A Hero's Quest: Eye of the Demon Emperor

"I'm not ready..."

The closer you got to your target, the more you lost your confidence. At first, when you heard the tales of your ancestors slaying Wyrm Dragons, it seemed so easy. It seemed like you could accomplish that same thing so easily, but only when faced with the very mortality of your person did your belief falter. You are not ready. You must take more time to prepare and come back here when you are stronger. That is the only way to win, and that is probably the way that your ancestors, including Baragar himself, took.

You turn Dullahan in the other direction. Your golem follows you as always, turning and stepping beside you. Dullahan rides back toward the west, where you originally came from.


You ride like this for five, perhaps more minutes. It is slowly becoming dark outside. The sun is setting beyond the horizon and the cold is getting unbearable. You are getting progressively more and more tired, and you are hungry. The latter need you easily take care of by taking a loaf of bread from your bag and eating it. Not the best, or most refined meal, but it's enough to keep even your gluttonous self from falling unconscious out of weakness anytime soon.

You stop. You hear rattling in the bushes to your left.

"Go check it out," you order the golem.

The stone creature processes the command, then marches onward mechanically. The golem approaches the bushes, extends its arms, and moves the leaves of the bushes aside, only to reveal a literal pack of cats. At least twenty of the felines suddenly jump out of the bushes ––– all of them have black fur.

The cats run past the golem, and under its legs, then circle around you, more like wolves than cats.

"The hell..." you look around. The presence of the creatures is unnerving for some reason. While you don't want to kill any poor little kitties, especially in winter, you still draw Excalibur, just to be safe. You never know if these might be the children of a Displacer Beast that happened to escape the local, eccentric noble's personal zoo of dangerous, magical creatures.

Too bad you have no idea what a Displacer Beast looks like except for the rough description your father once gave you: 'big, black cats, with a lot of limbs.'

They fulfill the middle requirement. They are black cats, but they aren't exactly big. Still, they appear to be too small to be adult cats, but they aren't exactly kittens either. As for the last statement, whether 'four' counts as 'a lot of limbs' is rather arguable, especially considering that your father has a tendency to sugarcoat things.

"I'm just gonna–" you drive Dullahan forward, trying to get past the cats, but Dullahan stops once of the kittens jumps out of the ranks at it. "Do I have to start throwing pebbles at you until you get out of here?"

...

No response. No duh, cats can't talk.

...

"Hmph. So be it."

You reach out into the snow below your legs. It is water, just in a solid form. You've been given basic elemental manipulation training, so you can handle this.

You create a stable flow of mana. You mutter a short phrase to serve as an incantation. You create a magical pathway and pour your energy into it, and...

The snow flies in all directions, like a shockwave of pure white. The shockwave of snow covers the cats, making all of them jump back after they dig their way out of the snow. Despite the tricky manuver, the cats don't stop, and they keep circling around you. They just can't recede, can they? Fine.

You get off of Dullahan, and...

Kch-ttngg!

One of the cats jumps at you. Midair, it transforms into a monster with claws, whose attack you have to block.

"W-what?!"

A trio of other cats behind you transform as well, then jump at Dullahan and try to kill it with their claws. The horse is hurt, but it eventually panics, rams one of them, then runs past them into the horizon.

You are surrounded by at least twenty... demon cats.

"Crap!" One of the creatures attacks from behind. It delivers a horizontal cut with its claws, but they slide off of your armor. You rapidly load mana into your legs without thinking, then amass as much force as you can in them, hardening your muscles.

You unload all of that force into one, concentrated jump. Even though this is a clutch situation, you manage to, just barely, land on the golem. "Run!" you order, panicking.

The stone golem tramples several of the creatures underneath its feet as it runs off in the same direction that Dullahan went in.

The crazed creatures run after you.

They are small, stubby, horned, and have bat-like wings. Their skin is red, and their eyes glow. Their fingers transform into sharp shards of bone at the end, serving as clawed weapons. You've heard legends about imps ––– one of the lower ranks of the demons of hell. These must be some kind of attack variant, judging by their claws, which definitely aren't a typical imp characteristic. In addition, they waited for you to be off of Dullahan to attack, meaning they sought an advantage. These things are smart.

Fortunately, the golem, despite its weight, has legs that are long enough to make long strides with each step. As such, it can 'run' quickly enough to maintain safe distance from the nightmarish creatures stalking you two.

You find Dullahan on the road ahead. It is walking slowly until it hears footsteps and begins running.

The Enhancement on your legs is still active since you applied the usual amount of mana to it. As such, you try to stand slowly, grasping the golem's head for support and standing on its shoulders. You are careful not to slip, as the golem is moving its arms to run faster.

