Part 33: The Miner Shovel Cultivates an Angel

Part 33:
The Miner Shovel Cultivates an Angel

According to the angel Lucy, in order to reach the center of Rahzelfo, they would first have to acquire the Elemental Keys. These were kept within the Towers of the Four Elements located at the far corners of the city. Although Lucy was an angel, like the rest of her kind, descending to the physical plane bound her to the laws of physics. The challenges contained within the Towers would be as daunting for her as for any fleshly being.

As for Catria, when she heard of these Towers she thought, Ah, this is the part where Alan just destroys all common sense and physics.

“H-hmph! As if a lying shovel human like you could ever collect all the Elemental Keys!” Lucy’s eyes were filled with tears as she stared defiantly at Alan. Since witnessing her sister’s descent into shovelhood, her level of trust in this man had likewise plummeted far past zero. “I’ll never forgive you for what you’ve done!”

“You mean your sister? You know, if I’d left her as she was, she would’ve fallen into darkness.”

“Argh!” Lucy swallowed her words.

Alan was right. An angel whose wings darkened could never return to the heavenly host. That was supposed to be a fact. But presently, reality defied facts. Gabriella’s wings had been restored to their old pure white and had even emanated the same transcendental aura they once had. If Gabriella had fallen, the change in her manner of speech and aura would’ve been readily apparent. So in that sense, Alan really was Lucy’s sister’s savior… He was, but…!

“Even so! I…I…I will never forgive you!”

Lucy would never forgive Alan for dragging her sister, an archangel, into the unholy depths of shovelhood.

“Sir Miner, shall we shovel up this bratty little angel? We have complete control over her mind and body, after all.”

“Ngh?!” Lucy immediately covered her breasts and exposed thighs, shaken by the princess’s words. However, she soon forced out a smile and chuckled. “Aha! But if you were to issue an evil command, the ring would explode!”

“Hrm, really?”

“Yes, really. That ring is designed to assist an archangel in all of their duties. If it senses any manner of misuse, it immediately detonates.”

Alan examined the Holy Shovel Ring, which now sat on his middle finger. It was an exquisite thing, inscribed with feathers and a shining diamond.

SHING! A vertical transparent window displaying numbers and text suddenly appeared next to Lucy.

Alan frowned. “What the heck is that?”

For some reason, Lucy curled up on herself a bit, flustered. “Urgh, p-probably my status window.”

“Status?”

“It is part of an archangel’s duty to raise and cultivate the angels working below them. The ring allows them to assess the status of said angels.”

Perhaps due to the effects of the ring, Lucy truthfully explained how everything worked.

“And that’s all converted into numeric values, eh? This’d be useful for cultivating my successor.” Alan inspected the window more closely.

Angel Lucy (Pantheon of the Sun)

Class: Rank 8, Lesser Angel

Three Sizes: 35, 21, 32

Corruption: No Experience

Skill (Max 10): Heavenly Swordsmanship (Lv 2) Divine Magic (Lv 1) Madness Resistance (Lv 1)

Title: Angel Cub

Cultivation Notes: Average potential, fairly impulsive, overly confident. Training will be a struggle. Gabriella’s little sister. As such, we expect (and pray) her abilities will increase in the future.

“…”

Who wrote her title? And those notes? They didn’t seem like the kind of things Gabriella would say. Angels could be rather tough on each other…

“Well? Impressed by our heavenly technology?” asked Lucy.

“If anything, I’m a little perplexed by the details,” said Alan.

What was the point of the “three sizes” business? Also, what the hell did “corruption” mean?

The god who made this system was kind of a (shovel censored), thought Alan. “I guess the data appears to be…accurate.”

Lucy’s face was girlish, but her diaphanous robes barely contained her sizable chest. She wasn’t as busty as Fio, but she was a close competitor. Her short skirt flapped in the least breeze, and frankly was wildly inappropriate, considering how often she flew through the air. This rendered her thighs unfortunately distracting.

Under the glare of inspection, Lucy couldn’t help but hide her chest with her arms. “Wh-what are you staring at?! You filthy man!”

“I was just confirming the accuracy of the data. Don’t you know what your profile says?”

“So what if I don’t? Did…something surprise you?”

Gabriella apparently hadn’t explained what came up in that window. Was it really okay for Alan to spill the beans? …No, probably not. For the time being, he would close the window. He brought his hand over the “X” button in the upper right-hand corner.

As he did, the window moved. It seemed the window shifted in relation to the position of the ring. As such, Alan accidentally pressed the “transmit to person in question” button next to the “X.”

Who the heck designed this interface? It’s so unsafe!

“Ah, this is my status…” Lucy was stock-still as she stared at the window floating in front of her. She blinked multiple times, her mouth opened and closed, and her eyes darted about.

