《A Random story of an Adventurer》


 Prolog

    The town of Trisidia is a major trading town of the Kingdom of Crolotia, crawling with many kinds of people. It is not only known for its Merchant Guild, but for its Adventurer¡¯s Guild too. The adventurer''s guild is a place for people seeking jobs to do, or for people who needs a job done. It is also the place where people find a new life for themselves.


    The guild hall, as always, is filled with adventurers, drinking and talking about. The doors opens and a young boy steps in. The young boy has black hair, long enough to touch his ruby eyes, but not enough to cover them. Wearing a simple wool shirt and leather pants and shoes, with a short sword strapped to his waist. He takes looks around the hall and them proceeds to make his way towards the counter. At the counter was the guild receptionist who seemed to not pay any attention to the boy and continued on working. "Um... hi, excuse me?" the boy said meekly. The receptionist stops working and looks at the boy. "Hi, how can I help you?" she said in a tired soft voice. "If you want to put up a request, please sign this form and then hand it to me after you are done." She hands him a request form. The boy lifts up his hands and motions a no. "Ah no. I want to register as an adventurer." The receptionist gave a confused look, and reply, " I''m sorry, but you look a little to young to become an adventurer. You must be at least 18 to apply." "Oh, uh, I... I just turned 18 today." The boy said, while rustling through his bag and pulling out his ID.


    The receptionist grabs the id from the boy''s hand and check the birthday on it. "Hmm, indeed you are 18. I reckoned you were 16 from your looks. I will notify a supervisor while you fill out this form." She then hands him an adventure application form and then proceeded to the back.The boy sits down at one of the open tables and started to fill out the form. A couple of minutes later, he hears someone ask, "Are you the kid applying to become an adventurer?" He looks up to see a middle aged man, with short golden hair and a small beard. The man was built like a bear, his shirt looks as if it was ready to burst if the man so much as moved."Y-Yes... I''m trying to become an adventurer." The boy replied, feeling intimidated by the huge man that easily stood over him as if a giant looked down on him. The man grinned, knowing he terrified the boy. "I''m Hudsonus, the... a supervisor of this guild hall. I will also be the one to give you your test." As he said this, his hand motions for the form. The boy hands it to him.


    "A test?" The boy ask, confused. "Yes, all applicant must go through a small test to show what they are able to do for the guild." Hudsonus replied. "So... your name is Alderick." "Yes sir. Al is also ok too sir." Hudsonus laugh. "Well, aren''t you a polite talker. I haven''t been called sir for years. Well lets head out back to do your test." He motions for Al to follow him though the back door. Hudsonus leads Al into the backyard where there is a arena with multiple training dummies layed out in a circle. "Everybody, CLEAR OUT!. I''ve got a recruit to test." Everyone that was currently training quickly got out of the way and cleared the arena. "Ok Al, the test is simple hit me one and you pass. Failed to do so in 10 strikes, and you failed. Easy enough right?" Hudsonus says as he grabs a training sword from the weapon rack. Al nods, and pulls his swords out but with it still in its sheath. Hudsonus showed and smile. "What boy, you can''t pull your sword out of its sheath? Need some help?" Al looks at him confused, and replied.


