25 Enemies That are Immune to Weapons
The girl is still struggling, trying to wrestle the lever all the way to the left side—which has only moved a centimeter from its initial position. Its mechanism has long been left off and trying to move it again surely requires more than just a decent manpower.
"Uuuurrgh!"
Faruk just floating idly, watching Oria giving her full force just to pull the stone-handled lever.
A moment later, the lever shifts again, but only a few centimeters. It's a progress, of course, but not enough to make the control move completely.
"Haah... haah... why, why is it so hard to pull it?" Oria asked pantingly. She leans her head on the lever housing compartment, trying to take a quick recovery. "Fa... Faruk... c-can you help me?"
Faruk looks at her with a dumb look saying, "I'm just an iron ball now. All I do is flying around."
"C-Come on... I have an idea on how to move the lever..." Oria stated.
The Silver Dragon takes interest by her words, "Oh? What kind of idea it might be?"
"Haah... it's, huhh... I don't know whether it might work or not, but... I think we can move the lever together."
"And how are 'we' going to move the lever if I might add? I have no pair of arms to support thee in pulling that lever."
"Umm..." Oria halted for a moment to think. Then, she tells him this: "You know... I think you don't need to pull it, Faruk. Err... I think you can help me push the lever from the other side?"
"Hm..."
"Ah...ahaha... I'm sorry, it's a bad idea, isn't it?"
"(For a moment, it was shock and awe that she said those words like she's commanding me. Who did she think she's talking to? ...That's what I'd say if she's some illiterate human I just met. Somehow, I feel kind of proud when she's saying that idea of hers. Why am I feeling this?)"
"Umm... Faruk?"
"Hm," Faruk nodded. "I think that might work. Very well, let us together give it a try."
"E-Eh? Really?"
"Cooome on, don't start asking anything and let's cut to the chase."
"Y-Yes, Faruk! Right away!"
Faruk floats to the right side of the lever and lands on the handle while Oria gets ahold of the stone handle again. Gently, Faruk pushes against the lever while the child gives her all to pull the damned lever. Soon, the iron ball delivers a greater force to the handle, giving it a stronger push. With both working together, their strengths add up and they are eventually able to move the hardened control.
"I-It's moving...!"
"—Don't let up, kid! Keep pulling!"
"A-Ah, right!"
Inches by inches, and finally...
"Uwaah!"
...the jammed cogs underneath move again. The lever is now fully shifted to the left side. And as the two let go of the stone handle, they can hear the cogs moving. Shortly, the standing wooden bridge near them slowly drops down, letting out sounds of chains rattling as it lowered down. Finally, the bridge connects them to the next platform.
"Phew... we did it, Faruk!" she cheered.
"Hm. It appears we are. That idea of yours proved to be instrumental in moving the lever. (Though I already know that would surely move the lever.)"
"Heehee. Thanks!"
The child smiles gleefully at her achievement.
"Now... let us proceed. Are you good to go?"
"Uh, yes! I'm ready."
"I thought you're suffering from the odor of this sewage system."
"I still do, actually. But, I'm trying my best to get used to it. After all, I'm used to the smell of blood, which was more stinging than this!" she said confidently, emphasized by her clenched fists.
"(...And there's that past reminder again, and she's oblivious to that... *sigh*...)"
"I remember I breathed through my mouth if I want to avoid smelling something nasty like this. A-Ah, but don't worry, I'll try to get used to the smell with my nose, too!"
"...Just make sure no flies enter your mouth. Let's go."
And with that, they go across the bridge over the malodor waterwork. The platform they're standing on is mossy and slippery.
"Oh-ouoh!" Oria nearly slipped.
"Careful as you step. The ground is mossy," Faruk stated. Oria carefully stands back up and watches the stone floor beneath her. She carefully moves to the parts that has the least moss, and eventually, she manages to get to a clear platform.
Her trouble isn't over, yet. There's a crab-like creature in front of her, roughly about five meters from her fix.
"Oh... that brown thing... is a monster, is it?"
Faruk nods, "Hm. A crustacean monster. Do [Appraisal] on that monster first."
"O-Okay... (Oh, yeah... I have level 3 Appraisal now... I wonder how many info I will get.)"
With that, Oria yells 'Appraisal' while staring at the crab-like creature. Naturally, the info shows up in the popup screen.
<Marble Crab>
HP: 445/445
MP: 0/0
Desc: A brown crustacean monster with an extremely hard shell.
"Whoa... it has 245 HP and 0 MP, Faruk!" Oria stated almost yelling.
"Lower your voice, you're going to alert it," said Faruk. He's also using [Appraisal] on that lone monster.
"O-Oops."
