“A Bridge To Prosperity

  After a brief renewal week respite to mark the new year. Representatives from the Southern Trade Union, Verona, and Arteria, met in Sturmbreaker and negotiated a new treaty in which the island nation and city states would commit to new trade deals between them to strengthen the power of the economic bloc as a hedge against Traxian aggression. Representative Mikantos of Arteria has also extended an invitation to other members of the Ascari League and the Nautican Union, quote: “With increased interconnectivity, the promotion of these ties will also ensure that we can depend on one another should threats from outside our borders threaten the stability of this region.” Economist Jeryn suggests that… ”

  - Arterian Affairs, New Years Addition, “First Economic Report Of The Year - Second Page”

  The city square chilled her to the core. Where once she could envision a bustling hub of activity. Of traders, merchants, craftsmen, and ordinary folk simply taking part in the daily affairs of Eichafen. Where she had seen them all pass her by as their lives carried ever onwards. Now there was only silence and ruin.

  It had been a brief if memorable time for her. A splotch of happiness and good cheer against the terrifying time that she had spent in the Mistveil alone. Now no one else would be fortunate enough to stumble upon adventurers dispatched by the city. No longer was this refuge against the fog safe. Judging by the sheer lack of life on its maze like alleys and other signs of Carradorian occupation. It seemed even more unlikely that such a bastion would ever be rebuilt.

  Though the state of decay she witnessed evoked a strange sense of sorrow. She also felt strangely alive. The unwelcome sense of excitement that a child prying open a present might have, not knowing what was nested within. It only made her more uneasy, for she knew that if anything, she wouldn’t like whatever it is they found, be it undead or otherwise.

  Yet they persisted, advancing forward ever so dutifully.

  Market stalls had been converted into makeshift barriers to help augment the city’s defenders. Tarps turned to create makeshift tents for troops. Where hundreds of goods could be displayed, a ring of half fortified barricades now stood where they had been, arranged in a shattered semicircle and marred by the scars of battle. Even the boxes that supplies came in did not get spared. The remnants of one still protruding out from a barricade, torn to pieces and likely hastily sharpened into a defensive spike. Normalcy was no where to be found. Only the last remains of a city that fought until its final hour.

  Amidst the ruin on the way to the Adventurers Guild, there were also signs of the invaders. Heavy thickset boulders have torn out a gash in the cobble streets, embedding themselves into the very city itself. Between them, hewn rock and stone from earlier projectiles still lay scattered amongst the moss that now seemed to be eating up the city itself. A silent, but poignant reminder that in the face of the Mistveil, even mankind’s sturdiest creations could be stolen away with the passing of time.

  Scattered remained of clothing and armor still littered the ground. Enough that if they simply gathered what they could they would likely fetch more than a pouch full of gold artes. Given their dilapidated and ruined nature and the amount of them, Sophie could only close her eyes as she tried to picture the titanic struggle that took place here. At least a hundred defenders, citizenry or guards alike, their final stand at the now half collapsed statue of Saint Rosendorf. The once gleaming white marble now cracked and shattered, the base covered with a thick layer of brownstains. This was a massacre, they got butchered here.

  Trying her best to keep herself from getting distracted, she turned her attention back to their immediate goal, the guildhall. The once imposing building now invoked a sense of dread rather than the stern arm of the guild in the Mistevil that she had first experienced. It’s crumbling and cracked facade now a mirror of the decayed city around it. Windows shattered and entire sections of the roof caved in. A far cry from when she had spent a brief, but memorable time here with Annalise and the others.

  She led the party closer, each of them keeping their weapons at the ready.

  A loud crash startled them all, sending them spinning to face the threat. To their relief, they only found Eva’s group cutting into the square on the southern side. Upon sighting each other, the two sides waved a tense but thankful greeting.

  Sophie quickly gestured towards where the church was. Eva replying with what Sophie could only assume was a small thumbs up before motioning for the saints and templars to keep moving.

  Contact established, the party could at least be reassured that the southern approach should be relatively clear of hostiles or undead. A small relief, but a welcome one given the state of the city.

