Beyond M-Eclipse: Easy Mode LIVE

———Karra———

<8: 57 pm>

 

“So… Umm… Sorry?” I said to start off the chat.

“<Like I said. It’s fine. I guess I should’ve been more clear on things beforehand.>” They said, taking the whole situation better than I am. “<Thankfully our Harmoni group doesn’t seem to leak anything out just yet.>”

“I really hope no one does that. The last thing I would’ve wanted is for people to start hounding you.” I said, still feeling rather apologetic about it. “Ugh. Can’t believe that became a talking point.”

“<Honestly, I think anyone would comment on something so eye-catching.>” Idea is still trying to not make me feel too guilty about it. “<Say, are you not a least bit curious about who made it, or how I even know someone like that?>”

“I can’t say I don’t, but should I even ask?” I said, not knowing where they’re going with this.

“<It’s up to you.>” A rather vague statement. It’s like they’re egging me on…

“Feels like this is setting up for something…” I can’t help but say that out loud.

“<Come on now. Who in the world sets up a grand reveal in a voice call?>” They pointed out, and I guess that’s fair. Speaking of reveal though…

“Anyway, I guess it would be good to at least know who this person is.” I said, so at least I don’t have to bug them to get anything. Just gonna bug the person in question directly.

“<Honestly. Even if I want to tell you everything, it’s not like she’s easy to access.>” They suddenly mentioned. Where are they going with this?

“How so?” I asked, confused as to what they are insinuating.

“<She’s not in the US, for one.>” Huh, I see… Wait.

“Huh? Then where?” I asked, starting to feel more confused. I thought she would have at least been only a state or two away, since the whole knife process was only a day. No, in the first place, that’s still very fast considering everything.

“<She’s in Germany.>” …Wait what?

“I’m sorry. What? Say that again?” That makes no sense. From just delivering the dagger to her would take a day, let alone forging and sending one back…

“<She’s in Germany.>” They said it again, with the same tone of nonchalance.

“Okay. That actually makes zero sense.” I pointed out. It doesn't take a genius to know that the timeline doesn’t add up.

“<It can, but I need you to keep this conversation a secret… Well, maybe that Wiina girl can also hear it, but just you two, don’t share it elsewhere.>” They suddenly said. Considering all the implications so far it’s obvious why they don’t want this news to spread. That’s way too much attention for someone who doesn’t even open their facecam.

“I can promise that much.” I said, pretty confident I can keep this whole thing underwrap.

“<Is that so? Well, I trust you enough. I guess I’ll start by showing my face…>” Oh! So they can actually show me what they look like.

*Beep*

The person on the other side of the camera is… Actually not all too different from the profile picture they were using, obviously they’re not stylized.

Long blonde hair and green eyes, a somewhat feminine face but still overall androgynous…

…Have I seen this person somewhere before? I don’t think I do? Or maybe I did? Maybe in a random photo scattered across the internet or something…

“<Your face is looking quite complicated right now.>” They remarked.

“Sorry. Thought I’ve seen you somewhere before.” I said, not sure if that’s even true or not.

“<If you aren’t sure, don’t worry about it.>” They said to reassure me. I guess I shouldn’t, since they aren’t the main talking point… kinda.

“So, what can you tell me about this person?” I asked that first, since that’s probably the one thing everyone is wondering, including myself.

“<She’s a short-eared elf who’s the great grand step-aunt of a friend of mine. Live for a few millenia now.>” …I think there’s at least three layers of context needed to fully comprehend this particular sentence.

“Now. I am trying to not either freak the fuck out or seem to dismissive. Can you elaborate?” I said, keeping my voice as calm as I could.

“<Exactly as I said. She’s a long-lived elf who is a relative of a friend of mine. Got a knack for creating just about anything, creating that flaming knife was a breeze.>” They casually explained.

“...What even are elves, actually.” I asked, wondering how genuine that descriptor is.

“<That’s another long story, honestly.>” They said, not willing to tell me more. “<It would be better if you go ask her directly, but I don’t see why she’ll tell you anything.>”

“Would be weird if someone just told a random person literally everything…” I remarked, still thinking about how to really take this information. “I guess this friend of yours is also an elf?”

“<Yep.>” They casually replied… Ah, right.

“I guess they always were one…” I said, thinking about the significance of mentioning their race in the first place.

“<Yep. Always was.>” They confirmed my suspicion. “<Hmm… Did you suspect some people were already in the world of mystics before this event?>”

“It was mainly from what Wiina has said, really.” I said, not wanting to take all the credit.

“<I see.>” They mumbled to themselves. Now the fact that they are clearly aware of these supernaturals existing, that raises a lot of questions about them as well.

“So. What about you?” I might as well try to ask.

“<Me? Well… I got my own secrets, of course. That should be flagrantly clear to you by this point.>” They said with a subtle smug smirk. “<Too much to talk about. At least I can tell you I am well aware this was going to happen, and of course, I’m no weakling.>”

…That’s very much the bare minimum that I’ve already figured out. It seems they are not keen on telling me their life story… Will there even be anyone crazy enough to do that?

“Figures… Well. Whatever. So, Idea, is there any advice you can give me about this new world?” That’s gonna be the last question, but still an important one regardless.

