Saintess Summons Skeletons

Sofia quickly went over summoning Ihuarah, how he was Sorrow’s previous Apostle, and how Sun had eventually appeared out of nowhere to give everyone quests.

“So then,” Sofia continued, sipping on her own drink, which was refreshingly sweet, “his quest reward was the approximate location of one of Sorrow’s three divine items, the Locket of lost souls. He was searching for it in the jungle while we stayed at Brighthall. Of course he found it. Actually, I still have the description in my logs from when he showed me during the trial, wait a second… There.”

[Locket of lost souls]: Divine item forged with the essence of Sorrow. Countless sorrowful souls with unrealised wishes have been locked inside.

The souls may guide you to any place you ask them to, so long as one of them knows the way.

For each soul whose wishes you complete, they will be released from the locket and grant the wearer a permanent increase in cognitive capacity (processing).

This item will become a powerful catalyst after all the souls are appeased.

Item level : 500. Grade : Forgotten.

“Impressive,” Cinthia commented, “But I think I like Astelia’s earrings better. Ah… Shouldn’t have said that,” she ashamedly said as she glanced at her invisible chat.

“It’s fine to have a preference. Speaking of which, is Lies a viewer of yours, too?”

“Never seen Lies around, no. But She has been brought up by the others a few times, so…”

“Interesting. I wonder how many Recessed there are… Ah, but back to the locket, see how it can guide to other places? That’s because it is meant to locate Sorrow’s hidden Palace.”

“I kind of guessed that, why are we going there, though? I assume it's not just historical sightseeing.”

“Can you see the castle out there?” Sofia asked, pointing at the Moonlit castle, far in the distance, barely showing over the horizon of the ocean.

“Orcs don’t have that good a night vision,” Cinthia answered as she squinted to try to see anything where Sofia pointed at, “But you mean Astelia’s castle, right?”

“Yes. It’s some place built by worshippers of Moon long ago, it can only be opened by Moon’s chosen Oracle, and there’s a dungeon in there. At the end lies a divine weapon of Moon, supposedly. That’s Asty’s guess, at least.”

“So we’re after a weapon of Sorrow?” Cinthia asked, surprised, and throwing many glances at her chat.

“I wish I could tell you. I have no idea what is actually in there. But Ihuarah is certain there is a divine artifact. It was destined to be his, originally, but I am the new Apostle, so he says it should be mine. He says he is perfectly content with the locket and knowing that Mo- Sorrow’s legacy is not rotting at the bottom of a dusty dungeon.”

“He’s just giving it up like this after doing all the work to locate the place?”

Sofia shrugged, “That’s just the kind of man he is. And I can tell you that nothing will make him change his mind now. Just look at the lengths he went to for Everelle…”

Cinthia sighed, she looked at the empty street outside, and downed the rest of her drink in one go. “I wish I could find a man like that too…”

“Honestly… Same. But well, no time for it. I feel for the poor man you eventually choose to get with, though.”

“Wha- Huh?!”

“He’s going to need broad shoulders to survive with Hatred as a father in law.”

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“The- I- Was… I’m not Hatred’s…”

“Be honest. Cin,” Sofia whispered as she came closer, “Wouldn’t it be exciting to become a demon too?”

Two weeks later, Sofia made her way to the meeting point outside of the city where Ihuarah, Everelle and Cinthia were already waiting for her. For once Everelle was actually wearing clothes, a large straw hat and a blue robe which revealed the feminine silhouette normally obscured by her pitch-black body. Ihuarah was wearing Avian-style colorful clothes, and Cinthia was just Cinthia, wearing the same comfortable and practical shirt and pants she usually wore when she didn’t need armor.

“I feel silly for coming with my armor on now,” Sofia said as she joined them. Saying this, she retracted her bone armor, revealing her new clothes for this expedition, an enchanted garment made of tough fabric that prioritized function over looks. It bore a strange patchwork of greens, browns and blacks, had many pockets all over, and even came with a small hat.

“No way! Where’d you find that?” Everelle asked, coming closer, “That looks just like the real thing!”

“The real thing?” Cinthia repeated, confused.

“I found a hero seamstress when I was visiting the city,” Sofia explained, “She made me this when I said I was going on a jungle expedition. Supposedly it blends well with the environment. I guess it’s a known design in Everelle’s old world.”

“That’s a soldier uniform,” Everelle explained, “Good stuff, looks a bit tight around the chest, though.”

Sofia shrugged, “Better tight than loose and swaying around when I move. But soldiers? It doesn't feel like this is meant to be worn under armor…“

“They don’t really wear much armor, no. Maybe that sounds weird but I don’t think I can really explain more without getting censored so you’ll just have to trust me,” Everelle clarified.

“Got it. So, where and how are we going?” Sofia asked as she turned to Ihuarah.

“To the lost temple of Sorrow!” he enthusiastically answered, “I have hired a space mage, he should be here any minute now, he will take us directly to the entrance of the Ochiaran jungle.”

“Right, I remember you spent quite a while in there, I got a lot of kill notifications about Ochiarans. Couldn’t find anything about them in the Academy’s library though,” Sofia commented, “Did you not find Sorrow’s place yet, or is it just that teleporting directly into the jungle is dangerous?”

“Teleporting directly into the jungle is quite dangerous,” he confirmed, “many monsters would feel the spatial disturbance, and some of those can be up to level 400. So we best be careful. Beyond the monster, the jungle itself is not without danger. And teleporting to Sorrow’s palace directly is simply impossible, as its exact location is… Peculiar. You shall see when we get there.”

Sofia felt mana movements nearby, and just then, a tall, gaunt vampire lady in black robes appeared.

[Supporter - Lv. 350+]

She nodded to Ihuarah and asked him, “Is this everyone?”

“Indeed,” Ihuarah confirmed, tossing her a heavy pouch likely filled with ingots of some sort.

She grabbed and stored the pouch. “Perfect,” she continued without introduction, “We will commence a series of teleportations, please stay still and avoid using any magic that could interfere. Raise a hand to warn me if you feel sick and need a few seconds to breathe. We’re going.”

Magic circles appeared around and above the group, and a second later they were standing in a random field. Then it happened again, and they appeared in the air above the ocean, landing on a thin magical platform of the Vampire’s making, before the scenery around them changed again.

Sofia expected Cinthia to ask for a pause at some point, but was surprised to see her holding well. Instead, it was Everelle who started heaving and raised a hand asking for a break.

“We are about a third of the way there,” the Vampire lady informed them, “give me a sign when you’re good to go.”

“Sorry,” Everelle apologized, “I’m not too good with long jumps.” Ihuarah held her so she didn’t fall over.

“Like most people. Take your time, spiritual drag is an inevitability of long distance teleportation,” the lady calmly explained before she closed her eyes, seemingly sleeping in place where she was standing.

When Everelle gave the go a few minutes later, the teleportations resumed, and Sofia saw the sun gradually moving eastward in the sky, until it was night.

Have we just teleported across half the planet?

Finally after one last teleportation, the group found themselves in the middle of a somewhat small encampment city built from orange logs. The few people walking around carrying torches were all green-skinned orcs and Monkey beastmen with long curly tails.

“The Ochiaran jungle,” the vampire lady announced, staring at Ihuarah, who then threw her another pouch. “Good luck,” she told the group before she teleported away.

“Now I shall explain our plan,” Ihuarah told the others, “Pareth and Bookie should come out and listen too. We will be entering the jungle at daybreak.”