Huh? What is this? Am I dreaming? Is this a shovel? Why are my three sizes…and this evaluation… This has to be wrong! Right, Catria?

Lucy looked to the female knight like an abandoned kitten.

After mulling for a moment, Catria patted her shoulder. “Well, you know… Let’s both do our best, Lucy.”

“GREAT HERO CATRIA?!”

At this outburst, Catria felt an intense camaraderie with the angel.

She gets it. Huh, I guess there are all kinds of angels out there.

Just as a wave of relief washed over Catria, Alan pumped himself up.

“Angel cultivating, eh? Since Gabriella left me in charge, I’ve gotta do my best.”

A chill ran down Catria’s spine. She already knew how this was going to end. Probably the same thing that happened to me…

***

On the eastern side of the city was one of the Four Elemental Towers, the Flame Tower. It was twenty stories tall with deep scarlet walls, and it spat blistering flame and sweltering heat from various points along them. It would be a trial just getting to the entrance.

Lucy coughed repeatedly. “Ugh, it’s scorching!”

“Hrm, so even angels are weak against fire?”

“Greater Angels have flame resistance, but…urgh.”

While Lucy spoke, she realized Alan, Lithisia, and Catria all appeared perfectly fine as they approached the Tower.

“W-wait just a second! Why are you humans all right?!”

“By digging up space with a shovel, I can cut off the heat.”

“I’ll follow you to the ends of the shovel, Sir Miner!”

Crap, I unconsciously followed along with the same logic as the princess! Catria faked heavy breathing. “I’m hot too, Lucy! We’re the same!”

“Oh my, so we are, Great Hero Catria…” Lucy’s peace was short-lived. “Wait…when did you start calling me by my name?!”

“You’re imagining things. I’ve been calling you Lucy since the very beginning.”

“Oh, I guess I must be mistaken. My apologies…”

This angel was tragically easy to manipulate.

“How about I teach you flame resistance, Lucy?” asked Alan.

“Pardon?”

Alan brought his shovel down in front of Lucy and wiggled it to and fro. Lucy followed it with her eyes, which went glassy. Her breathing steadied. Proper breathing calms the heart, you see. What’s more, Lucy was Gabriella’s little sister; she learned fast.

Soon, Alan smacked his shovel against the ground. With the sound, life returned to Lucy’s eyes.

“Okay, Lucy. Come here, but keep your breathing steady.”

“Huh? N-no, I’m going to get burned…!”

But due to the complete control the ring gave Alan, Lucy could do naught but obey as her body moved toward the flames. To her surprise, even once she stood beside the searing fire, she still felt totally cool.

“Whaaaa?!”

Just then, a strange ding echoed. Lucy’s window automatically appeared and in the Skill column, “Calm the Heart, Calm the Flames Shovelly (SHV Lv3),” appeared.

Lithisia was newly impressed by the use-value of that window, but Lucy cried out.

“What the heck is this skill?!” she wailed. “And what does ‘SHV Lv 3’ mean?!”

“Resistance against flames via sturdy breathing. SHV Lv stands for Shovel Level, I imagine.”

“Noooooooooo!” Lucy cried. She’d been corrupted. Despite being an angel, she had been tainted. My Skill column’s been defiled…!

Lucy moaned in despair and Catria supported her by the shoulders.

“Lucy, you have to get a grip.”

“Ah, Great Hero Catria…will you save me from this horror?!”

“Of course. I’ll do anything within my power (because it’d be a huge problem for me if I lost one of the few people with a grasp on basic logic).”

“Catria…!”

Catria would do what she could, but in reality, that probably wasn’t much. She could only hope the angel’s Madness Resistance held out.

Ten seconds later, Alan had entered the Flame Tower and used his shovel to remodel the interior until it was completely safe. He then ordered Lucy to head to the top of the Tower and retrieve the Flame Key. Once Lucy had cut through the sea of magma blocking the path and returned to the party, her Shovel Level had risen from three to five.

Lucy collapsed on the floor with her legs splayed. “It should be hot, but it’s not… But my tears, they’re scalding…Catria!”

Lucy brought her thighs together tightly and sobbed, her wings drooping.

“Hang in there, Lucy. I’m with you!”

“Ah, Great Hero Catria…!”

Ring a ding ding!

Just like that, Lucy’s Madness Resistance rose to Level 2. In some ways, she might’ve been happier without this resistance. Or so Catria thought. She sympathized, but in the end, sympathy didn’t amount to much.

“Next up is the Wind Tower to the west.”

“Tally shovel!”

“That one was really forced, Lithisia.”

“Shorry…”

“No, it’s… Well, whatever. Do what you want.”

“Will, Shovel.”