"When fighting a monster, make sure you DON'T alert them. Are we clear?" said Faruk as he closes the window screen.
"G-Got it. So... shall I try attacking it?"
"Hold on. See the description of that monster?"
"Yeah...? 'A brown crustacean monster with an extremely hard shell'..."
"Yes. As the description says, that monster has a thick shell. Your knife... will probably break if you try to stab it."
"Is that so... Ah! So, we use magic here."
"Heh, you know it. Mostly, monsters that has an obviously tough-looking shell is the easiest to kill with magic."
"I understand."
"Very well. Let's see what Dux taught you about magic."
"Okay."
Oria walks a bit closer to the monster while keeping a safe distance, making sure to not alarm it. Her hands stretched forth; her eyes closed. She then recalls on how to use magic again.
"(Imagine... that scary white fire... don't be scared, Oria... you can do it...!)"
She pictured a white fire in her mind and tries to project it to her hands. Shortly, a small magic circle ensues in front of her, taking the color of white and red motifs. She then senses the heat coming from the tip of her palms, implying that the fire is appearing. With that, she opens her eyes and casts the magic.
"Albus Ignis!"
The fire launches, traveling through the humid air and finally sends the unknowing crab into a dance of shining white fire. The monster screeches, but it's not dead. It tries to douse the fire and then scrams from them.
"What...? It's not dead, yet...?" Oria worried.
"Obviously. Check the status screen for that monster again. Here's how..."
Faruk teaches her how to access appraised enemies' status, both killed and currently fighting against. Then, she follows the monster and checks the Marble Crab status screen.
<Marble Crab>
HP: 91/445
"Hey, its HP is really low now," Oria pointed out.
"I see it."
"Maybe I can..." Oria is about to reach her knife, but immediately stops when Faruk scolds her.
"—Don't even think of charging to that monster and kill it with your knife."
"Eh? But its HP is very little now..."
"Yes, that's true. But no matter how you're going to try to stab it, you'll just end up breaking your knife. Don't risk doing something that's going to make you weaponless."
"I see... thank you for telling me."
Faruk nods, "Hm. (Huh, she actually said thanks instead of sorry this time...)"
"Then... should I use magic again?"
"Yes. Even though your opponent has low HP, it's better you use magic again as a precaution. After all, you don't want to lose your weapon, no?"
"Y-Yeah..."
"Very well, now, go on and use that magic again."
With that, Oria redoes the process of her activating magic. Again, she casts Albus Ignis to that delirious crab monster. The white fire enlightened the floor around it for a moment as the fire engulfs the crustacean being and burns it to ashes.
"Phew... it's gone, now..."
"Hm. Good work."
Then... Faruk just realizes something now.
"Hm? Wait, did you just use magic without chanting, Oria?"
"Chanting...? What's that?" she asked cluelessly.
"W-What Dux taught you on how to cast magic?" Faruk once again began to sound flustered.
"Umm... it's all about imagining things, I guess? Master Dux told me that."
"(Damn you, Sqidral Dux! What did you teach to her!?) U-Uhh, Oria, let me tell you something about magic casting..."
"Huh?"
"You see, magic casters in their beginner levels are practically impossible to cast magic without chanting. Chanting is the process of constructing the magic, word by word in order. Failing to do it correctly will cancel the magic construction or make a weak magic casted."
"Umm... what's chanting like?"
"Hm... you have a point. Let me show it to you. Follow me."
Faruk floats to the area ahead of them, where there's three Marble Crabs in one place, wandering near each other.
"Oh, dear... those are Marble Crabs..." Oria pointed out.
"Hm. Now, watch how I chant, Oria."
Faruk flies a bit higher than usual, looking down at those three unknowing monsters. From above, he chants.
"O fire, unleash thy fury, illuminate through this mana I offer. Let out the falling fire, allow me the power of the Goddess to burn my enemies with thine unforgiving incandescence!"
A glowing red magic circle is formed, larger than the ones that Oria created. A small blazing fire took form, dancing wildly at the center of the magic circle. Shortly, Faruk casts the magic through the flash of the Observer eye.
"Radiant Firefall."
That small fire turns into a giant tongue of fire falling from above, swallowing all in its radiant fiery glow. It's like a waterfall that pours nothing but fire endlessly. Those monsters are quickly reduced to dust, leaving nothing but one large scorch mark on the stone floor.
As the magic finishes, Faruk lowers his altitude, setting himself as high as Oria's eyes. He then says to her:
"...And that's how you chant a magic."
The child is frozen in place, her mouth gaping, unable to comprehend how terrifying the fire magic that Faruk just casted. Oria is once again reminded that those around her is probably among the strongest beings in the world.
