Another one has died today.
It reminded me of her again somehow.
"Ahh..."
I was stupid.
Ruby, I'm sorry.
I couldn't save you after all.
Where was I lacking?
I remember that day vividly—the day that the first person I've ever loved took her own life.
"Ahh...! Ahh! AHH!!!"
I cried the whole day.
She didn't leave a note or anything.
She just died.
Just like Aria.
<<----------->>
"He's dead."
Vaclova laid the corpse down on the ground after checking for his pulse.
"Are you alright, Little Fran?"
Albert, who was with Fran when one of their comrades died, showed concern for Fran.
"Yeah, just a slight headache."
[Effects of (Resident Desynchronization) become more tolerable as you experience it more]
It was suicide.
He was the middle-aged man, the one who had complained so bitterly during the meeting, summoned alongside Dorothy and Gamon. A rope was hanging above his room in the inn.
"Aiyah... he just went to the Rift earlier too."
"..."
Gamon remained silent. While he despised the pathetic man, even with his demonic background, he wasn't entirely heartless.
It seems the man couldn't handle the stress of battle after witnessing it firsthand.
"This guy, he went to the Anstrad City Stage earlier by accident and immediately went to find the exit portal."
Fran, who always knew where everyone was due to his authority, had noticed that the middle-aged man had entered the new fragment.
[Trolls.]
Each fragment has a 'Monster Theme' which makes up the stages for that fragment. Unlike normal unowned fragments, however, 'Interferences' may occur.
This is why, if you wanted to play it safe, never train or grind levels on owned fragments aside from the Cradle that you're affiliated with.
<<----------->>
Training.
Everyone was in the big area in front of the inn. Each is doing their own form of practice, with some being helped by others.
"Two hundred...!"
Gamon swung his sword more times than usual. It seems the recent event has prompted him to train more.
"Gravity Press."
"Kuh...!"
Meanwhile, Dorothy and Fran were engaged in their own training, one of the secret methods that players always used. Namely, increasing the gravity in a limited area to train agility and strength.
"Even doing a 2x gravity spell is taking everything from me...! You better give me some of your Attribute stones later."
"Yeah...!"
They were both groaning in pain, as they were both pushing the capabilities of their limits. The others couldn't help but watch the two. Before they knew it, these two were acknowledged as the strongest in the Cradle.
[Dorothy Mayers ✦✦]
[Lvl. 4]
[Strength - 4 (73%)] [Agility - 4 (72%)] [Intelligence - 7 (54%)] [Endurance - 4 (19%)] [Stamina - 5 (58%)]
[Unique Gift - Ranker Player]
[----------------------------]
[Magic's Will Lv. 1 (R)]
[Base: (Intelligence : 100%)][Passive]
[Casting a spell grants (Intelligence +1%) permanently. The spell must be of a higher class than the previous. Resets per day.]
[Requirement: Successfully cast 10 different spells in unison.]
[Goblin Slayer Lv. 1 (C)]
[Fragment (KLO-47) Blessing (Soulbound) (L)]
"She's a monster. Not only is she already level 4, she has gotten Magic's Will."
Magic's Will.
It was the most important skill to get as a mage in King's Cradle. That was because intelligence was the hardest skill to train. But more importantly, Magic's will wasn't affected by the stat ceiling that's inherent on the tier of a character.
"This gravity spell, to think she can handle a 3rd-class spell already."
A mage of 7 intelligence is the bare minimum to cast a 3rd-class spell, which meant eight pages of pure Magic Language to recite and put in memory. However, even a simple loss of focus by a single character would dispel it, draining the user of their stamina.
"Urgh...! I've hit my limit!"
Under the extreme pressure of Dorothy's spell, Fran finally gave in and had had enough.
"Aw~! You would have reached 5 minutes if you stayed a little longer."
"Why don't you try it then?"
Fran found Dorothy's condescending look annoying as he panted on all fours.
"I didn't want to admit it, but she's stronger now."
Fran was worried that he would be falling behind, and due to his recent failed 'bugged' rebirth, he felt demoralized. Normally, one-stars do Rebirth at level 5, which almost always guarantees advancing to the next tier. However, he had felt the pressure from the two stars and began to up his own pace.
In King's Cradle, power is everything.
If you were weak, you were either cast aside or worse... Killed.
That's right.
Killed by fellow residents.
It was normal in the game as it served as a way to free up space for better characters in a Cradle.
<<----------->>
[Fragment RTU-61 (Owned (IRIS-K9712)), Seed: 45129473992]
[Stage 1 - Anstrad Forest]
[Kill the Trolls: 4/5]
"One more...!"
The giant bluish creature gnarled at him, gripping the blunt weapon made of stone that it was holding
Grr! GRR!
Fran was fast, very fast.
But for him, he wasn't fast enough.
He needed to be better.
"Vulnerability Strike..."
Streaks of yellow light emanated from the creature that was as tall as a tree.
Slash.
Swing.
Pierce.
One by one, his attacks landed, not giving it time to react. Shockwave after shockwave was produced by his skill, knocking back his foe.
"With this...! You're finished!"
He shouted his line and spun to aim for the Troll's head.
A clean sweep.
For both the stage and the troll's head.
Trying to maximize his gains, he had decided to do this Stage solo, again.
[Congratulations on Clearing Stage 1 - Anstrad Forest]
[Cradle resources have been credited]
[Clear Bonus]
[Attribute Stone (Random) x2]
[A great amount of EXP has been awarded]
He had already cleared this stage multiple times today, desperate to catch up with Gamon and Dorothy. But more than anything...
"I have to prepare for the war... They should notice us by now."
Fran was restless.
The Cradle he was in was only almost two weeks old. That is to say, if their enemy Cradle was older than that, it would spell doom for them.
"To conquer this Fragment, they'd have to be pretty decent... I don't even want to think about it."
[Retry Stage]
[Y/N]
"Yes."
It wasn't just Fran who was training; everyone else had. After they had heard the news that we were going to war, from the King's orders that Fran sent out.
The Cradle was restless.
War was approaching.