"I think we should go with the fifth floor." Momohime quickly decided before turning to her fellow exorcist. "I appreciate the offer, but we should focus on conserving our strength to endure through the exam. If using that Art takes you out for the remainder of the trial then it should be used near the end."
"Got it, got it." The highschooler nodded before rolling his shoulders and turning to the examiner. "Hey are there any vending machines here? I can go for an energy drink after having to deal with the first floor."
Odo replied without even looking up from the desk. "They accept payment in yen."
"Who the fuck keeps yen on them anymore?!" Kei shouted. "I only have credits!"
Momohime blinked. Credits? What's that?
"Me." The examiner waved. "And be glad it's just yen. I've met some Youkai who don't accept payment in anything but mon."
"Um, I should have yen in my wallet." The green flame spoke up. Surprisingly however, it was Demon Blade that interrupted her next.
"There's no need to spend any money right now." The magical girl declared before pulling out a bag. "We have this, remember?"
"Ah! The medicine Kongiku gave us!" Momohime bobbed up and down in the air. "Um, will it really work though? It's supposed to restore… energy… Oh I get it now."
"Yes, it should serve as an adequate pick me up." Demon Blade replied as she popped a pill in her mouth and swallowed. Hey wait a minute, did she just take medicine without consulting Momohime?! It was her body too! If the swordsman heard this complaint, she merely ignored it as she opened the bag towards Kei. "Would you like to partake in some?"
"Er, no thanks. I'm good." Kei and surprisingly Hanako both leaned back as their faces scrunched up. "If it's anything like what Kouyou uses, I'm going to stay well clear of it."
"Your loss." Demon Blade shrugged before making her way to the stairs. "Now come along, the time for idle chit chat is over."
"We're taking the stairs again?!" Kei complained, though dutifully followed the magical girl as the group began their ascent. "It's on the fifth floor!"
"Yes?" The swordsman asked. "It's only five floors."
"Just ignore his whining." Hanako chimed in as she floated ahead. "Big bro was really weak when we first contracted!"
"I was moderately fit." Kei's protests were summarily ignored, leading to a rather comfortable silence until the blonde decided it was a good idea to face where Momohime floated in the air. "So… You're old right?"
"...I'm an adult?" The former office worker responded, giving him a confused glance.
"Same thing." The young boy waved. "Just, do you have any idea what the hell ska is?"
"I'm sorry, but no." Momohime's ethereal body swayed. "It's my first time I've heard of it either. I think it's got to be a music genre?"
"Pretty sure all the floors are music genres." Kei jabbed his thumb at the Jazz floor as the group passed it on the way up. "This is the trial of the headphones after all."
"Excuse me?" The spectral flame gave the closest it could to a blink. "The trials have names?"
"Nah, it's just something I came up with because it sounded cool." The high schooler admitted. "I mean I wouldn't be surprised considering it's Youkai we're talking about, but I think someone would've said something if that were the case."
"...How much do you know about Youkai anyways?" The aspiring exorcist asked. "N-Not that I'm doubting your abilities of course! It's just that I'm fairly new to all of this so I've been desperately cramming the text books but they're-"
"-Confusing as all hell?" Her fellow human nodded in shared sympathy. "Can't say I'm an expert either, I contracted a few months back when I graduated middle school. Most of my time has been spent just getting a grip on Hanako's abilities."
"That's still more then me." Momohime glanced away. "I only learned to project myself like this a few hours ago."
"Seriously?" Kei gave her a weird glance. "Demon Blade looked like an expert when it comes to arts though!"
"I've spent years honing my blade while Momohime lived in the weighted world." The magical girl in question spoke without looking back. "It was not until two weeks ago was she drawn into the Night World."
"Two weeks?!" Hanako's contractor shouted, head whipping from Momohime to her reflection and back again. "Magical Girls really are something else huh…"
"It's honestly a shock for me too." The girl in question muttered before spotting something through Demon Blade's eyes. "Looks like we're here. Everyone, brace yourself!"
