Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme

If a person from Earth was told about some "special pigs," they would likely be extremely confused.

They’d imagine something akin to a special variant of livestock bred to produce higher quality meat. Something like premium pork sold at expensive restaurants, maybe. Or perhaps pigs raised in specific conditions that commanded a premium price at market.

They’d never imagine a fancy, physically attractive pig.

Lumi made his way through the air, steering the airship to the southeast. The dense forest of Elenora gradually gave way to open plains as he approached the border region where the forest met Macres territory.

Soon enough, the pigs began to appear below.

Masteria had many, many pig variants scattered across the world. It was a staple species of monster, alongside slimes. Every region had pigs of some kind adapted to the local environment and magical conditions.

The strongest pig variants were all the way up north in Cerleon. That land had flaming boars, literally set aflame at all times, and iron armored boars whose hides were the basis to shields and armor.

Down here in the border between Elenora and Macres, the pigs were nowhere near as strong.

But they were much stranger.

Lumi descended to a lower altitude, scanning the plains below. Soon enough, he began to see them.

Fancy Pigs.

That was what they were actually called in the system. "Fancy Pig." Their levels ranged from the low twenties to high thirties. In general, this was considered a low-medium threat monster. Most adults could handle themselves in front of one, but they could still kill the young or unprepared.

These pigs had a suspiciously sleek, feminine figure that a human observer could recognize.

Their bodies weren’t shaped like normal boars. Instead of the bulky, muscular build you’d expect from wild pigs, these creatures had curves. Around the thighs, hip, but... their proportions followed patterns that seemed designed to be aesthetically pleasing rather than functionally optimal for a quadruped animal.

It was deeply weird if you thought about it too hard.

They were characterized by their innate instinct to collect items to beautify themselves. Most commonly, ribbons.

Lumi could see several Fancy Pigs below, each adorned with colorful ribbons tied around their bodies. Some had ribbons around their necks like collars. Others had ribbons woven through the fur on their backs or tied around their legs.

One particularly decorated pig had at least a dozen ribbons of various colors creating an elaborate pattern across its body.

This sounded extremely random at first glance, but it really wasn’t random at all.

See, the Fancy Pigs all had innate magic tied directly to their appearance. The "better" they looked, in accordance with some sort of underlying magical principles that governed beauty in Masteria, the stronger they became.

A Fancy Pig with no decorations might be level twenty two with mediocre stats. The same pig, after collecting ribbons and arranging them in aesthetically pleasing patterns, could jump to level twenty eight with significantly improved magical power.

So, of course they were constantly fighting each other for anything that would make them more beautiful. Of course they performed targeted exercises to develop more feminine features, even though they were just boars.

The whole species was locked in an endless arms race of aesthetic improvement, each pig trying to out-beautify the others to gain more power.

It was absurd. But it worked.

Now, he didn’t come here to debate how magic manifested in different creatures. As Lumi flew overhead, he kept a careful eye on the Fancy Pigs below. He noted their levels, their decoration patterns, their general distribution across the plains.

But though he observed them, these common variants were unlikely to have what he actually wanted.

He needed something specific. Something rare. Too rare to find on a normal pig, yet not considered valuable enough to be sold in stores.

Soon enough, his true destination revealed itself in the distance.

A small farm in rural Macres.

He gave it a quick look over to make sure it was where he wanted to go. Sure enough, there was a red bar, some cows, chickens, and domesticated fancy pigs. He even saw a young boy collecting milk. Lumi landed the airship in an empty field nearby and approached on foot.

...

"Ahhh!" Lena had just entered the pixie vault and immediately found herself completely disoriented.

The transition through the portal hit her hard. One moment she was flying through normal space, the next she was tumbling through some kind of dimensional passage that twisted her sense of direction into knots.

Thump!

When she emerged on the other side, she was super dizzy and immediately smashed into the ceiling.

"Damn, I’ve got this!"

The world spun around her. Up and down reversed themselves multiple times. Her fairy wings fluttered uselessly as she tried to stabilize.