You try to calculate the distance between you and Dullahan, but it is too big to make a safe jump. Instead, you decide to rely on Enhancement once again. It is a pretty handy skill when it comes to it. You load your mana into the golem and enhance it.

The stone monster gains a furious velocity. Its momentum soon surpasses the imps and becomes fast enough to catch with Dullahan. While it runs past Dullahan, you jump for it and fall on Dullahan's saddle perfectly. You enhance Dullahan too, to ensure it can catch up with the golem and so that the three of you can make your escape.


You run like this for ten minutes. This is a very bad situation. You won't make it to Beronica's hut before nightfall. And once the night falls, the imps will be merely one of the problems you have on your neck. The wildlife and cold will become just as much of an issue, if not even more.

Regardless, it makes you wonder just what are imps doing in this place at this time? And in such quantities? Are they hunting you?

You don't have much time to ponder. Before you can decide...

K-thra! K-thra! A pair of imps jumps out of tree leaves at you. Both of them try to slice you with their claws, but Excalibur's blade rises just in time to cut them apart. Although it doesn't work properly in your hands, it still has a holy attribute, so it cuts through infernal matter excellently. Guess what imps are made out of? That's right! Infernal matter. Who'd have guessed?

Suddenly...

A quartet of bears with very black, grizzled fur step out of the shadowy confines of the forest around the snowy road and begin to run after you, Dullahan, and the golem. The situation is getting more and more ridiculous by the moment, although you are smart enough to realize these aren't normal bears and that this is just more demons attacking you.

Just when you think 'The situation can't possibly get any worse,' you see another pair of bears jump out from the bushes on the road in front of you, blocking it.

"Hyah!" you scream, pushing your horse forward. "Go! Dullahan!"

Your encouragement makes Dullahan jump above the bears, partly thanks to the Enhancement you put on her. She neighs as she jumps above the bears, one of which you kill by literally slashing through it with your sword. As you jump, one of the bears transforms. He transforms into a two-meter tall humanoid, clad from head to toe in some kind of tough, thick red carapace that serves as armor. In one hand, he holds a shield made from a similar substance, while in the other, he holds a sword of identical, crimson red material, accompanied by a jet-black blade.

The Knight of Hell watches as you jump, speechless. You're not sure whether he was emotionless, or impressed, since you can't see his face through that, literally damned, helmet. He quickly dashes after you, turning into a bear and beginning to run after you.

A pack of diabolical, bloodlusting demons disguised as cats and bears is running after you.

It becomes painstakingly clear that this is some kind of kill order. Hell's management trying to put an end to a reckless member of the Baragar family.

Still, it makes you wonder who summoned this many demons. Demons are incompatible with Terra's ley lines, so they find it difficult to absorb additional mana from them. Even the ley lines of their own Netherworld, although accustomed to their dark, tainted souls, are slowly drying and dying out. That's why they consume souls if you remember right from the classes your mother gave you when you were eight. Unless they had a good meal pack prior to this, they wouldn't be able to cross between worlds, let alone materialize. That means either of two things:

A) These things are really well-fed.
B) Something is supplying them with additional mana. Like a summoner with a contract, or perhaps some kind of Demon Overlord pumping them with energy from the other side.

Regardless of what it is, you are in a pickle.

[] Stop Dullahan. Face the attack imps and dark knights head on. Who cares if there's twenty-something of them? Bring even forty! You are Artoria-Goddamned-Baragar.
[] Ride for Beronica's hut. She will help you with these things, surely. A witch should have some kind of anti-evil protection, or at least know some exorcisms, right? At least a barrier to keep them away until you can think of a better plan, perhaps?
[] Ride for Mora. Surely, the imps aren't stupid enough to follow you into a large city. Especially one that is renowned for a great number of wizards, mages, sorcerers, magicians, theurgists, summoners, and miracle-makers.
[] Write-in.

Calendar: 1005-01-01
Time: Evening / Nightfall

Mana: 188/200
Money: 29GP, 7SP.

---

I wanted to mention that Artoria got the right roll literally every single time this update. The rolls are with you on this one.

Also, before you throw "what is this bullshit" accusations at me, I want to mention that this would have happened regardless of you deciding to fight the dragon head-on or not. In fact, this pack of 'cats and bears' would attack you during your fight with the dragon, just when you'd be at your most vulnerable. This would have happened if you stayed in Mora, or even took Roland with you. The fact you're not fighting them AND a dragon shows that you're clever players for not rushing head-on, even though it may have been coincidental.

Enhancement Self-Experimentation
Artoria stares at the two-foot tall mirror in her room as she prepares to practice her Enhancement. The twelve year old girl wants to try out a few things.

She has made sure that everything is planning is perfectly safe. Artoria was initially worried that using Enhancement would be dangerous and it could dangerously backfire on her. But her magecraft teacher has assured the Baragar heiress that Enhancement is only dangerous under certain circumstances.

