"Another one?"
I might sound a little surprised but, I'm not that much. Once I open the door, I see another room although I do have to admit that this one is rather interesting.
"This time it seems to be a living room... And quite the big one at that."
I say this while inspecting the room, while carefully looking in all directions. Right in front of me, further down the room there are several windows, three in this case, ones that equally divide the wall in three. Anyone would expect to be able to see the outside, but there is only a bright light from the windows, making me unable to see anything past them. But what catches the most attention, at least for me, is the piano right in the middle of windows, a bit far from them, maybe 1-2 meters of distance.
"That piano sure looks nice."
I say this with admiration and to be honest, with just a tad bit of excitement. Just a tad bit though. I did learn how to play the piano when I was younger and I do enjoy doing so. I'm not a professional or anything like that but I can handle myself if I say so. Moving on, to my left a massive bookshelf is present, and as anyone can expect, it is filled with books. To my right there is a sofa, quite big but not as big as the bookshelf. Seriously, the bookshelf seems to be like 10 meters wide or something like that, while the couch is maybe 3 meters? Still big but nowhere near as big as the bookshelf.
"This room sure is big."
Another fantastic conclusion from yours truly. I'm still maybe a meter or so from the bookshelf and if I add its length, it already makes this room at very minimal 11-12 meters long. Quite big, even for a living room, and I do come from a noble family, so believe me when I say this is big. The ones I'm used to are at around 7-10 meters, being the bigger ones are rare to come across by.
"Welp, not much I can do unless I get in."
I still haven't stepped a single foot into the living room. Since I can have a quick look from the outside, why wouldn't I do it? The moment that I open the door I use my Magic Sense Skill, from there I feel nothing as there isn't a single drop of it inside of the room. Reaching the conclusion that it's safe to enter, I carefully get inside and the moment I'm fully in, the door disappears behind me. I quickly look back when that happens, maybe this time I can see what's happening but I wasn't fast enough, although I did discover something good.
"There you are, it seems you will only appear once I'm fully in."
Right in front of me there is a wall and at the corner of it, to my right in this case, there is the door to get out of here. To the opposite corner there is another bookshelf but this one is much smaller than the previous one. Next to it there is a desk with quite the fancy looking chair.
"What should I check first?"
I ponder the possibilities as I say this to the world. I have a massive bookshelf to check, but to be honest I don't want to, seriously, there might be more than one hundred books in there. I really don't have that much time to check them one by one, although I do have the small bookshelf next to the desk, and that one did pick my interest, however my piano skills are calling me to try the piano… What should I do?
"The answer is easy of course!"
After not thinking for more than a second, I decided to get this over with quickly, so I walked up to the piano. Not really. Instead of the piano, even though I more than wanted to play it first, I walked up to the massive bookshelf first. Once I was close enough, I started to look around and to my pleasant surprise, I found something nice quite quickly.
"They all are organized! A few empty spots in some places but nonetheless, everything is neatly organized."
Ah, a smile creeps on my face as I realize that I don't have to go through every single book in there. Since they are organized, I only need to check the main topic of that set of books. There is a small plaque below them that tells the main topic of those specific books.
"Let's see what we have here..."
So, we have: novels, history, fantasy, piano books and music in general, poetry, politics and so on. Basically, anything you can think of except for what I'm looking for. Of course.
"Another bust it seems… Though this room is much different from the previous one I was in. Maybe I can deduct that this belongs to someone else?"
I reach this conclusion because of the architecture and the style of the room. This living room seems much more modern and somehow simpler, quite different from the previous one that seemed a bit antique.
"Hmm, maybe I will have more luck with the desk. But first I have to do this…"
I look at the piano as I say this, that thing really is calling me to play with it, almost so that I can hear a voice saying-
"Come here… and play with me…"
Ah wait, I might actually be going mad, that's why I'm hearing this voice. Oh well, as normal as one can be, I walk up to the piano and sit down in the chair. Then, without a worry in the world, I pressed the keys in front of me, one that is familiar to me.
