Gathering her thoughts, Jasmine held her chin and remained silent for a few moments. After a while, she opened her mouth to address the group.
"The enemies here are dead so I suppose there's no point in us staying here any longer. Noah, are you recording everything properly?"
"Don't worry. I've been noting everything down since we started."
"Good. There are a lot of information that the Guild Association will find useful. Plus, there's this strange tree. The mana led us here, seemingly gathered. Is this some sort of focus point and are there more like this place?"
"From what I've seen so far, that seems to be the case."
Apparently, Noah had been given the task of documenting the interior of the Fissure and any unusual phenomena they encountered for the Guild.
Such people were referred to as Pathfinders.
They were incredibly useful since they specialized in gathering data and creating detailed records. Notably, their work wasn't just about observation, they also created maps for foreign terrain and helped discover different kinds of Creatures of Darkness, commonly called Shades, along with their natural habitat, hunting habits and weaknesses.
With that in mind, it was safe to say that a skilled Pathfinder could mean the difference between a mission's success and disastrous failure.
"So, these focus points… they might be connected? Like nodes in a network?" said Kevin, who pretty much understood Noah's explanation.
"That's correct. If there are more, understanding them could give the Guild a handful of observation data. But we should be careful. There's a possibility that disturbing them recklessly could trigger something unexpected."
"I see. Then let's continue with our investigation."
Jasmine gave the order and the team departed without delay.
† †
Continuing west proved far more troublesome than any of them could have anticipated.
The first issue arose with the terrain itself.
The ground was uneven and rough to the feet, filled with tangled roots. Noah stumbled over one particularly thick root, while Kelvin had to use a quick Dismantle to clear a jagged rock that would have otherwise punctured his boot. Even Jasmine, with her Lancer reflexes, had to adjust her stride to avoid tripping.
Then came the flora. Some plants reacted aggressively to their presence, releasing spores that carried a weird aura. Mikoto swiped one away with a revolver butt, but a few spores still clung to her coat, giving her a mild, tingling burn across her skin. Kelvin frowned, realizing that some of these plants were partially sentient, likely attuned to the mana in the area.
A careless step could trigger an ambush of animated roots or poisonous thorns, so there was need to constantly avoid them at all costs.
The deeper they went, the more the air itself seemed to resist them.
The mana around the so-called "focus points" had a weight to it, thick and almost viscous, as if the forest was storing energy in pockets. At some point, Noah muttered that his sensors were being interfered with, making it hard to detect further Shades nearby.
And, of course, there were the Shades themselves.
Small, shadow-like creatures began to skitter out and stalk the group. They weren't powerful and quite easy to deal with individually but their numbers was disorienting. The creatures multiplied faster than they were killed, forcing Kelvin and Jasmine to strike in tandem, while Mikoto and Noah kept spamming ranged attacks to thin the ranks.
Due to how irritating and annoying they were, Jasmine decided to call them Little Terrors.
They were Terrors but they were actually Fiends.
How ironic.
Despite being the weakest in the hierarchy of Monsters, they were the ones who have the group the most problem. In fact, Mikoto was quickly pushed to the edge and lost her shit.
For example...
"Die you f**king little s**ts! I swear, if one more of you jumps, I'll tear this entire forest apart like a m*therf**ker! Take this and that and that!!"
The masked gunslinger let out a barrage of curses as she continuously fired at a fallen fiend.
"..." Everyone stared at her in silence.
Just who was going to tell her? That the poor thing she was shooting had died from the first headstart?
Perhaps that didn't matter.
"Ah. Um... should we stop her?" asked Noah with a worried look.
Jasmine let out a quiet sigh.
"Honestly, I don't see the point. Just let her vent."
Faint bags hung beneath her eyes, a clear sign of exhaustion. It was only natural. They had been inside the Fissure for three days straight.
Food and water weren't an issue, at least. The surroundings provided more than enough. Sleep, however, was a different matter. Every attempt at rest had been interrupted by a persistent dark fiend that seemed to target them the moment they let their guard down.
Under such conditions, frayed nerves were inevitable.
"I'll go and scout the area," said Jasmine, casting one last glance toward Mikoto. There was something unreadable in her expression before she turned and disappeared.
Was that pity… or envy?
Kelvin couldn't tell, and frankly, he didn't have the energy to dwell on it.
"There are more of you, aren't there?! Show yourselves!"
Yeah… she really needs anger management classes.
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
Come to think of it, this Mikoto of a girl has been firing nonstop for a while now without taking time to reload.
…Didn't she run out of bullets?
Or was it an ability?
Construction? Materialization? Something along those lines…
If those guns, and even the massive one strapped to her back, were manifestations of her power, then they weren't ordinary weapons.
They were Constructs.
…Most likely.
She has a very peculiar ability. If my analysis is correct, then those aren't conventional weapons at all. Kevin narrowed his eyes slightly, watching how Mikoto rapidly pulled the trigger without the slightest hesitation or restraint.
There was no recoil inconsistency. And since there was no real ammunition, she could carelessly launch everything she had in one go.
That alone was unnatural.
Not just the guns, but the bullets are generated too. In that sense, then her ability properly allows her to convert mana into constructs.
As long as her output held, her firepower wouldn't diminish.
In other words, she had no limits in the conventional sense. Just continuous pressure.
A walking artillery unit.
That's ridiculously dangerous. Not just to enemies but to allies as well, if she ever lost control.
His gaze lingered for a moment longer before shifting away.
For now, she was on their side. That alone was enough and he currently lacked the mental strength to think about eerie scenarios.
…Hopefully, everything would be alright.