Steampunk Era: Mad Abield

Monica Green Sea, an Elf Sword Dancer, the High Priestess of the Church of the Harvest Goddess.

Strictly speaking, as an elf, Monica shouldn't have worshiped a pantheon of human deities; however, she became a devout follower simply because she was raised by a human warrior since her early childhood.

It happened when Monica was six years old, just beginning to retain memories, her village was bloodwashed by Chaos. In the final moments, she survived by hiding in a safe room her father had built in a well, thanks to a Spell Formation her mother gave her. She was found on the seventh day by the Sydney military, which had recaptured the village two days earlier.

As her father was an officially recorded Demon Hunter and a Follower of the Church of the Harvest Goddess, she ultimately was entrusted to the care of the Church.

Within the Church, Monica grew up, and repeatedly refused invitations to reunite with elf kin—she believed that, contrary to her distant kin in the High Elf Empire across the sea, it was the Church that was her true home.

Relying on her talent and the books her mother had left her, Monica became a Sword Dancer. Finally, at two hundred years old, as an exceptional Punisher and Hunter of Chaos, Monica retired, returning to her hometown—Carterburg.

Monica, who never married, chose to continue serving the Church and began to teach the sword dance technique to talented children—a skill requiring extreme talent, and not every child with potential could learn it. Over twenty-seven years, Monica had taught only three Sword Dancers, all of whom proved themselves in later years with the swords in their hands against the blood of Chaos.

Now, she had a fourth Sword Dancer apprentice.

Even more exceptional than any previous apprentice.

He possessed the monstrous strength fitting of a Frost Giant, the coordination and keen reactions unique to elves, and he was also a skilled Caster of spell formations.

Every time Monica thought of this child, she would silently thank the Goddess for sending him her way.

This was a child who was indeed worthy to inherit her legacy.

As a Half-blood, Monica's life was nearing its end; early battles... That near death by bifurcation had robbed her of the right to motherhood. Thus, in Monica's heart, all the students in her class were her children. She was a mentor, sowing knowledge, allowing these saplings to grow, and Malin was the most robust sapling she had ever seen.

"High Priestess Monica, you've been favoring Malin too much lately," Karlmo had been complaining, and of course, Monica was aware of her intentions; however, she had never considered that not all people are the same.

"Because he is very exceptional, if you could learn the sword dance, I would dote on you as well," Monica said, smiling as she gently tapped the forehead of the upward-gazing Karlmo.

"I'm just a Half-human, High Priestess Monica. I think you're being unfair to me!" the Half-human girl protested, hands on her hips and huffing.

Monica smiled. She certainly understood the source of her unease but was resolved to keep an eye on this child for as long as she lived.

If he should ever fall into Chaos,

She would personally take action... and kill him.

.........

The Harvest Festival, the second day, before nightfall.

"Hey, are you sure the helper you talked about is reliable?"

The young men whispered among themselves while the young man with grey hair asked this, glancing at Malin, who was sitting at another table having breakfast.

"Honestly, I'm afraid I might kill him with one punch."

The young man with red hair glanced at Malin, who was devouring his roasted meat in big bites.

"Forget it, Lager, my cousin at the Church of the Harvest Goddess said even their sixth-graders were swept away by this kid; you have to be at least an eighth-grader to have a chance of getting away from him unscathed. And you, how many years have you been at it?" the young man with chestnut hair glared at the one with red hair: "This expulsion mission is your last apprentice examination; complete it, and you can get the formula for level nine from your Church of the War God. I paid a thousand gold to get him here."

"A thousand gold, Leon, have you lost your mind?!" the white-haired youth exclaimed in shock: "With a thousand gold, we could hire a squad of mercenaries!"

"Trust me, he's way better than a squad of mercenaries," the chestnut-haired Leon said.

"...Okay, I'll trust you this time, Leon." The young man with red hair was reluctant but chose to trust his close friend: "Besides the helper you hired, who else did we get?"

"I have an assistant on my side, my cousin from the Church of the God of Wisdom..." "Damn, you said your cousin was seventeen years old last time, a Sage on the ninth tier of the pathway. You want him to come watch us die?" The young man with gray hair rolled his eyes: "Richard, can't you find someone better."

"I didn't finish speaking! My cousin found us a great helper, one of his junior female colleagues. She's an elf of the long-lived kind and has recently come to the Church of the God of Wisdom as an exchange student to study human theology. She's a tier seven elf Sword Dancer, extremely powerful," the young man with white hair huffed: "That's a very powerful assistant."

"Tier seven! How much did you spend!" Leon's eyes bulged: "Tier seven doesn't come cheap, and she's an elf too!"

"Nothing at all, my brother is courting her, apparently she's a very kind-hearted young lady," the white-haired young man replied.