Most of those related to not knowing enough to properly use Enhancement. It turns out that Enhancement is completely safe to use if used properly. If a third-rate spellcaster who has no business practicing magic tried to use Enhancement, it would go poorly for them with body parts exploding, clothing being shredded and blades being shattered.

But Artoria is no third rate magic user and has receive proper training in how to correctly use Enhancement and she doesn't need to worry about accidentally blowing something or herself up.

Letting the mana flow through her, Artoria pumps a little bit of it into her hair, making sure that it doesn't touch the roots.

Eagerly watching in the mirror, the blonde girl is swiftly disappointed as no changes are made to her hair.

Unwilling to give up so easily, Artoria tries pumping a bit more mana into her golden locks.

Still nothing.

Determined to get some results, Artoria begins to pump a far greater amount of mana into her hair, slowly increasing the amount until she get some visible change.

It takes a minute and no small amount of mana, but the Baragar heiress finally spots something happening to her hair.

It is slowly growing out, barely enough for Artoria to notice if she wasn't paying extra attention to it.

Excited by the visible evidence of her attempts working, Artoria sits there for a couple of minutes, just watching her blonde hair grow.

It doesn't long for the novelty of magically growing her hair too grow to wear off and before long, Artoria has grown disinterested in the boring pastime of staring at her own hair grow.

"What next," mutters Artoria as she stops the flow of mana into her hair, trying to think of the next experiment for her to perform with her Enhancement.

"Night vision would be good right?" Artoria says to herself as she begins to pace back and forth in her room, "A dragon would definitely have night vision and so I would be at a disadvantage if I had to fight one in the dark. Especially if I have to fight one in its lair. If I know my stories right, a dragon would be in a cave or abandon castle with all of its loot. And since those places would be dark inside, I would need night-vision to avoid being at a disadvantage."

Deciding that Enhancing her eyesight is worth a shot, Artoria lets a reasonable amount of mana flow into her eyeballs rather than slowly building up the amount over time.

Blinking rapidly for a moment as she adjusts to the changes, Artoria easily notices the changes.

Her vision is easily sharper, much better at picking out the details through she still struggles to keep track of everything.

While she can see more detail and at greater distances, her mind can still process so much as while the quality of information has improved, the quantity has not.

Despite it still being daytime, Artoria is able to test out her ability to see in dark with her Enhanced eyes by looking in the dark spots of her room. Peaking under her bed and into her wardrobe with the doors closed, the Baragar heiress is able to determine that yes, she can see better in the dark by Enhancing her eyes.

Stepping out of her wardrobe, Artoria lets the mana fade out of her eyes and her vision returns to normal. She will need more practice before she truly becomes used to having Enhanced eyesight, but the blonde girl could fight with it if needed.

Thinking of what to try Enhancing next, Artoria pauses and turns back around to face her wardrobe again.

"Armour is useful, but I won't always have it on me," Artoria says to herself as she picks up a shirt, "But I should always be wearing some clothing right? If I can use Enhancement to Enhance my clothing so it is stronger enough to count as armour, I can keep myself protected in a pinch, even if I get ambushed or surprised when I am not in my armour."

Holding the shirt, Artoria pumps Mana into it until she feels that she has put a reasonable amount in it. Satisfied that it should prove tougher, Artoria attempts to yang the shirt in two with her bare hands.

Halfway through the attempt, it occurs to the Baragar heiress that she doesn't know how hard it is to tear it normally and maybe, just maybe, damaging her own clothing isn't the best of ideas.

Putting the shirt back, Artoria checks it for any damage from her attempts to rip it in two and can spot nothing, but a bit of strain on the fabric where it has been pulled hard.

Success? Artoria doesn't know it her attempts were actually successful, but she is certainly going to take what she can get.

As she puts the shirt away, Artoria notes that article of clothing is smaller than it used. Remembering that particular shirt was always a tad loose on her whenever she wore it in the past, Artoria wonders...
Glancing down at the clothing she is currently wearing, the Baragar heiress decides on what she is going to try next.

Artoria can vaguely remember her instructor mentioning something about clothing fitting better or something, but she was focused on other things at the time and due to her focus on physical enhancements that are practical for combat.

Letting the mana flow into her shirt and skirt, Artoria feels the loose shirt get tighter and better fitting around her upper body and arms while the skirt gets slightly looser around the waist where it is tightly held in place.

Artoria quickly darts back in front of her mirror, eager to see if her Enhanced clothing looks as good as it feels.

Looking in the mirror, Artoria notes that while her attire does look a tad better on her, Enhancing her clothes has done much more to make them feel more comfortable than it has to make them look better on her.