The gang quickly crowded around the entrance, careful not to open it just yet. Both humans adjusted the headphones over their ears, just in case. The staircase remained dead quiet, but if it was anything like what the first floor was like that was just a prelude to a dreadful symphony. Some form of soundproofing? At times like these Momohime didn't know whether to be grateful for her ears' continued safety or curse that she couldn't hear if anything was happening on the other side.
"Excellent point." Demon Blade nodded along with her thought process before turning to face the floating Youkai. "Hanako, can you phase through the door before we enter?"
"No can do!" The bobcut girl denied. "Only reason I was able to scout ahead earlier was because big bro was taking a dump! Toilet-bound spirits can only travel through toilets! Ka ka ka!"
"...I suppose we will have to go in blind then." The swordsman's grip on the Muramasa Blade tightened as she glanced at the door in front of them. "Everyone, stand back."
Momohime suddenly felt an intense wave of deja vu assault her. "Wait you aren't thinking of-"
The flame couldn't finish as the blade was unsheathed in a blur. Before she could even take a breath, Demon Blade swiftly began to hack at the entry in front of her. Momohime's voice was swiftly cut down along with the door as it fell to the floor with a loud thump.
"Of course you are." The former office lady grumbled while her fellow contractor held the opposite reaction.
"Coooool." Hanako and Kei let out in unison.
"Doesn't appear to be any ambush waiting for us." The magical girl kicked down what remained of the door before entering the room with no hesitation. Unlike the big spacious halls of the first floor, what greeted them was instead a cozy little cafe with a single stage. The instruments were already there, a group of four brass instruments floating in the air in a mock up of performing a show. The music though, was the biggest change from the muted symphony. Instead of the oppressive, overpowering sound of tens of instruments playing different tunes at once, they were all playing the same thing. And in Momohime's opinion it was… "So banal."
"I wouldn't put it like that." The magical girl's reflection protested weakly, but she didn't disagree. If Classic was ear gratingly chaotic then Ska could only be described as mind numbingly boring. All four instruments played the same tune, the same harmony, over and over again with no change in rhythm. "At least it's peaceful I guess?"
"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Kei replied as he surveyed the cafe. "I guess we just split up and look for clues? I'm cool with just ambushing the instruments too though."
"I don't want to get into a fight we'll regret. Who knows if the condition for clearing the floor is the same as the Classic section." It probably wasn't, given how polar opposite the fifth floor was turning out to be. But then again, there was little else here too… "Ah! There's a person over there!"
Sitting tucked away in the back corner was a bored man, idly tapping away at the table as he jotted something down in his notebook. Somehow, he had yet to notice the group's presence, which was slightly worrying considering what happened the last time Momohime saw an examiner get trapped in a trance. As loud as she could (Which wasn't that loud since being a flame didn't come with lungs), Momohime cried out to him. "Um! Excuse me!"
"Huh? Oh." The man yawned as the magical girl and her reflection approached him. "'Sup. You guys here for the exam too?"
"Ah, yes." Momohime nodded, giving a side glance to Kei and Hanako who had begun to… Empty out the cash register? "We just arrived on this floor so-"
"You're wondering if I know anything. I gotcha." He sluggishly nodded. "Well, you see those instruments on stage?"
Momohime blinked before turning to where he was pointing. "I see them."
"Yeah, well, they exist."
There was a beat of silence before Demon Blade raised an eyebrow. "...Is that all?"
"It's the most I've managed to figure out." The man pointed at his notebook before picking up a piece of paper and waving it through the air. "There's a 'menu' you can pick up over at the counter. It's a hint for sure but I've spent the past ten minutes just sitting here trying to figure it out."
Momohime floated to where the paper was. "Excuse me, can I see that?"
The man silently shrugged before holding the paper in the air and turning back to his notebook. "If you manage to figure something out then let me know, kay?"
The aspiring exorcist bobbed in the air before turning her attention to the paper.
TODAY'S MENU: SKA
Special offer for every fourth customer!
Key: C
Time: 4:4
Saxophone: (1+3+5) = 4
Trumpet: 8 - 8 = 16
Trombone: 4 + 4 = 2
Horn: REST
...What? Momohime barely knew what she was looking at. Math? Numbers? No that couldn't be the case, but what it was supposed to be was flying over her head right now.