Next, the party made their way to the Wind Tower. As per its name, the building itself was surrounded by violent gusts of wind. The storm enveloping it was so fierce, in fact, they couldn’t get anywhere near. As such, Alan held up his shovel, howled “FILL!” and raised a wall from the ground that totally blocked the screaming winds. Instant physical wall protection.

“This is shovelpossible!”

“Be strong, Lucy. Your words are falling apart! That’s the first dark sign of shovelfication!”

“What?!” Lucy’s glossy pink hair shook back and forth as life returned to her eyes. “Ah, Catria. Please, please stay by my side and protect me from the evil shovel!”

“I don’t know if I can do that, but I can at least be with you through it all.”

Once the team entered the Wind Tower, they were met with another fierce storm. Like usual, Alan used his Wave Motion Shovel Blast to power his way through. At the very top of the Tower was the Wind Key, and just like before, he shovel hypnotized Lucy into retrieving it.

“Scoop up the wind…scoop up the wind…scoop up the Wind!”

Lucy flapped her wings at cosmic speeds.

“Whaaaaa?!”

Ring a ding ding!

On her return from fetching the Wind Key, Lucy acquired the “Shovel Flight (SHV Lv3)” skill in her Skill column. Being an angel and all, it did make sense she’d be good at flying.

At this, Lucy hugged Catria tightly, pressing her breasts up against the lady knight as she sobbed. Yet in spite of her tears, her wings remained a luminous pure white.

“Catria… My wings have been defiled by the shovel…completely and utterly defiled, but they’re still white!”

“Ah, don’t worry, Lucy! They still look like ordinary wings! They’re not shaped like shovels or anything!”

“What do you mean by ‘still’?! Are they going to turn into shovels?!”

A moment of silence.

“Alan, let’s make way for the Earth Tower.”

“Right.”

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

And thus the party arrived at the Earth Tower, a building near entirely encased within a mountain. As usual, Alan diligently cultivated Lucy’s talents, enabling her to acquire “Earth Blade Skill (SHV Lv 3).” This was a sword skill that allowed her to use an earth-shoveling motion paired with Heavenly Blade Skills.

“L-Look, Lucy! The name’s cool and everything! Check out the skill name!” cried Catria.

“But it still has a SHV Lv! Angelic skills are supposed to be holy!” cried Lucy.

“The shovel is holy!” cried Lithisia.

“Eeek! Humans are terrifying! I’m scared, Catria…”

“Hang in there, Lucy! That thing isn’t a human!”

“How disreshovelful! (How disrespectful. I am in fact a human. Don’t make me shovel you.)”

“And I’m trying to tell you no human talks or acts like that, Your Highness!”

Following this, Lucy had no trouble obtaining the Earth Key, though after she was on all fours, staring blankly at the ground with no tears left to shed.

I’m so sorry, Gabriella. I can’t save you… I’ve been corrupted. My skills, my wings, my blade…I’m a failure of an angel. I deserve to be exiled from the heavens!

Just then, a valiant fanfare played from high above.

“Huh?” Lucy stared.

There was a change to her status window. Her class had gone up to “Rank 7: Intermediate Angel.” Also, her title was now “Fair Angel.”

“Wait, but, what?”

“Huh, so an angel’s class changes based on what sort of skills they acquire and how they level.” Alan nodded thoughtfully.

But Lucy didn’t quite follow. This couldn’t be true. Classes didn’t rank up so simply. Gabriella had risen in the ranks of the host far more swiftly than any angel in history, but even she took five years to reach Rank 3, that of “archangel.” More often angels took fifteen or twenty years to do the same, and many took even longer.

Heck, Lucy had spent ten years as a Rank 8 angel. And yet in just a few minutes, she had already gone up a rank? That was impossible!

“GRAAAAAH! Eliminate, angels…!” snarled a beastly voice.

It came from a mountainous golem who grew from the ruins of the Tower. This was likely the guardian of the Earth Tower. Alan hefted his shovel but didn’t otherwise move, instead looking to Catria and Lucy. He intended to leave this task to them.

“Whoa, wait just a second! You want the two of us to take on that thing?!” said Catria.

Catria might have defeated a few of the Hydra’s tentacles, but this golem was a hundred times crazier. And judging by what she’d seen of Lucy’s strength, the angel was likely on par with Catria and her fledgling beam weapon.

“Don’t worry. As far as I can tell, you and Lucy together should be able to handle the golem.”

“What?!”

As they argued, the golem lumbered closer. One way or another, they would have to fight. Catria grit her teeth and turned to face the hulking guardian. She unleashed her most powerful attack: Justice Stream.

A wave beam of light erupted from the tip of her blade and struck the golem’s head, but the monstrous guardian didn’t stop. Its Stopping Power (not Shoveling Power) was too high.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!” Catria shouted in an attempt to focus her beam.