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…
"Eh? What?"
To my extremely unpleasant surprise, no sound came from the piano. I pressed the same set of keys again, maybe I did something wrong? But of course, I didn't do such a thing, I'm just cooping, hoping that this time around, there will be sound.
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…
"Well, my day is now ruined! Thank you bery much."
Reality is often cruel and unfair, this time around it has shown me its true colours. Just like before, no sound at all, what a damn shame. I was really excited to play with this thing for a little bit, but oh well, I cannot have everything that I desire, I guess. Reluctantly I got up and walked up to the desk, but still with the piano in the back of my head and with that voice telling me-
"Come back… let's play…"
Seriously, I might be going mad.
"Another newspaper?"
Though, just like before, the first thing I came across is another newspaper right in the middle of the desk, but I also quickly notice the frame next to it.
"Another blurry picture… Don't they know how to take pictures? This is unacceptable for someone as curious as myself!"
I agree with what I just said. This one is quite a bit bigger from the previous one but as blurry as that one. Since I won't be getting much from it, let's ready the newspaper first. The title in this one is the following;
"Monsters made of Crystals appear in the city! They fight everything in sight, including the Shadows monsters!"
"A few days after the first incident with the Shadows, several monsters made of Crystals also seem to appear from thin air. These ones are just like the Shadows, they have quite the variety to them however, the Crystals ones are much more humanoid looking than the Shadows who straight are monsters. From the reports that we've got, there are only 2 types of the Crystals monsters. The first one is roughly 2 meters tall, bigger than your average man. These ones seem to be armoured from the tip of their heads down to the very sole of their feet. They also carry weapons with them, and these ones can vary from; bows, spears, swords and so on, any weapon really. They also are quite strong, easily at C+ rank, because of this, it is more than recommended to stay away from them. The other type on the other hand, it's something straight from a horror book. With still a humanoid look to it, this one is several meters tall, between 10 to 15 meters. However, while the "smaller" ones have been sighted throughout the city, this type on the other hand, only two of them were sighted, until now that is, this can change in the future. One was using a massive spear that seems to be made of Crystals while the other one had a sword and shield also made of Crystals. These two are at S rank, which makes them beyond dangerous and entities capable of destroying a city by themselves, now imagine the two of them. Please be extremely careful when dealing with these new monsters as it is more than recommended to get the hell away from them."
Once again quite the dramatic ending, but the moment I picked the newspaper, I noticed there are more of them. Before I read anymore let me comment first and let my thoughts out into the world. Not that I think anyone will hear but hey, at least I don't feel so lonely. I'm still annoyed at the piano though.
"I have seen these monsters before coming here, I actually have also fought them. I can also say that the reports are somewhat inaccurate, at least in strength levels of the "smaller" ones, those ones seem to be at a comfortable B rank."
Ah, I forgot to say but this newspaper is 3 months old, exactly the time where the Crystal monsters first appeared so it's normal for them to misjudge their true strength.
"They are difficult to handle, but not only because of their strength but also because they are extremely smart. They can easily and proficiently handle their weapons, they are good in hand-to-hand combat and of course, their defence is also top notch. They have the tendency to be in groups of at least four of them, not only that, their team work is also top notch. All of this makes them extremely dangerous even for a well-trained army."
And yet, these Crystal monsters seem to be summons as I said before. There's something about them that we all are missing, but it's not like I will figure out the answer right now. Putting that on the side, let's read the next one, the following from what I've read as I have organized everything by timeline. The title on this one is the following;
"A Dragon flies over the city! Complete chaos arises with it!"
"Wait, what!? A Dragon!?"
I let this out quite loudly and filled with surprise. My eyes are wide open thanks to the surprise and while my mouth is the same, it's thanks to the shock. Let's be honest, it's understandable as I have never heard or seen such a Dragon. Seriously, no one told me about it.