"Confusing isn't it, miss Hitodama?" Closing his eyes, the man took a deep breath and listened to the performance. "The answer has got to do with the instruments but thinking is just… so… tiring…"
The ethereal flame let out a sudden shriek as the examinee's head suddenly crashed into the table, a loud bang echoing through the room. Demon Blade's hands instantly shot forward as she rushed towards the man's side, letting out a sigh before turning towards Momohime. "It's fine. He merely passed out--m?"
Despite the fact that her magical girl self held control of her body, Momohime felt a shiver crawl down her spine and her hair stand on end. Her intuition was screaming at her as the atmosphere grew thicker. Together as one, swordsman and exorcist turned towards the stage once more. Something had changed since they had looked away, no it was obvious what it was. With each instrument playing the same harmony, it was incredibly too easy to not notice one slipping away.
"Demon Blade…" Momohime muttered worriedly as she surveyed the cafe in the places where her eyes couldn't see.
"Get ready." The swordsman simply said. "I have the feeling that the time for investigation is over."
All of the instruments had turned towards them, save for the missing saxophone, lost within the cafe. Demon Blade's grip on her blade tightened as she placed herself into a ready stance. In the corner of her eyes, she could see it. The glint of metallic brass, weaving in and out through the sea of chairs. Yet every time Momohime thought she could find it, the instrument was gone.
No, her eyes couldn't find it, but her ears could. It was covered by the song of it's companions, but the Sax's own tune wasn't gone. Faint it may be, but at the same time it was growing closer with each passing second. It was almost as if it were toying with them, building towards something as it waited for the crescendo. But what? If it wanted to attack her it could've done so the moment she entered the room- No, that wasn't the instrument's style. Even though the ones on the first floor had also gone on the offensive, they lured in their prey first with their songs. And the person who had heard the song the most was… It clicked.
Momohime's mind raced as instinct and logic blurred together, sharpening her intuition as she began to hunt the hunter. Where it was, and where it was going, it was all becoming clear to her. All she needed to do was wait for her cue. One. Two. Three.
"Now!" She screamed, Demon Blade already on the move, kicking the man out of his chair and knocking him to the floor as a blur of brass shot up from the floor. The saxophone lunged through air, it's presses flapping in rage as it crashed back down, sinking into the wood as if it were water. Momohime grimaced before turning towards the examinee. "We need to get him out of here!"
"On it." The magical girl exclaimed as she picked up his limp body before turning to the other contractor in the room. "You two! Catch!"
"Huh--woah!" The high schooler shouted as Demon Blade tossed the man towards them. "How do you expect me to catch a living person!?"
"Ka! Ka! Ka! Don't worry big bro! I got it!" Hanako shouted, only for the swordsman's eyes to catch sight of something chasing after the body.
As if.
Muramasa Blade: 200 Base Damage, +50 Dice = 250 Total Damage
Brass: 210 Resilience, +N/A Dice = 210 Total Reduction
40 End Damage
Brass: 1300 - 40 = 1260 Remaining Health
Muramasa Blade: 651 + 10 = 661 Remaining Health
The Muramasa Blade swung forward, it's steel crashing into the dirty gold of the saxophone. Sounds of blood lust rang through the air as Demon Blade sent the instrument flying back towards the floor. The instrument barely regarded it as a scratch, but it still paused to do the equivalent of glaring at her. Rust and stains began to corrode its exterior as a high pitched note cut through the previously quaint cafe. Suddenly, an unseen drum began to beat through the room. The instrument's keys began to press at an alarming rate, the song coming from it's bell a battle cry that rallied it's fellow band members together.
"It changed its tune…?" Momohime muttered to herself as Hanako caught the soaring man in the air.
"Gotcha!" She cried before the toilet bound ghost turned towards the aspiring exorcist. "What now?!"
"Um." The flame glanced at the ruins of the door her reflection had cut down. They hadn't heard anything from the outside so… Oh, Momohime hoped she was right about this. "Get him out of the room!"
