Chapter 510 S - So… Does that mean it’s not fake?

Camilla was quick to draw a ritual circle in the air, tracing the runes with her finger leaving a trail of mana behind, and the group was freed from the Sirens’ hypnotic screeches.

“This’ll last awhile, but you need to stay within fifty meters so don’t leave the ship,” she explained as the sirens surrounded the mountain they were stranded on. She analyzed the situation for a second before spewing out orders, “My mana is still low so I’ll need you to buy me some time. I see three queens. Gaina and Zevi you take the first to reach us, Linn and Vika you keep the other two away, one each. Pin, Selene, Emma and Sofia, you keep the lesser sirens at bay. I’ll shield anyone who gets in danger. Sofia can finish the last Queen when we get there. Get ready!”

Everyone but Shaily started to channel long casting-time skills as the Sirens approached. Shaily just observed the sirens, trying to locate the queens. They were massive so it was quite easy, each came from a different nearby island.

She was trying to recognize the queens’ elements, which could be seen by observing their anatomy, like the shape of their dorsal fins, the hue reflected by their feathers and scales, and other such minute details.

“Fire sirens, the three of them!” Shaily warned the group as the queens quickly approached, soaring through the air, while the lesser sirens frenziedly crawled up the mountain, their vestigial wings too frail to let them fly for long.

Camilla turned to Emma, the ship’s cook, “Change of plan, you channel [Heart of the furnace] let the others handle the rest.”

It was not long before Shaily’s warning proved itself true, as a sudden storm of ash rose up from nowhere, making the air uncomfortably hot. The face on the closest siren queen’s torso came alive, its eyes lighting up just before a cloud of fiery meteors appeared above the creature and shot toward the ship one by one in quick succession. The fire was weakened when it entered the range of Emma’s spell, and the projectiles ended up bouncing harmlessly against the ship’s protection barriers maintained by camilla.

Feeling safe enough, Shaily focused on her own task, summoning one lightning sprite after the next, and sending them crashing into the lesser sirens. The still wet creatures from the sea were quite brittle, and each lightning sprite’s electrical explosion killed several of them.

‘You have defeated [Siren - lv. 68]’

‘You have defeated [Siren - lv. 72]’

‘You have defeated [Siren - lv. 43]’

‘You have defeated [Siren - lv. 42]’

‘You have defeated [Siren - lv. 38]’

‘You have defeated [Siren - lv. 64]’

‘You have defeated [Siren - lv. 50]’

‘You have defeated [Siren - lv. 22]’

‘You have defeated [Siren - lv. 62]’

…

Even if the queens’ attacks never reached her, Shaily still suffered from the heat, each giant fireball or such other attack coming the ship’s way igniting the air even more, turning the Orichalcum vessel into a giant open-air grill.

The lesser sirens were too numerous, they came by the thousands, and Camilla had to step in whenever they got too close, a ritual circle appearing out of nowhere near the larger clumps of sirens and tearing them to shreds in an instant with invisible attacks.

Still it was not very long until Gaina the [Harpooner] and Zevi the [Stormcaller] got rid of the first and strongest of the three Siren Queens, for which Shaily got no credit.

The intensity of the fire attacks died down, allowing everyone to breathe easier, and with three of the level 200+ hunters on the next Siren queen which was likely under level 200, she was also quick to fall after getting latched onto by a single of Gaina’s harpoons. 

Despite two queens falling, the mountain was still completely surrounded by lesser sirens climbing from all sides. No matter how many they killed, more and more kept crawling out of the ocean and their numerous cries were starting to be heard, even through Camilla’s protective ritual, slowly eroding the crew’s capacity to focus.

“Everyone focus on the lesser sirens,” Camilla shouted, “Sofia you channel one of those lightning bolts, I’ll hold the last Queen in place for you, aim for the face on her chest!”

“Understood!”

Wanting to put all the chances on her side, Shaily did something she never tried before due to a lack of mana, channeling a bolt in each hand.

Glowing ritual circles made of mana appeared in front of both of Camilla’s open palms, and with swift movements, she threw them at the last Queen which circled the ship while bombarding it with balls of fire. Whizzing through the smelting hot air in an arc, the ritual circles accurately sliced through both of the Queen’s wings like flying blades, killing its momentum, before more ritual circles appeared around the creature like a box, imprisoning it mid-air.

