looking at an alien.

“I think your question begs the obvious question: are we even living in the same world, Demonkiller? What did you even do to level up so much?”

“Lots of monster killing,” she said, omitting that some of the monsters were humans. “And reaping the experience from killing a very injured high level individual⁠— who tried to kill me first.”

“Right…” Luka closed his jaw. “So we are in the same universe, but you do live in a different world,” he said.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” She smiled before deciding. “By the way, I’m looking for Thieney, you know the warrior with the shield… the one that is in his thirties?”

Luka nodded. “Yes, I do remember him. He’s not at the Guild, I believe using common sense, he’s at his house.”

“And his house is⁠—” And Amber stopped herself, instead entering deep thought.

“Do you need directions?” Luka asked. “I can ask people inside the guild.”

A moment later, Amber shook her head. “No, I just remembered where he lives.”

“Ah I see, farewell then.” He nodded. “I hope that you don’t die from all that reckless leveling. I still wish to know how you killed the demon, but I’d much rather just admire your growth now. It’s not something I can replicate after all.” He chuckled to himself.

Amber blinked. “Well the demon died because he was paralyzed from the effects of multiple health potions, and I kept attacking until I cleaved through his head. As for how it happened…” She smiled. “That I won’t say.”

With those words, she turned around and waved.

“See you.”

“Goodbye, Amber the Demonkiller.”

And with that, Amber departed towards her destination.

* * *

Amber knocked on a door. The door to Thieney’s house. He had taken her here to give away his armor and to supply some old clothes. The house itself looked unassuming and rather small, its stone bricks showing great age. She waited for a few moments, and finally the door was opened.

“Can I help⁠—” he paused, looking at Amber. “You are… I can’t even use Identify on you anymore… what happened? Wait…”

And Thieney blinked, pausing as he looked her up and down.

“Is this your ghost coming to visit?”

Amber chuckled. “No, of course not. I’ve come to claim what is rightfully mine.”

“Now you really are sounding like a ghost,” the man said, amused. “What is rightfully yours, Amber?”

“You said you felt bad so you’d treat me to some food, or well I suggested that but still.”

He chuckled. “Yes, and then I handed you a whole silver coin after you bailed on those plans, you should be the one apologizing.”

Amber was caught off-guard by that. She hadn’t actually come to seriously claim free food from the man, she had just felt the need to see him. But still, he did have a point.

“Fine, what kind of fancy restaurant do you want?”

“Nothing fancy, just street food, a stall or two should still be open,” he stated simply. “Let me go get changed.”

Amber hadn’t noticed but Thieney didn’t have a shirt. So, she let the man take his time to change; which was a whole twenty seconds. After that they headed to get something to eat.

* * *

Amber sat along with Thieney, munching on some balls of meat with some wooden utensils.

“So, what level are you now? And of course, how did you reach it?” he asked, looking at the rather empty streets.

“75, so Diamond ranked I guess but I still just have the platinum badge. Don’t know if I care to update it.” Amber shrugged. “Maybe if I need money.”

“A lot of people would immediately rush in excitement to upgrade it,” Thieney sighed. “Though I suppose you are different.”

She nodded. “As for how I reached the level, there was a lot of killing involved. And I had to… kill more humans.” She winced a bit, thinking Thieney would judge her, but instead he nodded.

“So, they tried to hurt you and you had to defend yourself,” he said.

“Yes, or they tried to hurt others,” she said. “There was also a mage, his class was question marks and his levels were too. He… well it’s complicated.”

“What level was he?” Thieney asked, a smile present on his face as he ate another piece of meat.

“168,” she sighed. “And he almost killed me even though he was already limping and gravely injured when the battle began.”

Thieney’s eyes went wide at that. “The fuck?”

“Yeah, I know. Somehow it feels unfair when my enemy does the same thing I do to others,” she snorted.

“Not that, how the fuck did you kill a level 168?!” Thieney cried, almost dropping his food.

“Well, he had one foot on the grave, sort of,” Amber began. “He also was cursed and his wounds wouldn’t close. Not only that but his mana output had apparently been reduced too.”

“Right…” Thieney nodded, trying to eat another piece of beef. “So, does this have to do with the capital’s lockdown?”

“I’m pretty sure he was part of the group that caused it,” she said.

Amber considered telling Thieney the truth, but decided against it at least for now. Perhaps it was unfair given he had helped her so much, but to her it just simply didn’t feel right. She didn’t want Thieney to feel the need to involve himself with whatever the Arcane Council was doing.

“Huh, I see,” he said. “So, can you tell me what Liz asked of you?”

“Oh, she wanted me to kidnap⁠— I mean, save her sister.”

He raised his brow. “Do you mind telling me more about that? It sounds… interesting.”

“Sure.”

And so, Amber regaled her epic tale, earning her a few “you can’t be serious” and “stop messing around”, but eventually she told him all the facts which had made him quite confused. She also didn’t leave out the parts with the demon people, much to his shock. After that, Thieney was just staring at the floor for what felt like forever, before he decided to speak.

“That is a lot to take in,” he said, letting out a deep breath. “So a bunch of people are summoning demons now? Should we tell the Guild?”

“I don’t know if we should or not,” Amber said after a moment. “I guess the most relevant people are the royal family⁠— maybe even the only right party to inform but…”

“The capital is on lockdown and it’s not like we can exactly tell them…” Thieney finished for her. “Not only that, but there is no concrete proof to what you’ve said.”

“Pretty much,” Amber agreed. “So, I suppose it’s a small secret to keep between friends.”