"On the ??? day of this month, a Dragon appears from the skies. This Dragon is several tens of meters long and another ten or so wide, with a snow-white colour to it and with a few yellow details throughout its body, making him easy to be seen by the human eye. For some unknown reason, said Dragon decided to visit the city in the midst of all the chaos. However, this Dragon seems to be friends with the Crystal monsters or at least non hostile towards them. Since there have been some sights and reports of then working together to fight the Shadows, we can draw those two conclusions. Please be extremely careful upon seeing said Dragon and if you're unfortunate enough to interact with such a creature, beware that Dragons are easily S rank and above. They are flying catastrophes."
This one is shorter than the precious one, but somehow is able to end in a more dramatic way. Wow, I sure didn't expect a Dragon to appear as anyone could guess from my not over the top reaction. I've never fought one as they live far away up north, even if I wanted to, they rarely leave that area, which makes them extremely rare to be seen, let alone fight one. Although there was a rather powerful Dragon that ruled Setsuna, that one was defeated by the previous Hero and that city is towards the east. They are mystery creatures, when they do come down, they have the tendency to do rather unexpected things. A Dragon ruling over a city of humans? Yep, not normal at all. Well, while I don't think they are vindictive, I just hope this Dragon has nothing to do with that and it was a onetime sight. Since their strength is at the least S rank, fighting one of them does not inspire me at all with much confidence at all.
"Let's hope that he does not have some type of vendetta against the Hero."
I really mean it, while an S rank is no worries for me, those things can get crazy strong, so much so that they can equal the Demon Lord and the Hero in terms of strength and magic. In fact, in recent years, close to two centuries ago to be honest, a Dragon gained quite the reputation because it fought toe to toe with the Demon Lord, gaining the name of "The Dragon that Ruled over the Thunder". That Dragon was so powerful and as fast as lighting itself, he was able to stop the invasion from the Demon Lord that was happening at that time. In fact, that Setsuna city was created shortly by another powerful Dragon, the one that was slayed. The Demon Lord was later then defeated by the Hero, however, no one dares or dared in this case, to mess with Setsuna city for years thanks to the sheer fear of angering not one but two extremely powerful Dragons. Now I wonder, why did the previous Hero do such a thing? Anyway, no point in thinking about it right now, let's move on to the next one. The following newspaper has the following title;
"More Crystal monsters are revealed! A colossal Shadow monster threatens the entire city and the surroundings!"
"Oh, I do remember hearing of such a thing, especially that colossal Shadow. In fact, I was also tasked to defeat that thing only for it to be defeated shortly as I was traveling here."
"A few more types of Crystal monster are seen in the city, but these ones are much more like monsters than humanoids. One of them looks like a fish, a floating fish with tremendous speed, though its power and defence are nothing of the sort, quite the opposite, making them C rank but still dangerous for the average person. The other new type is something akin to a floating octopus or a squid, this monster is roughly between 150 centimetres to 225 centimetres tall. There are a few that are larger than normal, these ones seem to be the "Alpha" or leaders. Because of this, their strength varies a bit, they all seem to focus on magic rather than physical strength, on the support side even. From the tip of their tentacles, from the two main ones in this case, they seem to use them to invoke spells while the rest of the tentacles are used to float around as they bounce upwards and downwards maintaining their altitude with it, although it seems they cannot float higher than 1 meter from the ground. Even if they have a support role, they still are fierce and aggressive, they will retaliate in close combat with said tentacles and they do pack a punch if they hit you. All of this makes them between C+ and B- rank being that, the Alphas are B- rank, much more dangerous for the average person than the other ones.