“<Hmm… I don’t have good advice to give out, to be honest. Just know that you can always run into something incomprehensible, I guess.>” …Rather ominous, but okay.

 

———Wiina———

<11: 51 pm>

 

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

“...Was that all?” I asked the few street thugs who are now looking at me with clear fear in their eyes, seeing that their bullets do nothing. “I know not everyone can be reasonably smart, but seeing it in person still baffles me.”

“Y-You monster!” One of them yelled out. Such a classic line.

*STAB*

…Wait. I didn’t even move yet, who are…

“Can’t even notice the one right behind you?” Her voice is cold and chilling, sticking through the man’s torso.

*RIP*

She tore out his heart and let the body fall to the floor. The other mooks all cowered in fear, some too paralyzed to even move.

“I’ll do you a favor.” She said while casting her gaze at me.

*PIERCE*

Suddenly some sort of spikes protruded from the ground and pierce through all of them in the head, quickly killing them.

“It seems that the sense of self-preservation remains low despite the change in the status quo.” Coach Wana said as she collected the bodies, putting them in her storage space. “So what was that about?”

“Seems to be a local gang trying to intimidate me for info. Can’t say they were smart.” I said, probably being a bit too cruel with that remark, but they also attack me, so I don’t know. “You really just killed them all with zero remorse on your face.”

“They had it coming, really.” She callously said. “If they value their life they wouldn’t risk it in the first place.”

I think everyone plays around with risk at some point…

“Anyway. It’s been a while, so I would like to see your progress.” She said, maintaining a rather lax tone. “Let’s go somewhere empty.”

She then started floating up. Guess I’m gonna follow her to wherever this is.

We ascended pretty high up, and then I simply followed her as she led me to this battleground. Pushing through the wind and clouds, it’s still a surreal situation to be in.

Not too long ago and I would’ve dismissed flying in the sky with supernatural powers as mere delusions. Now it is something that I am doing, and not exactly hard to do either.

The rate we’re flying is pretty fast, but it’s hard to gauge since it’s not like I know how fast airplanes are.

“Here we are.” She said as we landed at… a desert? “There should be nothing to distract us here.”

A rather drab place, but more importantly, the fact that she brings me here means that she’s not gonna be pulling much punches. I don’t know the full extent of her strength, but it’s definitely a lot. “Guess you’re not going easy?”

“I would rather not. You have enough healing factors to stay alive anyway.” …So she’s using my biology as an excuse for not being mindful during the fight. “Don’t worry, I won’t vaporize you til there’s nothing left. I’m not here to kill you.”

“Ugh, do you really need to say it like that?” I said before pulling out the rapier.

“Even if you are turned into grounded meat, you’ll still truck along just fine.” She said as she pulled out a rather mundane sword. She really doesn’t need to say that. “Now then… GO!”

*Dash* *Clash* *Dash* *Swing* *Evade*

The first thing we both did in this empty desert was to run in and swing our weapons at each other, running around and trying to avoid each other’s attack. Sometimes our blades clashed, other times it was like playing a deadly game of tag.

*Shine* *BLAST*

“Whoa!” In the middle of the first she floats up into the air and shoots out a magic beam not all too different from the one Karra used, but it’s just way bigger and more destructive. I need to fly away so as to not get hit and possibly vaporized by it. How is this gonna ‘not’ kill me exactly?

*Blast* *Blast* *Boom*

I threw a few magic blasts that were directed right at her, hitting her and stopping the beam from persisting. It definitely didn’t do much aside from making her slightly flinch.

We both then go back to the ground and-

*Dash* *Clash*

Continuing to fight with just our weapons and keep moving around the vast land.

*Slice* *Stab*

We both ended up trading in one particular interaction. She sliced off my left arm while I managed to stab her in the chest.

I quickly stored my rapier away to free up my remaining arm and then grabbed her very suddenly.

*Throw*

I threw her high up into the sky and quickly regrew my arm and prepared the next step!

*Sizz* *WHIRL*

I created a massive tornado of flames right where she stabilized and stopped her momentum, completely surrounding her.

*Crackle* *Spark* *BLAST*

I then threw out a massive thunder spell right into the heart of the storm.

*BOOM*

…Well, maybe I was expecting too much.

She still stays there in the sky, and aside from a slight burn on her clothes, there’s basically no sign of injury.

She then holds one of her hands, palm open, towards me-!

*Push* *BURST*

She blew out a large chunk of my torso in a single motion…

*Thud*

Okay, that was unexpected, but thankfully I can just shrug this off and regenerate. The problem is that she’s flying towards me for a follow-up.

I raise my hand towards the bloodsucker flying towards me.

*Blast* *Evade*

Aw dammit. She actually got out of the way.

*Stab*

She then stabbed me right in the head. This wasn’t exactly fair in the first place, was it?

“I think that’s enough for now.” She casually said as she plucked the sword out of my skull.

Wait a moment. Lemme just… Ugh!

“This still feels a bit gross…” I said, touching the area that was… damaged, from the fight.

“You’ll get used to it, alongside blood and gore in general.” …That doesn’t sound like a good thing to get used to, honestly.