“This goes beyond small.” The man sighed.

“Well, still.” Amber shrugged. “To a lighter topic, how is Emma and the… archer?”

“Lorsan,” he corrected. “They both struggle to move but they are doing fine now, thank you for asking.”

“Huh, potions are quite bad,” Amber said, rubbing her chin. Luckily, I’m immune to them, sort of⁠… Truth of the matter was, she would still get briefly affected, and in the case of the High Quality potion her body ached for a day.

“Indeed they are, Lorsan is considering retirement over it.” He shrugged as he finished the last of his food. “It’s been nice talking to you Amber, unfortunately I have to go.”

Amber blinked. “You go to bed at this hour? The sun hasn’t even set.” She gestured at the sky.

Thieney shook his head. “Emma is waiting for me, I’m taking care of her during her recovery, so, until next time. Make sure to swing to say goodbye if you leave though.”

She nodded at that, and waved the man off.

After that, Amber finished her own food before deciding to go inn hunting. She sought the most expensive one she could find.

It took about an hour, but she stood in front of a fancy building. It was ornate, and made out of stone, wood accentuated it. It had four floors total. Amber went in and immediately paid for a bath and a comfy room; the best room.

The entire thing had cost her about 70 silver coins, which was quite steep, but she didn’t quite care. Considering she was about to fuck off into the wilderness the next day, it was something she found necessary to some extent. The inn-keeper seemed apprehensive given Amber was filthy, but in the end he had allowed her to use the bath for an extra ten silvers.

Amber undressed herself, throwing her equipment on the corner of the small personal room. There was a wall length mirror there. She was holding the whispering cube, not intending to let it get away from her. She didn’t know when it would grow some tentacles and begin to crawl away. However, the cube wasn’t the thing that interested her, instead it was her own body.

Her physical shape was most definitely at the peak of her life, and that brought her a smile.

Amber then turned to the cube and felt its surface; it felt as smooth as ever. The lines on its surface didn’t seem to be present. After examining it a few more minutes, she decided that it was enough and instead she went to soak in the bath. The cube came along.

And during her bath she discovered a shocking revelation.

The whispering cube was buoyant…

* * *

The next morning, Amber felt incredibly relaxed. She had dreamt of killing a dragon, and it was a rather nice dream. Even Ax’thra had been there to clap at her. So, in a good mood, she grabbed food, she grabbed supplies, water⁠— everything she thought she could need. It was all packed in a nice bag that was quite big all things considered. She then set off to say goodbye to Liz and Velda. She made sure to explain she’d leave for the capital after visiting the tower. Liz told her to be careful, and after the two women said their goodbyes with smiles.

Then, Amber moved to visit Thieney.

He, surprisingly, was with Lorsan. So Amber gave her goodbyes to him too even though they were barely acquainted. However, just as she was about to leave she paused and turned around to face him.

“Hey, actually, do you think you could shoot some arrows at me? Like in my arm or something?” Then she thought for a moment. “If they are poisoned, that would be helpful.”

Thieney blinked. “Have you lost your mind⁠—”

“Sure, I’ll make sure to add poison just for you.” Lorsan smiled, agreeing basically immediately. “Your ways of training are quite interesting.”

Amber felt glad that she didn’t have to convince the archer. She had expected a different reaction, but then she remembered how the man had eaten an Osthus Berry for the sake of trying it and figured that was just how he was.

Minutes later, she had three arrows embedded in her body. Cursed Momentum activated. Then, Amber bade her goodbyes yet again. The experience in heading to the gates was quite weird given people kept looking at her in concern, even the guard seemed to do a double take when she left.

But she didn’t pay anything any mind, and instead she ran. She ran using the full extent of her physical abilities, using Quick Dash to reach the Arthra forest as soon as possible. She wanted to see what was left of the tower; if Ax’thra was there, if the people had left something behind⁠— she wanted to see all of that.

And so, she used everything.

* * *

Amber crossed the stretch between Laria and the forest in a mere two hours, scaring several merchants in the process and even earning her hostile fire from an archer. However, she had ignored all of that, not daring to stop for a second.

And even as she arrived at the forest, she took no time to pay any attention to her surroundings. Instead, she headed directly towards the tower. Monsters in the forest seemed to now run away from her, and the monsters whose levels she couldn’t see didn’t seem to be anywhere present. So, she continued running.

What had once been a journey that had taken her multiple days, was now turned into six hours as she saw the tower in the distance. The sun was still shining brightly overhead, and the weather seemed perfect.

Amber couldn’t believe how much faster she had become; how much strength she had gained; how much she had changed. It was mind blowing to her, but it was nice⁠⁠—

And then she paused, feeling the curse of the cube increase. She shuffled with her armor for a moment before taking the cube out and its blue lines were as bright as ever.

Amber blinked at that, and then decided to keep running towards the tower with the cube in hand. And to her surprise, the blue seemed to be brighter the closer she got.

So it can locate towers? She smiled at the realization. That’s nice.

A few minutes later, she arrived before the tower where it all began. Amber looked up only to see that the tower had been fixed.

Maybe Ax’thra is still here? Amber strode into the tower with a smile as the cube shined brighter than ever and she found⁠—

Nothing. Nothing seemed to be happening except for the fact that the cube was now shining in a very bright blue light.

Amber circled the puddle of water that had broken her fall and immediately headed up the stairs. The first floor was empty, the second was too, the third, the fourth, the fifth…

They were all empty.

Ax’thra was gone.