Shaily was ready but hesitated to fire the bolts, as the Siren was thrashing a lot in her new prison, making aiming at the face incredibly hard, and because Camilla’s rituals were also in the way.

“FIRE!” Camilla yelled. And Shaily let the bolts go, just as they were about to hit, the entrapping rituals disappeared. The bolts both missed the face, but they each left a clean hole through the already weakened creature’s body either way.

‘You have defeated [Siren Queen - lv. 194]’

[Trial completion : Escape the Holy-See (Completed)]

[Additional rewards task : Defeat a Siren-Queen (Completed)]

“You got it!” Camilla rejoiced, seeing the Siren lifelessly fall from the sky, she raised her hand for a high-five, which was still pretty low considering Sofia’s height, and Shaily gladly clapped Camilla’s hand as the reality of the trial started to crumble.

“I’ll be sure to pay you back,” Shaily said with a smile as everything around her disappeared, leaving her alone in a black void.

It was not long before a grating voice welcomed Shaily back to reality, though she was still in the black void.

“An eye-opening display,” it commented, “We are entering a new era of history, it seems. Congratulations on your trial, chosen of the outer gods. You would do well to keep your new name to yourself until you have the power to back it up. I will give you a proof of my approval, you may use it to ask for my help once. Use it wisely.”

Shaily could not speak, so the best she could do was to thank the voice of the mysterious Seraph in her head.

“As for the other chosen… She has already been poached by the black plague… Hmm… I shall offer one last piece of advice: take the bracer.” 

After these final words, Shaily was finally able to open her eyes.

Huh?!

I’m in my room?

Jumping out of bed, Shaily was already fully clothed, she walked up to the window and opened the blinds. It was night time but there was no doubt possible, she was in her lodgings in Vasperia.

Something in her clothes felt wrong, so she slid a hand down her collar, trying to catch the offender, retrieving a hand-sized flat shimmering scale from under her shirt.

[Wing scale of Er’Zgat]: A token of approval from the representative Seraphim of the Kleptra, Er’Zgat. Should it shatter, Er’Zgat will be alerted to its position. May also be used to keep weaker Kleptra at bay.

Item level : 500.

Grade : Kleptran.

Kleptra? 

Shaily silently observed the city outside for a moment, although it was night, most Vampires only slept once every few days, so the streets were still bustling under the moonlight.

I kinda wish the trial didn’t end that abruptly…

She stored the scale in a corner of her storage ring, and started reading the system messages she was getting bombarded with.

[Congratulations, you have triumphed over the second filter!]

[You may now gain experience up to level 199]

[Additional rewards will be delivered after the level-up; details are as follows]

[Completion reward : Level up * 1]

[Additional task reward : Clothing set (Double-Fake Saintess’ Set) * 1]

[Completed hidden tasks : Successfully use wild magic, Reached maximum authorized level, Defeat a sentient one filter up in singular battle, Defeat a monster with a 250+ level differential, Defeat 10 000+ monsters]

[Additional hidden tasks rewards : Skill specialization point (Passive)  1, Class Skill level-up point (upgrades a Class Skill to lv.100)  4]

[Please lie down in a secure environment to proceed with your level-up.]

Oh crap, right!

Shaily hurriedly checked that the room’s door was locked, closed the window blinds, took her clothes off, and brought out a special fluid-repellent carpet from her storage ring, unfurling it on the floor, before lying down on it.

There she took a deep breath. I’m ready.

[Initiating level up past filter 2; please do your best to stay still]

[Calculating optimal path…]

[Class evolution available!]

[No race evolution available…]

[Trial evaluation for upgrade potential : Max]

[Your allocated upgrade score is : 1000 Health; 1000 Stamina; 4000 Mana]

[Please select a class evolution to proceed]

[Class evolution: Sprite Shaman:

Description : A variant of the Sprite Caller, foregoing some defense and versatility in favor of calling stronger sprites capable of widespread destruction and higher elemental influence.]

[Class evolution: Sprite Regulator :

Description : A newly-created variant of the Sprite Caller. No description found. If chosen, +1 Classless skill slot will be awarded as compensation for the lack of description. Anomalies may arise.]

[Class evolution: Refuse class evolution :

Description : You may refuse to let your class evolve, keeping your current class of Sprite Caller, the generic and highly versatile basic sprite class. You may be offered another evolution after the fourth filter.]

Anomalies may arise?

Good.