"I'd bet your brother's rivals could line up from the church school all the way to the front hall of the Cathedral of the War God," the redhead said finishing up, then noticed that Malin had finished eating: "Speaking of which, Leon, your little helper sure does oppress everyone when it comes to appetite."

"...no kidding, I told him we were going to an abandoned castle in the wild for a purification, we might not get a hot meal all day, might even go hungry..." As he spoke, Leon took the bill the waiter handed him: "Ten steaks! Is he a monster?!"

Malin ate to ninety percent full because he believed that whether it's in living or eating, it's better to always leave a little room for possibilities.

Adjusting his belt, patting his completely un-deformed stomach, Malin followed the teenagers, who were about fourteen or fifteen years old, out of the restaurant.

Actually, being able to connect with Logan's cousin this time was also thanks to Logan, who couldn't stand his cousin's pleading and eventually relayed a message to Malin that he would be paid 1000 gold to help with a simple apprentice graduation task.

The task was to investigate the abandoned castle outside the city—Malin had asked Colin and learned that the castle was about thirteen kilometers north of the city, on a small hill near the main road, and had been left to ruin after the Tide of the Dead passed.

It's not that Carterburg didn't have the money to fix it, but in this era, the human kingdoms preferred to rely on strong city defenses to fend off the Tide of the Dead. The small castle was abandoned because it couldn't house too many troops.

Moreover, since the advent of gunpowder, the role of small castles has become increasingly limited,

So, no one thought of restoring that broken castle. The Carterburg officials turned it into a little shelter for travelers.

It was because travelers heading south to north recently said that the castle seemed to have grown darker, and more than one claimed to feel something terrifying. Their senses were too dull to perceive and witness spiritual bodies and invisible spirits, and that's why the high-tier apprentices are being sent to scout—normally, ordinary spiritual bodies and invisible spirits are no match for church apprentices who have learned various expulsion spell formations. The apprentices are assigned such tasks, and if they witness ogres or other such spirits, naturally, they are not their responsibility.

That's the job of agile Demon Hunters, to claim the lives of those creatures.

Leon's team was very well prepared, with everyone having a spirit-resistant breastplate—crafted by dwarven smiths, it's a silver-imbued breastplate with two stamped metal plates as its core, fastened with belts over the shoulders and at the waist, marked with blessings from various churches, effectively combating spirits' penetration. Any spirits trying to possess someone would be repelled immediately.

Since they were dealing with spirits, heavy armor wasn't necessary. Other than the breastplate, they wore very ordinary, lightweight leather armor.

As an assistant, Malin naturally needed to bring his own equipment, which Colin provided him with a breastplate—Though the Church of the Goddess of Harvest wasn't one of the top-ranking great churches, it had a broad base of supporters. Nobles with manors and commoners with land were mostly followers of this goddess, and the church's armory was stocked with various tools to protect its believers.

Thus, in addition to receiving a breastplate, Malin also got an Ogre's Belt (which effectively increased strength) and a mace.

The weapon was all-metal from head to handle, imbued with silver and inscribed with runes. While not a remarkable artifact, it had a history of several hundred years. According to Colin, the spirits that died under that mace could line up all the way from Carterburg to the capital.

A short-barreled .38 revolver was a leftover souvenir from Colin's past, with twelve rounds each of holy silver salt and silver bullets, loaded in speedloaders and pocketed in separate pouches on the belt.

He placed his UV flashlight in a pouch at his waist, ready to attach to the fixed position on his right shoulder whenever necessary.

As the team's rented carriage appeared at the crossroads, Malin tucked his shotgun, which served as a cane, under his arm, and then hopped onto the carriage with Leon.

The white-haired boy looked puzzledly at the young man driving the carriage: "Cousin Leonidas, where's that Sword Dancer you mentioned?"

"Forget about it. An elf messenger just came to get her, saying that the High Elf liaison officer in Carterburg urgently needed her for something important." As the white-haired boy's cousin, the young man rolled his eyes: "It's just me now, but don't worry. Although I'm only a tier nine enthusiast on the Sage's pathway, I won't just watch you die. After all, joining the show is also a right of the audience."

"Then we're counting on you," the Red-haired young man said as he jumped onto the driver's seat.

"Plans never keep up with changes, but I think this is acceptable. After all, she's an elf. She can't decline her kin's invitation for us humans, especially if it's something very important," the gray-haired young man leaped onto the back of the carriage, holding a long-barreled rifle.

"So, what's the deal with that kid?" he asked his cousin in a lowered voice, shaking the reins.

"Leon spent 1000 gold to get a helper from the Church of the Goddess of Harvest. I think he was ripped off by his cousin," his cousin replied with an eye roll.