A Gamer Into Trails

As always, Giliath demands your power stones!

*****

Vita formally introduced herself to the four individuals now standing not too far away from the giant, sealed door that had glowing cogwheels spinning around perpetually. Here, she wasn't the Azure Diva that everyone knew of. No, down here, she was known as the Witch of the Abyss, one of the few remaining Witches that were still alive to this day. The villagers of Eryn were not many, perhaps a dozen or two at most. But they were all Witches.

Vita Clotilde was one of them, and her younger sister, Emma Millstein, was another Witch.

The only thing Vita left out was her other identity. Not only did she have two different identities, she had a third. Apart from being the Azure Diva, and the Witch of the Abyss, she was also the Azure Abyss. A powerful individual that claimed her spot on the 6th Seat of the Anguis inside Ouroboros. She wouldn't come to reveal this identity of hers until Cold Steel kicks off. At this point in time, it was unsure Crow knew this other identity of hers.

Right now, Vita was parading as the Witch of the Abyss. Calling forth her Familiar, Grianos, was testament to that.

Still, despite seeing this scene before them, Gideon's eyes remained doubtful.

"So let me get this straight. You belong to that clan of Witches that only are referred to in obscure history texts, or straight out of fairy tales? That clan of Witches which have been rumored to have been around since the Middle Ages, or perhaps even longer? THAT Hexen Clan?", Gideon questioned.

"That's right. And to prove it, this is my Familiar, Grianos. He's such a cutie, isn't he?", Vita asked, glancing her eyes at the azure bird now perched on her shoulder. Vita reached her finger out, and gently rubbed Grianos's neck, feeling his soft and smooth feathers brush against her finger.

"Chirp~", The bird responded, flaunting his wings outward. In this form, this bird appeared just like a nightingale, and was royal blue in color. His beak, on the other hand, was mostly yellow. This Familiar was named Grianos, and he served Vita. Grianos's existence was equivalent to Celine, the cat that followed Emma, and the silver fox that followed Naoto. These were Familiars, partners of the Hexen Clan Witches. Once a Witch created a Familiar that they could call their own, they would bond directly to their soul, and serve them for life, becoming life partners. It took an excruciating amount of Mana to create a Familiar.

Not many in Eryn Village had such high amounts of Mana left in the village. So most of the time, it was up to their leader, Roselia, to create Familiars for Witches. Otherwise, they could try to recruit Familiars naturally by taming Monsters to be their own. That method required much less Mana, but Grianos here was created through Roselia's Mana. So was Celine. And for that matter, Tamamo was too.

Naoto had a much deeper connection to these three Familiars, as he also considered himself a Witch of the Hexen Clan, despite not hailing directly from it. He learned under the village's leader, and she went even as far as creating a Familiar for him. It truly was a shame that Vita's Familiar perished during the Cold Steel games. Naoto currently had plans to prevent that event from happening. He wanted Grianos to continue living on. Things really turned crazy once that happened. Hopefully this time around, Naoto will be able to accomplish that.

That won't take place for another good three to four years. That would take place when the Infernal Castle rose up in the games. Considering Naoto's plan to enact the resurrection of the Infernal Castle is happening a few years prior to that, said individual likely won't even come across it to kill Grianos. So who knows what could happen!

Grianos proudly flaunted its feathers at the group before him. For some reason, a mark of annoyance appeared on Gideon's forehead as he observed Grianos behave like this.

"Why do I get the feeling this bird of yours is taunting us?", Gideon retorted.

"I've read some scriptures back inside the Church about the existence of Familiars, but I didn't think they'd actually hold true. Especially in this day and age. I figured they would have been wiped out along with those Witches back in the Middle Ages. I'm guessing they exist in secrecy?", Scarlet mused, also observing the blue bird before her.

"What can it do? Will it help us fight whatever that's behind this door?", Vulcan questioned, getting straight to the point.

"Oh yes, Grianos will assist you all in battle, as will I. Before that though, come step forward, Crow. You're about to be taken for a spin~", Vita answered with a smile.