  Still, there was a lingering sense of darkness that Sophie still couldn’t quite shake. But with morale slightly buoyed by the friendly encounter, there was no longer a reason to delay their approach. With a subdued sigh and a grunt, she motioned for the others to follow as they crept into the shadow of the guildhall.

  Moving into its courtyard, they found more signs of a struggle as last ditch defenses were erected here. Tables, chairs, whatever was on the guild room floor dragged out to barricade windows and entrances. Based on the splinters and broken glass, it left little to the imagination for the end result of their efforts.

  Sophie quietly signalled a countdown, the others moving into position around her. When her finger dropped and her hand carefully reached down to the half broken door and tried to quietly push it open.

  She yelped out loud as it creaked and then crashed to the ground as the mid section practically crumbled under pressure. The others immediately pummeled through, shields and blades at the ready as they surged into the room to form a cordon.

  Only when the creaking of wooden floorboards and the door cracking some more under Sophie’s weight stopped to give way to silence, did they pause. Their uneven breathing and Sophie’s now flustered attempt to stand back up were the only other sounds they could hear. Sensing no ill natured foes behind the haunting silence, Elaria spared a moment to help Sophie back to her feet.

  Sophia gave the briefest shake of her head, one confirmed by Raylani’s own. The two of them could not locate any other sources of sound. Either they had no yet alerted their foe, or there was simply nothing here.

  Outside, the knights of the Red Hawk formed a semi circle around the doorway. Their armored forms casting hazy shadows that started to stretch long into the doorway. It meant the sun was slowly taking its rightful place, though like always, here, only the mist would rule. The light would have to share.

  Relieved that she hadn’t brought attention, she gave Elaria a muted nod of thanks before resuming her position at the head of the party. For a moment, she still remained a little dazed by her sudden fall. But soon enough, she found her eyes settling down to bear witness to a horrifying new reality.

  Where only the aftermath of battle were seen outside. Marred walls, broken barricades, and a plentiful scattering of bloodstains and weapons all littering the streets. Here, the vicious fighting left a poignant remnant behind.

  Violence had torn through the guildhall like a raging typhoon. The receptionist counter was fractured in half and the edges of which looked like that had been smashed in. The side room where a small cantina or bar had been was similarly in disrepair, rotted axes still embedded into the wooden countertop where the living had hid behind. Barstools, tables, and even what looked like a weapon rack had been hastily thrown together to barricade the stairway upwards. Though most it had been simply thrown aside by the unrelenting dead.

  Sophie quickly motioned for Mila. The inquisitor letting out a disgruntled huff before taking up position alongside her. Together, the two slowly started making their way upwards. Both wincing at the worn boards creaking and groaning from mere steps. Painfully aware of how much noise they were now making, the two picked up their pace to hurry to the second floor. They silently reached the same conclusion that it was better to be over the stairs than to try and climb up agonizingly slowly to try to avoid making noise.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  They reached the second to find the dormitory level an unsettling mess of open and smashed doorways. It spoke of a last ditch attempt to hide or make a last stand here. One that could’ve only ended in tragedy judging by the silence.

  The two waited until the other three joined them. Sophie quietly motioned for Elaria and Raylani to watch their rear while they investigated the rooms. Elaria jovially shrugged her assent, taking things in stride. But for the first time, Sophie glared at her and her sister almost immediately stiffened up. She had no patience for theatrics right now. Turning back, she, alongside Mila and Sophia quickly pushed forwards to check the rooms. She didn’t expect to find much, but if there were any places that stray undead could be, it was in small rooms away from the main thoroughfares which also added extra danger for any church extermination teams.

  For the first time since they entered this accursed city, they finally saw traces of the people that had been here. Clothes, supplies, and assorted personal effects. Nothing that would suggest anything particularly useful.

  “Brief check on the rooms. Then we keep going up.” Sophie whispered.

  The other two grunted, diving the dormitory into thirds as they each began cursory glances into the rooms. Sophie herself moved to the far end of the dorms and started her search. The varying states of disrepair from last ditch holdouts and those who had given up telling the story of the desperation and resignation the people must’ve felt. A few of the rooms even looked downright tidy. The only sign of anything having breached their sanctuaries being the broken doors and the moisture eating away at anything wooden within it. In one of the rooms, she even found a yet unsheathed sword in its scabbard, simply resting peacefully by a desk, almost like one that was oblivious to all the violence that had happened around it. Maybe it’s wielder just gave up, Sophie let a grim thought creep up.