Hanako shot towards the door, her tiny frame carrying the fully grown man with ease. Unfortunately, the brass instruments took offense to that as the trombone popped out of the ground, attempting to hook Youkai's feet with it's slide. "Ah! Nope! Big Bro help me out!"
"You can do it yourself you lazy ass!" Kei snapped back but dashed forward to his partner's defense anyways. "Fuck it! "Privacy Invasion!"
Cost: 100 HP
Kei Kagami: 1100 - 100 = 1000 Remaining Health.
The scent of metal was tinged with the scent of rot as the high school boy's hands once more cracked, stretched, and morphed into grotesque lizard heads once more. Their teeth gripping onto the trombone's slide, his muscles bulging as he fished the brass instrument out of the ground before locking his other hand's jaw around it's bell. Dirty yellow fangs sunk into the trombone as it began to corrode.
Privacy Invasion: 285 Base Damage, +N/A Dice = 285 Total Damage
Brass: 210 Base Resilience, +N/A Dice, -53 Armor Pierce = 157 Total Reduction
128 End Damage
Brass: 1300 - 128 = 1172 Remaining Health
"Thanks!" Hanako cheered as she flew out the door and dropped the slumbering examinee on the ground like a sack of potatoes. Despite the chaos, the man didn't stirr from his sleep, but Momohime's attention was focused elsewhere.
Namely, at the trombone that thrashed and struggled in Kei's grip, changing tunes as a more frantic and energetic melody escaped from its bell. Somewhere off stage, a guitar joined the fray as the music that initially seemed so static began to turn frantic.
"Again?" Momohime asked herself before turning towards her reflection. "Can you attack the Saxophone again? I need to check something."
"Understood." Demon Blade declared as her Sword began to cut through air, slicing towards the instrument. The saxophone attempted to dodge and weave through the swings, only for the swordsman to change her trajectory at the last moment as the clanging of metals joined the festivities once more.
Muramasa Blade: 200 Base Damage, +51 Dice = 251 Total Damage
Brass: 210 Resilience, +N/A Dice = 210 Total Reduction
41 End Damage
Brass: 1300 - 40 = 1219 Remaining Health
Muramasa Blade: 661 + 10 = 671 Remaining Health
With the rattling of battle, the instrument's corrosion began to fade away as it seemed to… calm down? Momohime found it a bit difficult to ascribe emotions to the faceless instruments but that's what it seemed to do as the melody it had been blasting in her face transitioned back into the calm chords that blended together with the rest of the instruments.
Demon Blade nodded before turning back to Momohime. "Are you satisfied?"
The flame nodded before wavering, mentally going over the information in her head. Going from the top of the menu, the special offer could be referring to the fact that only one of the four instruments held the song part they were looking for. Momohime was still trying to figure out what the numbers meant but since they were dealing with song… Could 'Rest' be referring to the musical note? When taken into account the fact that the instruments swapped tunes back and forth whenever they were hit, then could it be that they had to align the instruments with the menu? "If that's the case… This Momohime is a bit uncertain, but I think I have something?"
"Then you better hurry up and tell us!" Kei shouted as the trumpet tried to bash his head in, causing the trombone to escape from his grasp before attempting to stab through his chest with it's slide. "It's like the faster these things play, the more aggressive they are!"
The aspiring exorcist blinked. Faster? No, they were playing more but these instruments weren't going any faster. This wasn't anything like the chaotic cacophony of the classical floor. They were all playing in synch with each other, keeping to the beat--
"The time section!" She exclaimed. "I get it now!"
"Is that so? Then give the order and I shall follow." The swordsman nodded. "Whatever the consequence, I'll bear it for you."
"...Thanks?" Momohime smiled before shouting as loud as she could. "Everyone, listen up! The answer to this floor is--!"
[] Insert Answer
AN: Smallest update yet, also the worst update yet? Why? Because the puzzle here is gosh darn terrible. I know it, and you'll probably know it once you start trying to solve it. But the beta and I have been bashing our heads against this thing for like three days now and we just decided to toss it out there. We are willing to make adjustments based on player feedback though. Give it a shot and tell us what you think.
This most defenitly isn't us giving up we are respectable QMs who would never do such a thing no sir.