For last, there are the small Crystal golems, ones that really are small, between 35 centimetres and 75 centimetres tall. These Crystal golems behaviour is not normal as they stay completely still without moving a centimetre for hours at hand and when they do decide to move, they simply end up doing the same thing but, in a different position. They don't seem to be dangerous at all, however you still have to be careful around them, while they will not attack on sight, their bodies are sturdy, extremely sturdy, and they will attack by headbutting anyone and anything that bothers them or threatens them. This makes them in a weird position in terms of raking, their headbutt does hurt quite a bit, it won't kill and average adult, in that regard, it makes them a D+ rank, their defences on the other hand, they are easily at B rank, but since they don't attack on sight the adventurer guild decided to rank them at C-. With all of this information please proceed with caution and avoid all of them as best as you can."
This time around, it still ends in a somewhat dramatic way... Before I keep going, here's my thoughts about the new Crystal monsters.
First let's start with the fish ones. Just as the newspaper said, they are nothing special as I have defeated some of them with ease, but yes, their speed is something else. They use said speed to overwhelm you with fast and precise scratches as in both sides of their mouth there are two sharp blades, or are they bones? Or maybe neither since they are made entirely of Crystals. Either way, a behaviour that I've noticed from them is that they seem to be like scouts rather than fighters. At the top of their head, they have what seems to be an antenna, and I think they use it to communicate with the other Crystals monsters. Those golems that the newspaper talked about, they are there to be used as relays to expand the range from the signals that the fish monsters give out. Yes, those golems are there for that and only that, they stand still so that they can "blend" with the surroundings. Of course, for the human eye and even for animals, they fail to achieve that, but for the Shadows? That's a whole different scenario as the Shadows move based on magic and pure instinct. Anything that has magic, enough so that they can detect it that is, they will move towards it and try to consume it. The instincts' part is that some people, like myself for example, we can hide our magic energy, however for some reason these Shadows can by instinct notice that, attacking once they realise that we are close to them. The squid or octopus ones are the most dangerous of these 3 to be honest. Their combat intelligence is frightening, I have seen them create barriers to surround their foes, mainly Shadows in this case, so that they cannot escape from that area. Then they rain down some Lightning on them, one that is powerful at that, making work of the Shadows with ease. I also have seen them support the humanoid Crystal monsters but only the "small" ones as the two big ones seem to act alone and independent.
"The more I think about it, the more confused I get. Just why are these Crystal monsters here? What is their objective? From everything I heard, they only attack once they get attacked first, almost as if it is self-defence... If they are summons, were they ordered for such?"
My brain is empty for this one, the origins of these monsters are a complete mystery while the Shadows are a product of a Demon Lord just as I said before. Now, a good question, how did said Demon Lord appear? Who knows, and that alone makes this even worse. The Shadow incident kind of happened out of nowhere without any warning at all. Moving on, after this I quickly turn the page around so that I can keep reading the rest.
"But unfortunately, this is not the end of it. Yesterday, day ??? a colossal Shadow appeared right in the middle of the residential area of the city. The colossal Shadow was several meters tall, easily reaching 50 meters, and the same can be said about the length and width, 45 meters in length thanks to its massive tail and 15 meters in width. The colossal Shadow looked like a monster straight from fairy tales, or more so from a horror fairy tale, one that will give anyone that is fool enough to read, nightmares that will hunt until your very last breath. It had a massive mouth full of teeth, ones that were at least the size or bigger than a human and ones that could easily rip apart any human that is unfortunate enough to get caught. Three, not two but three giant arms, one bigger than the other, one on each side and the last one at the back. This arm is much longer than the other two, it could touch the ground behind him and if it wanted to, it could go above its head and touch the ground in front of him. It had claws so big they could destroy a building with a single swing, several eyes on its face and body that can easily spot anyone and anything around it and of course, two legs that are similar to its arms, one bigger than the other making it crooked to the sides, but still strong looking as they were extremely thick.