  “Saint damned hells!” Mila hissed out loud.

  The words and the subsequent thud on the floorboards as the inquisitor jumped out into the hallway startling Sophie from her thoughts.

  Both she and Sophia hurried to the inquisitor’s side. Mila quickly shaking her head to indicate that she was fine before gesturing towards the room she had jumped away from.

  Sophie also yelped a little, but managed to keep it contained. Sophia on the other hand, showed no change of expression at all beyond a thoughtful pursing of her lips.

  Within the room was the first sign of ‘life’ in the loosest sense of the word. A skeleton lay crumpled on the floor, the method of death likely the rope around their skull. Whatever they had been, their body had been picked clean, likely by some carrion feeding or variant undead. Still, it was a sign that mayhap there was still a chance that there might still be things hidden away that had not yet succumbed to the rigors of the Mistveil or the chaos that had swept the city.

  The trio cautiously moved closer to the room, examining if there was anything noteworthy to help identify the potential adventurers. Within the dormitory room, there was a rudimentary desk, some cabinets and draws, a now empty equipment rack, a bunk bed, and some torn open travel bags reminiscent of Sophie’s own adventuring packs.

  Ignoring the skeleton, the rummaged through a few drawers and the table to see what they could discover. To her disappointment however, they found no signs of adventurer tags or identification.

  “Stars above, well… it’s something.” Mila mumbled.

  The inquisitor gingerly reached past a gap between the desk and the wall and reluctantly fished out what seemed to be a faded patch of sorts. She presented it to the other two with a mild sense of disgust, the inquisitor clearly disliking the mildew and moss that had begun taking over the fabric.

  “Recognize any of it?” Mila asked.

  Sophie furrowed her brow and tried to make out any details. But most were too faded or destroyed to be of any use. Only the faintest trace of a wing could be seen, though she wondered if it was only shaped that way because it was a shield, like some kind of heraldry.

  When both she and Sophia shook their heads, Mila almost looked relieved and quickly discarded the small patch. The trio then glanced amongst themselves, silently debating their next course of action when Sophie gently tilted her head.

  It was pointless to remain here. They had more they needed to find beyond the skeletal remains of an adventurer. Mila almost seemed like she wanted to disagree but then grunt her approval. The skeleton would have to simply remain a mystery for now. They had a job to do.

  Heading back out into the hallway, they went back to inform Elaria and Raylani of the lack of danger before setting their sights on the third floor. It was the administrative level and where Sophie remembered some of the offices being. Though they would have to tread even more carefully here, for if the outer facade was any indication, then the third floor had suffered the brunt of the stray hits during the siege of the city. Given the pervasive rot and moisture, the possiblity of simply falling through faulty floorboards was not lost on her. And she did not like the idea falling.

  Going up, Sophie felt a sense of unease, as if she were trespassing somewhere, intruding upon something that wasn’t hers. The conclusion of how the guild fell and its last moments in Eichafen. A fate she had unintentionally fled by joining Annalise’s expedition to the Myndir ruins. Riza and I had left late that day too, she mused, could we have been the last ones out of that city?

  Here was were the scars of the battle were the most prominent. Already, she could feel the dampness of the Mistveil seeping into the building far more prominently than shattered windows or battered doorways could ever allow. A gentle hissing of wind suggested a breach was close by, though she still could not make out where given the drab grayness that the outside world held changed little about the equally drab interiors.

  Being the top floor, it was almost reasonable that everything that could have been used was subsequently turned into a barricade. Office desks, chairs, cabinets, wardrobes, even a door popped off its hinges formed a makeshift wall. Unfortunately for those behind it, the trampled gap was more than easy for the party to fit through two abreast. The final holdout of the guild. There was no where else they could run and hide.