    "I didn''t want to cut you by mistake." Hudsonus laugh. Thinking to himself, that Al could just easily grab a training sword from the rack as well, but maybe he was accustomed to his own sword. "Hey Hudsonus! I think the boys confident that he''ll hit you!" Shouted someone from the crowd that was around. "YOU BETTER WATCH OUT! OR HE''LL CUT YOUR ARMS OFF!" The crowd laugh loudly. Hudsonus glared at the crowd and that laughter stopped. He turns to face Al again. "Don''t let them distract you. Alright, remember, hit me once out of ten tries, and you pass. Ready?" Al nods. "Ok good. Go ahead and move fi-" Before Hudsonus could finish his sentence, Al dashes forward, with his sword aimed low getting ready for a thrust. Hudsonus, although surprised by the speed of Al''s attack, easily deflected the attack off to the side. Not missing a beat Al tooks a quick step back and then jumps forwards, this time aiming for the head with a quick sweeping attack.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Hudsonus ducks to dodge the attack, took a step forward, and then shoves Al hard enough to send him back and to the ground of where he first stood. Al gets up and took a low guard, planning his next move. Hudsonus looks at Al, and then also ready himself in a low guard. Al slowly advance, one step at a time. Until he was within striking range of Hudsonus. Al unleashed three quick thrust to which Hudsonus easily parried all three. But the last thrust was a bait to switch Hudsonus into a back right stance, leaving his left side completely opened. Again, not missing a beat, Al does a quick spin right after his attack was deflected to do a quick sweeping down strike on Hudsonus left side. Hudsonus reacted quickly and also did a spin and raises his sword to block Al''s attack. The blow from the attack was strong enough to knocked Hudsonus down to one knee. Seizing his chance, Al tries to disarm Hudsonus. He aims for the sword hand, and swings down hard and fast. Hudsonus quickly rolled back, then lunges forward, aimed for Al''s sword and succeeds in disarming Al. And for good measure gave Al a good hard kick to the stomach, knocking him back a few feet.


    Al now reanalyzing the situation. He''s in a rough spot. Back to where he''s started, three strikes remaining, and no weapon.Hudsonus looks at the short sword that Al has dropped. And then turns to look at the worn out boy. "Losing your weapon could be the end of you boy, always be ready for a disarmed attempt. Although it is good that you are learning this lesson here and not out there." Hudsonus said this as he stood upright and stares at the boy, trying to see what he plans to do next. "Come on. You got 3 more tries. Come show me what you can do." Al looks at Hudsonus. Thinking long and hard about his next step. He is much stronger and faster than me. How can I possibly land an attack now that I''ve lost my weapon. I could probably lung in at him and use a feint. The moment he backs off will be my chance to reclaim my sword.


    Satisfied with his plan, Al dashes forward. He stops just within striking range and throws a quick high sweep kick. Hudsonus dodges but did not moved away. Realising this, Al had to do another kick, but this time aiming for the lower body. Hudsonus then grabs the leg and then swings Al away. Al lands on the ground. All he could do was look at Hudsonus, knowing he had almost no chance of passing this small simple test. One more strike. No weapon. Down on the ground. "Ain''t no way for you to pass now boy! Best to just give up!" Came from the small crowd that was still watching. "You are just wasting our time! Just go back home boy!" More shouting from the crowds. Al couldn''t even make out what most of what the crowd was shouting about. "The adventurer life is not for you kid!" This one sentence made Al quickly get back on his feet. He stares the crowd down. But his intimidation attempt had no effect on people who had pass this "simple" test. He looks back at Hudsonus, who had already prepare himself in a middle guard. What can I do at this point. Maybe I should just give up. But... where will I go? What will I do? My village was raided and burned down by bandits. This was my only other option.


    Al just blankly stare at Hudsonus, who said nothing. His usual smile that he showed even in the middle of the fight was gone. I guess even he thought I had wasted his time. I have done my best, but it was not enough to pass this simple test. Will I even survive as an adventurer if I had pass? Al straighten himself up and looks like he was about to give up. Hudsonus showed a face of disappointment. Wait... What if I tried... that.... Would it even work on a seasoned warrior like him? Its my last shot... I might as well try. Al then takes a step forward. It... just might work... He takes another step forward. Hudsonus now showed a small smile on his face now that he''s seen that Al hasn''t given up yet. Al then dashes forward with his fist clenched and raised. Hudsonus focuses on the hand and then drops his sword to get ready to catch the punch. Al swings his hands. Hudsonus reaches out. And then Al pulls back his hand, and then does a low kick, and hits the back of Hudsonus'' knees, making him lose his balance and forced him to fall down to his knees. Hudsonus looks down at his knee, then looks back up to Al, and smile. "Congrats. You passed.¡±