Lucy watched this from the side, dithering. This isn’t right. I should help. Catria has stuck by me through thick and thin.

Actually, now that she thought about it, “sticking around” was all Catria had ever done. Nonetheless, her “savior” was in danger. As a guardian angel, she had to save her hero. But how?

That’s when Alan cried out, “Now, Lucy! FIRE!”

“Huh?!”

Fire what?! I don’t have any projectile weapons!

Even so, Lucy was compelled to obey Alan’s orders, so her body moved on its own. She flapped her wings until she hovered in the air and raised both hands toward the heavens. Suddenly, a sparkling spear appeared just over her head. It shimmered as if it were harmonizing with Catria’s holy waves.

“What’s happening?!” Lucy stared at the spear in disbelief. This was her big sister’s…Gabriella’s special move… And then the words left Lucy’s mouth. “HOLY LANCE!”

KA-CHOOOOOOOOM!

The beam of light flew through the air. It was at least equal to Catria’s Justice Stream, if not more brilliant in terms of light. The heavenly projectile pierced the golem, which proceeded to crumble into pieces.

There was no doubt Lucy had just used the Holy Lance, a move only Greater Angels could hope to pull off.

“Haaah, haaah. You did it, Lucy!”

As soon as the angel returned to the ground, she was welcomed by Catria. Lucy stared at her own hands in shock.

Alan nodded. “Perfect. Looks like this whole angel cultivation thing has been successful.”

“Amazing sheavenly taming! (I knew Sir Miner could train even an angel!)”

“It wasn’t taming, it was raising. Cultivating her talents.”

Lucy’s heart raced within her chest. Her heart only existed in an astral sense, and yet it was beating a mile a minute. She was certain she would be exiled from the heavens. She feared she would be corrupted by the shovel. Yet despite all that had been done to her, all she had been forced to do, her angelic rank had increased. Now, she could use the same expert move as her beloved older sister. And above all else, in her status window under “corruption” it still read “no experience.”

Lucy shot Alan a fierce look brimming with passion. She was still full of questions and doubt, but within her an even more powerful sense of trust had been born.

Could it be that this man…that Gabriella was right about him? That he truly is a great…

Ring a ding ding!

That was the sound of Lucy acquiring yet another skill. Lucy immediately checked her window.

“Holy Lanshovel (SHV Lv 3).”

“…”

Thunk, thunk, thunk.

This was the sound of Lucy’s reason crumbling to pieces.

“Perfect, you’ve acquired a new skill… What’s wrong, Lucy?”

Sploosh!

This was the sound of Lucy’s tears as they came flooding from her eyes like a waterfall.

“You…you shovel demon! Give me back my honor and respect!”

“Whoa!”

“I’ll never forgive you! Never, ever, ever!” Lucy’s breasts bounced as she jabbed at Alan. She’d hit her breaking point.

Simultaneously, Lithisia’s veins throbbed with rage.

Catria panicked and cut in before things could go completely off the rails. “No, Lucy! I understand how you feel, but you have to keep yourself together. You’re gonna get yourself shoveled!”

“I hate this! Great Hero Catria, help me… Please, I beg of you! I can’t take this anymore!”

“Grrr…”

“Catria, it’s all going to be okay. I have an idea!” Lithisia whispered in Catria’s ear.

“Oh, right!” Catria turned her hand toward the status window. A holy aura pulsed from her Holy Knight Blade as she pointed it at the Skill column. With burning white light, Catria buried part of the text.

“Holy Lans e ( Lv3).”

Sure, the spelling was off, and there were some unnatural spaces here and there, but other than that, it was perfect!

“Look, Lucy! You really did wield the ‘Holy Lanse’!” said Catria.

“You must’ve been seeing things as a side effect of the shovel shock,” said Lithisia.

“Really?! Ah, th-thank goodness…” said Lucy as she trembled with emotion.

Catria sheathed her sword and sighed. If I lose any more decent-minded companions, I’m going to be the next one to lose my mind. Thank goodness I buried those characters in white… Wait. Isn’t that strange?

Catria thought for a moment, then shook her head.

No, it’s fine. Nothing I did was remotely shovel. I just “buried” some characters with my shovel. That’s all. That’s…

“What the hell do I mean, ‘that’s all’?!” exclaimed Catria.

“Ah, she noticed, shovel!” giggled Lithisia.

Unbeknownst to her, Catria’s built-up Madness Resistance had already burst past Shovel Level 10. She shook off the burden of epiphany and declared, “The Water Tower! Let’s hurry to the Water Tower, Lucy!”

“Yes, Great Hero Catria!”

And so our heroes made their way to their next objective with their hopeful angel in tow.

“Water, eh? Perfect. I can just see it,” Alan whispered to himself.

Lucy’s cultivation was speeding up.