  Perhaps the only thing that rattled her slightly were the amount of bones all over the place. It would seem the undead, those that could be leashed, had been recalled for a different purpose the moment the massacre ended. They didn’t even bother putting the corpses to use, leaving them for whatever feral beast or carrion eater stumbled through the dead city. Though given everything that happened, she couldn’t be too surprised if the fog itself was alive and carnivorous.

  Most had been dragged into little bone piles. Likely wherever ghastly beast had seen fit to call home for a while until the meals ran dry. She only hoped that the people who held the line here died quickly.

  It possibly also spoke more to the horrors that they themselves had to bear witness to that the bone didn’t prompt much disgust or shock. Only a muted acknowledgement of the grim reminder why Eichafen continued to remain abandoned. Though one could argue that the small boulder sized holes in the walls all around them was also more than enough proof.

  “That way, guildmaster’s office.” Sophie gestured towards a door.

  The team stacked up on the outside of the doorway as Sophie quickly threw it open.

  Within, the last moment of Eichafen’s guildmaster spoke of a last-ditch struggle to try and erase anything that could fall into enemy hands. Charred books, half burned documents, and desperation filled shredded bits of moldy paper lay scattered all across the room. The walls were now bare, the furniture likely contributed to the failed barricade outside. Only a single desk, an empty armor display rack, and an empty wall mount for a shield remained to stand silent vigil over the room. His body was nowhere to be found, though it was safe enough to assume his bones would be one of those amongst the piles outside. Not the most pleasant of thoughts.

  “Raylani, keep an eye outside. Everyone else, let’s try to see if we find anything useful.” Sophie instructed.

  “If any of that wasn’t burned first.” Sophia grumbled.

  “Understood. But damned if this isn’t inconvenient.” Sophie hissed.

  “Oh?” Elaria queried, the faintest hint of an amused smile in her voice.

  “I was hoping there’d be more papers and notes here. So that maybe we could just call it a day after getting it and leave. I’ve no desire to stay here one second longer than necessary.” Sophia complained.

  “You and the rest of us.” Mila sighed.

  With a grunt, Sophie and Mila returned to the task at hand while Sophia and Elaria tried to examine the charred documents. Together, the group managed to rifle through most of the room within minutes. Though they found scant scraps of worth. Only the occasional legible piece of paper that hadn’t been completely taken by the mist remained. One even had a note for ‘Guild Alert Order: Suspects”. A promising lead if not for the fact that the bottom half had decayed beyond recognition.

  “Damned hells.” Mila cursed.

  The inquisitor’s frustration seemed to pull everyone back as they each surrendered to the hopeless cause.

  “Guess we’ll have to push deeper in the city.” Elaria chirped, a little too eagerly in Sophie’s eyes.

  “Just be prepared. I don’t like how quiet everything has been.” Sophie hissed.

  “Me neither.” Mila agreed.

  Letting out a collective sigh at the disappointing findings, they gathered a few usable scraps before turning to leave. The city, it would seem, would not give up its secrets so easily.

  Also below's a shout out to an old story that I've read before that recently got revamped! It's definitely a much more action and cheery (though still serious) read compared to our current arc here, but a good respite for those who like isekai, magical girls, and a number of other tropes that the author is more than happy to play around with.

  Anyhow, thanks for reading! See you next chapter!

  ? Overpowers: Magical Girl Crossover ?

  by Moawar

  He, Life, had a simple job.

  His responsibility as an Overpower was to make sure that fiction stories and the characters in them follow their dictated path. He always did his job well enough, not more or less than was needed.

  His latest assignment, however, would, in retrospect, prove to be his most challenging one of all.

  He would find himself in a unfamiliar world. There he'll have to quickly adapt to guide Nozomi.

  The strongest magical girl with the potential to accidentally destroy those she seeks to protect in her fight against evil.

  What to Expect: A love letter to fiction, where each relevant character represents a different genre in fiction with a few twists to make them fresh. Ex: Isekai, Shonen, Magical Girl, Tragedy, Cultivation, Regression, Tokusatsu, Horror, and many others. All are united under one theme: life and how each character will choose to live theirs.

  If you like the psychological aspects of Madoka Magica and the mixing of different genres a crossover story brings then this story is for you