Of course, part of them is due to Artoria not having much to show off. She bits that Enhancing clothes would do much more when it comes to improving looks for her mother than it does for her.

Wait a moment...

A smile forms on the face of the Baragar heiress as she comes up with her next Enhancement experiment and she begins to pull her shirt off.

You begin to feel ill.

Your stamina is being drained in this cold. Each time you breathe, you release a steamy huff of white smoke from your mouth. And with each huff of white smoke, you get weaker and weaker, the frosty air penetrating your skin and stinging your nerves.

You reach your belt and pull a flask of liquid from it, release your mana into it to strengthen it, then chug it. A stamina potion. It instantly helps you. It recovers your breath, it energizes your body, and it helps you negate the effects of this bitter, malignant, everpresent cold. You can make it.

You take one of your improvised smoke bombs into your hand. You drench it in your mana, enhancing it, just like you did the stamina potion. You make a sweeping motion downward, throwing the small flask against the ground. It cracks, exploding with ashen, gray smoke in every direction and throwing your followers off.

Under the guise of this smoke, you make a turn right, into the forest. You ride deep, through a marsh of water and mud.

Despite that, you hear branches snapping behind you, as well as the sound of feet running through the snow. They were not confused by the smoke at all.

You enhance a piece of bread and bite into it, knowing that fighting on an empty stomach is the worst idea you could possibly have. After that, you also enhance your armor and Excalibur, pouring as much mana into both as you can, without being too inefficient.

Despite that, you ride for Beronica's hut. Dullahan's hooves gallop through the forest.

One of the bears catches up to you, then jumps at the golem, tipping it over. Several cats stop and turn into attack imps, clawing at the stone golem and slowly ripping it to shreds. The stone machination looks up, then grabs the bear on top of itself, throwing the monster into the air and making it hit a tree. The golem then continues to run after you, with one missing arm, one missing eye, and its body heavily damaged and impaired.

Finally, you make it.

You get off of Dullahan and open the door for your mare, making Dullahan enter the forest hut. You wait for the golem, which manages to make it in. You close the door after that.

You look out the window.

The bears and cats begin to circle around the house, but can't approach closer than six meters to it.

You hear footsteps from behind. You turn around and see Beronica slowly approach from her bed chamber.

"What is this ruckus about?" the old witch adjusts her glasses, then sees a man in black, polished armor and a huge, onyx greatsword outside her window. A pair of red, glowing eyes are seen in the T-shaped opening of his helmet.

"Oh," she bleats. "Well then."

Beronica's eyes slowly drift to you, full of suspicion.

"What?" you exclaim defensively.

...

"Just how many souls did you sacrifice?"

"None!" you fume.

"I see. Well, they can't get to us in here," she explains, calmly.

You look out the window, at the multitude of angered imps and hellish soldiers. They can't move an inch closer. "Sooo..."

You look at Beronica. "What are we gonna do?"

"I have no idea how to exorcise evil spirits if that's what you mean," she admitted, "but I do know how to make one, mean chocolate drink," she went to brag.

"How about you try to get rid of them? It doesn't have to be an exorcism, right?" you query.

"True, but I don't have the raw power. I'll have to call a friend. Be right back," Beronica walks to the back room of her house. In a few seconds, you start hearing sounds of static mana from the room. Rather than being curious and looking at what's happening, you stay near the window and watch the demons.

You grin at a knight of hell. His glowing eyes become perplexed.

You stick your tongue out, to mock him. His eyes turn narrow in anger. He growls at you.

You hear an explosion near the back.

"Huh?" You turn around, then look to see Beronica leave her room, covered in smoke. Shortly after her, walks out a mage in black robes... Cervitou?!

"Wait. You two know each other?! You're friends?!?!" Instead of greeting Cervitou, you act with enormous astonishment. This turn of events startles you.

"We used to date," Beronica says. "Too bad Cevi here is an elf, so he decided to be picky about his sweethearts."

"Correction," Cervitou asserts as mechanically as he always does. "She used to have hopeless fantasies about me."

Beronica sighs, mostly in disappointment. Mostly. "Why don't you help the girl, you mean grog-head?"

Cervitou walks over to the window. You can't see his face under his mask, so it is hard to tell what he's thinking, but he just stares like that for several seconds, until he steps away from the window and turns to you with calm body language. His presence is soothing to you for some reason.

"You have two options," he states. "Option one is that I take you back home and you don't go out for a month. By that time, they should get bored. Option two is that I put an anti-scrying spell on you, we kill those guys outside, and then hope for the best while you go to slay the dragon, with me watching over you to make sure no funny business happens."

"Which do you prefer?"

[] Option one, I guess.
[] Option two, please.
[] Write-in. (Suggest a plan.)

Calendar: 1005-01-01
Time: Night

Mana: 180/200
Money: 29GP, 7SP.