Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 82 - Alvida

At the thought of toxicity being spread purposely, Zara narrowed her eyes. "Such disregard for human life."

Elara shook her head. "Disregard isn’t right. It implies Apathy. This is a purposeful attack."

They reached the monitoring station to find it under siege. Dozens of waste elementals surrounded the building, slowly dissolving the protective wards. Inside, visible through a window, a seal in research gear was frantically reinforcing the defenses.

"That must be Alvida," Elara observed. "We need to clear a path."

"No," Lumi said, studying the situation tactically. "We need to eliminate them all. If we just carve a path, they’ll close in behind us. We’re strong enough to destroy them all anyways. Let’s do that."

Valeria drew her sword, eyes narrowed. "Let’s make this quick."

Jin pointed out, "It’ll splash on you."

Valeria repeated, "Let’s make this quick."

She received nods all around, as the group lunged into action. Valeria’s blade shone with bright yellow energy. "Solar... Slash!" Her greatsword cleaved out in blinding power, directly slicing three monsters in half.

"Orbital Flame!" Marcus pointed out with his wand, countless fireballs coming out.

"Damn," Jin took a deep breath, creating lightning around his fists as he prepared to charge in. A hand on his shoulder, Zara, stopped him. "What are you doing, idiot? It’ll get on you like before. Fight ranged."

"Tch," Jin brushed off her hand. "Captain said to make it quick. Let’s not waste time. It’ll be quicker this way."

"And you aren’t as strong as captain to do as she is."

At her intense glare, he relented. "Fine, I’ll fight safe, so pick up the slack." And they both directly lunged into battle.

Elara didn’t even speak. Simply one arrow. Then another. Then another. And yet more.

Finally, the last elemental fell, dissolving into a puddle of sludge. They rushed to the station, where Alvida was already unlocking the door.

"Thank the Axe Hero!" she exclaimed. Alvida was larger than her sister, with darker markings and scars. "I’ve been trapped here for a while! Those things just kept coming!"

[Quest Complete: Alvida in danger!]

[EXP +9,000]

[Level Up! 25 -> 26]

Lumi quickly invested his five stat points into INT once more, and his skill points.

[Mana Well: 5/20] -> [Mana Well: 11/20]

[Mana Well: 11/20]

[Increases your Max MP.]

[Max MP +21%]

"We were told to come to this island by Johno for your investigation report. We didn’t expect the monsters. After clearing them in the rest of the outpost, your sister directed us to you," Lumi explained. "She’s safe in the village."

"Alona’s alright?" Relief flooded Alvida’s features. "I was so worried! When those things destroyed her boat, I thought..." She shook herself. "But you’re here about the corruption investigation, aren’t you? I have data you need to see."

She led them inside, where banks of monitoring equipment lined the walls. Charts covered every surface, showing current patterns, contamination spread, and wildlife movements.

"I’ve been tracking monster appearances," Alvida explained, pulling out a specific map. "If you look here, all the appearances are marked."

With all the appearances marked on the map, one could see that it formed a vaguely oval shaped area of influence.

Alvida pointed out, "But if you look closer..." She pointed at a second map, which outlined sea currents. "Here, here, and here. These are the natural movements of the sea. While it is obviously possible to not follow them, they are typically followed. And you can see that from here-"

She pointed to the end of a route. "You can get to the following three locations." Each of the three locations she pointed at had unnatural monster sightings.

"And if you notice," she continued, "there are only three islands with access to all these routes at once. This includes here." She pointed to a specific one. "Which is the residence of the Darkwitch Mika."

"Interesting." Lumi nodded. "I can see why Johno spoke to obtain and deliver your report first. I’m sure this information will be crucial."

"Johno?" Alvida started, then froze. A small blush appeared on the seal. "Ah, sorry. I started explaining everything on the spot, seems it was unnecessary from me."

"No, no." Lumi shook his head. "We appreciate the understanding. The information is crucial to us too. You should recognize who we are."

"I dont-" Alvida stopped mid sentence, "Oh! You are Aria Knights! Sorry. Wait, you came to help us? Thank you!"

"No issue at all." Lumi responded, and explained. "Right now, Johno highly suspects Darkwitch Mika. Because the sea routes are so dangerous, we helped deliver Mickey’s report to Johno. It only amplified his suspicion of the witch. That is also why we were sent here."

"I see." Alvida nodded in understanding, collecting the documents to be given. While she did so, she added. "In addition, I do have some information about the recent monsters."

"Please tell us." Lumi replied.

"There’s more." Alvida continued. "The waste elementals aren’t just contamination given life. I’ve already gone ahead and ran basic tests while we’ve been talking. I’ve detected trace amounts of binding compounds. Someone’s deliberately creating them. It’s necromancy, but applied to toxic waste instead of corpses."

"The Darkwitch." Several people immediately responded.

It’s not her. Lumi thought. But he kept his knowledge to himself, letting the investigation proceed naturally.

Alvida pointed to another map, this one of the ice chunk they used as a station. "This is our little island here."

She slid her flipper over to the north. "Here there are several icy hills. My equipment picked up powerful vibrations coming from that area shortly before the monsters came out. It should be the case that the pollution the monsters originated from was discreetely stored here over time until this incident was triggered."

"I see." Lumi’s reply was short and simple, as he fell into thought.

"We should verify." Susie added. "That’s a perfect place to hide such material," Susie said, examining the data. "And then prepare creatures for attacks."

"Lumi?" Valeria tilted her head to the actual leader, who was in thought.

No quest...?

Regardless, Lumi nodded. "Absolutely. We should see what remains there to collect information."

Valeria nodded firmly. "Then we proceed immediately."