She immediately crash landed into a steel wall and fell to the floor with a heavy thud.

"Owww." Lena groaned, lying flat on the ground. Her head was spinning. She felt like she’d just been thrown in a washing machine and spun at maximum speed.

"What are we doing chat...?" She held her head. It didn’t really hurt, actually. Yet, instinct told her to clutch her head after an impact. "Fox... fluffy fox... hot fox..."

She interrupted her own rambling with a question. "What are we talking about?"

"About foxes!" She cheerfully replied to herself.

"Why?"

"Um." Lena sat there thinking. "I dunno?" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"What are you doing!?" Her conversation was interrupted by an aged, yet still high-pitched voice that radiated throughout the chamber.

The voice came from everywhere and nowhere simultaneously. It echoed off the walls, filled the air, pressed against her from all directions.

Lena looked around, blinking rapidly to clear her vision.

It was a large steel room, about twenty meters across. The walls were solid metal, inscribed with countless runes that glowed faintly with magical energy. A couple of macabre decorations hung on the walls. There were several skulls mounted like trophies, weapons with dried blood on them, and banners depicting violent scenes.

The room was empty of physical occupants.

Yet she felt a presence. Multiple presences, actually. They surrounded her, invisible but undeniably there.

Oh.

Were these the pixie ancestors the vault was supposed to be guarded by?

"Ahahaha..." Lena began laughing.

"Ehe~"

"Ehehehehehehehehehe!" It started slowly, just a small chuckle. Then it grew louder, more manic, building into full cackles that echoed through the steel chamber.

"AHAHAHAHA!"

She pushed herself up off the floor and tried to fly again. Her fairy wings activated and she rose into the air, wobbling unsteadily.

Then she crashed directly into the massive vault door on the far side of the room.

CLANG!

She bounced off the metal and tumbled back toward the floor before catching herself mid-fall.

The ancestral voices spoke again, harsher this time. "Who are you? What do you think you’re doing, barging into our sacred vault?"

Lena stabilized her flight and spread her arms out wide with a massive grin on her face. "Look at me!" she declared loudly.

The ancestral spirits went silent for a moment, baffled by the demand. Was this one suicidal? How dare she speak and act like that?

See, Lena had been thinking about what pixies actually were during the flight to find the vault.

Insane? No, that was judging them by human standards. Pixies made perfect sense once you understood their values and priorities.

They did whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, with minimal regard for consequences. Now, what would a pixie that left behind a legacy want? Obviously, they wanted someone to continue it. Someone worthy of inheriting their power and knowledge.

What made a pixie "good" in the eyes of ancestral spirits?

A good pixie was strong. A good pixie was intelligent. A good pixie had self-restraint, but not the slow, methodical, overly cautious kind. Just enough restraint to not immediately get themselves killed through sheer stupidity.

And the best pixie was one who would leave behind a strong legacy of their own.

So Lena confidently declared her credentials.

"I killed the queen!"

The room went silent. It was a statement so bold that it left the pixie ancestors utterly speechless.

Her body was suddenly held in place by an invisible magical force. She couldn’t move, couldn’t fly, couldn’t even twitch her fingers. The ancestral spirits’ power locked her completely.

The presences approached. They were entirely invisible, yet they could be felt. She felt them circling around her, inspecting her from every angle.

Their voices muttered among themselves.

"Well, there is some blood."

"From a pixie."

"That’s not royal blood."

"Fool, would the old royal line really be around today?"

"There was a royal line?"

"Not. Really."

"About the peak of second job?"

"Something like that."

"I suppose she wasn’t lying."

Though the several voices argued and discussed, the idea was clear. The bloody stench of a decently strong pixie clung to her. They supposed she really had killed someone. Maybe even the queen, as she claimed. Probably.

But who cared?

Just because she was decently strong didn’t mean she was worthy of entering their vault. Strength alone wasn’t sufficient. They’d rejected far stronger pixies who lacked the proper qualities.