The colossal Shadow was easily ranked at S rank, though some experts say it should be higher thanks to its enormous magic energy, ranking it a SS rank at the very minimum. Fortunately for human kind, the colossal Shadow was defeated by the two giant Crystal monsters, in fact, it was a combined effort of the Crystal monsters that defeated it. This clash of course, destroyed a good area in the residential plaza. The battle there was enormous, several Shadows against several Crystal monsters, the rates that some scouts said were five Shadows to one Crystal monster and even with odds like that, they were able to defeat the majority of the Shadows. However, they didn't come out unscathed, their casualties were also huge. For now, the city is extremely quiet, but there still are Shadows lurking around and the same can be said about the Crystal monsters. Please avoid entering the city, and if you are already inside of the city, please leave as soon as you can and do your best to avoid contact with any of the threats as they can easily kill you. Be safe."
"Well, this explains why the plaza seems to be the place that suffered the most damage. But either way, that colossal Shadow does sound like something else, but what is even more fascinating are the two Crystal monsters who defeated it. A group of adventures, the same one that provided the newspaper with all of this information, they said that these two Crystal monsters soloed the colossal Shadow by themselves in a display of teamwork and battle experience beyond anything they have seen."
At that time, when they told me this, I got a little too excited to be honest. I was worried of course but, still looking forward to seeing them in action, to see their true power and their teamwork. How come these odd creatures are so "civilized", so much so that they can work together? Monsters rely on instincts, hunger, anger, and just the sheer "want" to destroy anything and everything. This is what makes them act in such a way, only an exceedingly rare case these monsters gain any type of intelligence at all, though don't get me wrong, I'm talking about battle intelligence. This is something that the vast if not all of the monsters seem to have. Some of them are cunning, they can lure you, use traps and so on, although only monsters whose rank are C- or above are capable of such. But other than that, not much goes inside of their empty heads, they can't speak or even communicate with each other, that's why you don't see them work together that often, they can't understand basic concepts and the list goes on. The exceptions are for example, the Demon Lord and even with that, the vast majority of them were once humans or humanoids, a Dryad and some monsters that look like animals, those for some reason seem to have the same nature as animals combined with monsters.
"I digress, it seems we have to somewhat thank those Crystal monsters for the fight as otherwise, I don't think I would be here in time to save this city, if it still there was one that is."
Yep, that sure is an uncomfortable truth, especially for someone like myself. From how far I was and from how dangerous that colossal Shadow monster was, I more than believe that once I got here, I would only be seeing a wasteland. Seriously, the longer I think about the Crystal monster motives and goals, the more confused I get. Are they here to protect us? Or are they here to just fight the Shadows and therefore end up protecting us? I still have no damn clue.
"Let's keep looking, no point in standing here staring at the wall like a fool. It's not like I'm getting an answer by doing so."
I grab the picture that is in the secretary, in the corner of it in this case as I say this.
"Just like the previous one, this one is also blurry, although it does seem to be the same person."
Just like I said, this picture is also blurry and just like the previous one, it seems to be the same person but, in this case, she seems slightly smaller as the pink blurry is less prevalent and the silhouette is also smaller. This can just be the case of perspective as if I take a picture up close, said person will occupy the frame much more, if I take the same picture but from further away said person will occupy the frame much less. Reaching the conclusion that I won't be getting any more useful information out of this, I face the bookshelf next to my left, though the moment I lay my eyes on it I quickly notice something.
"Oh, it's the same as the other one. Everything is neatly organized the same way, but just on a smaller scale."
Like the big bookshelf, this one also has several types of books, but none that seem important for my case. Here we have more newspapers that have nothing to do with my situation, we also have a few maths books, chemistry books and so on. Nothing of interest really.
"Well, these ones seem to be more about school than anything else, no wonder that I can't find anything useful."
After a little bit of careful inspection, I do reach this conclusion but that really is the only thing I get from this bookshelf. In other words, this was also a bust.
"Time to go then."
I say this as I face the door to my right and without wasting any time, I get going, of course with my guard up there, really up there, who knows, maybe this time something more exciting will happen. Then, once I was close enough, with my hopes high and with my guard the same way, I carefully open the door and what I see truly surprises me.
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