"I just need to step forward eh? Sounds simple enough.", Crow responded with a playful grin. Still, Crow listened to Vita. Only he was the one to take a few steps forward, parting ways from his group. It didn't take long before a deep voice reached everyone's ears. No, it acted as if this voice directly spoke into their minds, causing their eyes to become serious!

"Confirming release of the Sixth Lock.", The booming voice responded once Crow reached close enough to the door.

"Potential Awakener detected.", The booming voice continued. If there was one thing to say, this voice didn't belong to the voice that would eventually greet Class VII inside the Old Schoolhouse. No, this voice belonged to someone else.

Crow just stared at the constantly-moving glowing cogs above him, feeling amazed.

"This thing really is reacting to me?", Crow mused. The booming voice ceased the group's speaking after announcing that to everyone.

"That's right. What you are about to step into is akin to pure fantasy. Just have an open mind, alright?", Vita asked Crow.

"Pure fantasy eh? Now that's speakin' my language!", Crow excitedly responded. As if responding to him, everyone felt the ground shake before them, following some thuds. Before they all realized it, the glowing cogs upped their tempos, and the door began to open.

"The door is opening...", Gideon uttered, amused to see the door open on its own. The other floors did open on their own as well, but they were all greeted by big Monsters to take down. This time, they didn't hear a single roar of a beast, or any Monster for that matter. All they saw open before them was intense swirling clouds mixed up of varying colors, almost as if they were depicting the Elements themselves. It was as if they were about to walk into the heart of a thunderstorm, just a lot more colorful.

"The hell is this supposed to be?", Vulcan cursed, not expecting to see these swirling clouds before him.

"Weird, I'm almost getting the feeling of this thing sending out an invitation to us.", Scarlet responded, not expecting to receive such a feeling once the door opened.

"Haha! Well there's no turning back for us. We can only progress further. It will let us inside, yes?", Crow asked Vita.

"It will. You were the one it acknowledged. You're not going to give a speech or anything, are you?", Vita questioned with a playful smile.

"Hell no. That ain't my style. I want to see what this bad boy has to offer!", Crow immediately retorted with a frown. Ignoring Vita's question further, he began to dash, and took a leap of faith. His body started to shine brightly, before he was engulfed by what was seen before them. He directly warped out of the sixth floor, leaving the four behind.

"Crow?", Vulcan questioned, only to hear no response.

"Interesting, it's clear that this place is leading us somewhere.", Gideon answered, seeing Crow no longer with them.

"Come on you two, we can't sit around all day. I for one, don't want those shitty Nobles breathing down our backs the moment they catch a whiff that their trial ground is being used. We'll ditch 'em in the dirt long after we're done with this place, hehe!", Scarlet replied with a grin of her own.

"That's something else we can agree on.", Gideon responded, nodding his head. He was next to go up after Crow, and followed him. Gideon vanished into thin air, just like Crow did.

"Wow, the guy that questions everything went in before us? We can't lose to them, Vulcan. Let us hurry.", Scarlet said, urging the giant standing beside her. She scurried off after Crow and Gideon, vanishing from sight. Only Vulcan and Vita were left behind now.

"You got it!", Vulcan responded. He wasn't sure what was on the other side of this mystery cloud, but he didn't want to go in unprepared. He was an ex-Jaeger after all. He was much more ready to face life-and-death battles compared to his companions. He brandished his giant orbal gatling gun as easily as one would swing a baseball bat.

"Sheesh, just how can you swing around that giant weapon so easily?", Vita retorted, seeing Vulcan effortlessly swing around a giant hunk of likely very heavy metal.

"Gahaha! Lots and hard, arduous training, missy. I don't care if you're a Witch or whatever. There are strong Monsters in there, yeah? That doll earlier only acted as a good-warm up.", Vulcan questioned. His eyes appeared bloodthirsty. Even going through six of these trial ground floors, it would seem he hadn't had enough. Vita didn't budge much from the bloodlust Vulcan was now releasing. Instead, Vita sighed.

"Strong is an understatement. What lies beyond there will blow your reality away. You'll definitely get the fight you're seeking.", Vita responded, answering Vulcan.

"That's enough for me!", Vulcan happily replied, and entered a mad dash. He was soon enveloped by a bright blue glow, and his figure entirely vanished.