 Chapter 1: First Quest

    In the training arena behind the guild hall where Alderick had just finish his test with Hudsonus. ¡°Alright boy. Congratulations again for passing the test. Soon you will be counted as a member of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. For now, take this form back to the receptionist so they can finish the process.¡± Hudsonus says as he pulls out the application form, signs it, and then hands it over to Alderick. ¡°For now, I have to give these guys a lesson on manners.¡± He added as he turns to look at the crowd that was watching the test. The entire group felt a chill rolled down their spines. ¡°OH SHIT! SCATTER! RUN FOR IT!.¡± Yelled someone. And the group disperse only to be chased down by Hudsonus. Alderick could only show a nervous smile as he watches the group get beat down. He then headed back inside the guild hall.


    Inside over at the counter the receptionist stood there and looked as if she was waiting for him to return. He walks up to the counter and could only mutter a ¡°Umm¡­¡± before she interrupted him. ¡°Uh¡­ it¡¯s ok. Don¡¯t let this experience discourage you from trying to become an adventurer in the future.¡± She said with a sadden worried look on her face. ¡°You can try again in a month.¡± Alderick looked at her with a surprised look. Did¡­ she think I failed the test? ¡°Umm¡­ No I-¡± Again he was interrupted, this time by another an older looking gentleman. ¡°Is this the boy who was waiting for his test?¡± He asked while looking at Alderick. ¡°I have finish my reports so I now have time to test him.¡± ¡°Ah no. Master Hudsonus have already given him his test. He just came back from it.¡± The receptionist replied. ¡°Master Hudsonus?!¡± The gentleman said with a surprised look. Then turns to face Alderick again. His surprised look turns into a sadden one as well. ¡°It¡¯s ok son. There is always next time. When you come again, I¡¯ll be sure to be the one who gives you your next test.¡± He said, also assuming that Alderick had failed as well. Him too?! Alderick thought to himself.


    ¡°Uh.. No.. I had actually passed.¡± He said finally. ¡°Sir Hudsonus told me to give this form back to you so you can finish the process.¡± He then hands the application form to the receptionist. ¡°WHAT?! You passed?!¡± Both the gentleman and receptionist yelled, grabbing the attention of majority of the people in the guild hall. ¡°Let me see the form.¡± The gentleman said, as he reaches for the form, takes a quick look, and then hands it over to the receptionist. ¡°Indeed, it seems he had pass the test, Master Hudsonus had signed the form. Go and finish his processing.¡± The receptionist, shocked, also look at the forms, and her eyes widen as if she saw something near impossible. She then quickly walk to the back room and disappeared from sight.


    ¡°I am surprised you had pass his test. Master Hudsonus doesn¡¯t usually test people wishing to become adventurers, and the people who he does test usually fails his ¡°simple¡± test.¡± Alderick looks at him with a somewhat confused look. ¡°Ah, where is my manners. My name is Kreyg, I am one of the 3 Head Supervisors of this guild Hall. What is your name son?¡± ¡°Alderick.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, let me congratulate you on passing your test. Please forgive my earlier behavior. Master Hudsonus¡­ tests are a little harder than the usual test we give out to people.¡± ¡°Harder?¡± Al asked with an even more confused look.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kreyg replied. ¡°Usually our test compose of a simple gathering a few herbs from the Northern Plains or a really simple Copper ranked quest from the request board.¡± Al looked at Kreyg as if what he went through had been a joke. He couldn¡¯t believed that what he went through was not the usual test. ¡°Um¡­ I notice that you have been calling Sir Hudsonus as Master Hudsonus... ¡° He then asked. ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t know? Master Hudsonus is the Headmaster of this guild hall. Which is why it is unusual for him to be testing people. He only does it when he has nothing to do or he is running away from his work.¡± Damn that old man! He introduced himself as a supervisor only! I knew that test was a little to hard for a new applicant. Al thought to himself, frustrated by the lie the old warrior had told him.


    Just as they finished talking about it, the receptionist comes back with an orb. ¡°Ok, we have mostly finished your application, you only need to verify your class and role then we will be able to begin the process of your guild card.¡± She says as she placed the orb on top of the counter. ¡°Just place your hand on the orb, and it will confirm it for us.¡± She added as she smiles and waits for Al to place his hand on it. Al lifts his hand places it on the orb. It started to glow, and then after a few seconds, words started to appear on it.


    Class: Mystic


    Role:Support


    ¡°Oh ho. So you are a mystic eh?¡± Came a voice from behind Al. Al turns around to see Hudsonus towering over him from behind. ¡°Can¡¯t say I¡¯ve seen many Mystics who carry a short sword as their weapon of choice. Much less knows swordsmanship.¡± Hudsonus says as he shows a grin on his face. Al showed a sour face to Hudsonus, still angered about earlier. ¡°Ha Ha, boy, you should feel honor for being tested by me. And even happier that you passed.¡± He says as he laughs loudly. Gee¡­ thanks for putting me through that ¡°simple¡± test. Al thought to himself, a little too intimidated to say it aloud for fear that what happened to the group outside might happen to him.


    ¡°We have finished your process. Please come back tomorrow to receive your guild card." Al nodded, bowed, then made his way out the guild hall. ¡°Master, did you go easy on the boy in order to let him pass the test?¡± Kreyg asked Hudsonus. ¡°Hmm? No? I simply let my guard down and read his next attack wrong.¡± Hudsonus replied. ¡°He did a really good low kick. They are my worst enemies.¡± He added as he exploded with laughter, and proceeded to walk up the stairs to his office. ¡°A¡­ low kick?¡± Kreyg asked quietly to himself.


    The following day Al came back to the guild hall. He walked up to the counter where the previous receptionist was at. ¡°Hi, excuse me¡­ I¡¯m here to pick up my guild card.¡± he asked. The receptionist looks up, sees Al, and then smile. ¡°Of course, we have just finished making it. Please give me a moment to go get it for you.¡± She replied, got up and walked to the back. A few moments later she came back. ¡°Here you go.¡± she says as she handed him his guild card. ¡°Congratulations again. You are now a member of the adventurer''s guild. You are ranked copper. Please note that you can only accept requests that are at or one level above your current rank. Feel free to take a look at the request board to your left. Once you have decided one which one, please bring it back to me for me to confirm that you have taken on the request. Do you have any questions?¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°How many ranks are there in the guild?¡± Al asked. "There are eight ranks. It goes Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mythril, Orichalcum and then Adamantite." "Ah ok. Thank you." He said as he started to walk towards the request board. There are several quested posted but only a few were his rank. He started to read the Copper ranked quests.


    Goblin Slaying


    There¡¯s a report of a lone goblin stealing chickens at a nearby farm.


    Please slay the goblin and return with it¡¯s ear as proof.


    Reward: 10 Copper Coins.


    Rank: Copper


    Bladed Grass


    We need more Bladed Grass to make more potions.


    Please bring in as many as you can.


    Reward: 1 Silver Coin per 10 Herb


    Rank: Copper


    What. A simple gather quest for one silver coin? It¡¯s too good to be true. I will also take the goblin quest since they both are in the Northern Plains. Al thought to himself. Satisfied with the two quest, he takes them and brought it to the counter. ¡°Have you decided?¡± The receptionist ask. ¡°Yes. I would like to take these two quest please.¡± Al replied, handing the two quest to the receptionist. ¡°Oh. Oh¡­¡± She said, with a kind of worried look on her face. ¡°This goblin quest is ok for you, but this Bladed Grass¡­ Might be a little tough.¡± ¡°What?¡± Al said, shocked. ¡°It looks like a simple gathering quest. How can it be rough?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ well you can take it, but don¡¯t feel like you must complete the quest ok? Most new adventurer also take this request but usually can¡¯t finish it.¡± She said.


    A gathering quest that most new adventurers failed at? Maybe it is in a fairly dangerous location in the plains. ¡°It¡¯s ok. I won¡¯t abandon this quest. I will make sure finish it.¡± Al says with a confident look on his face. ¡°Hmm¡­ Ok. Well then theres no problem from what I can see. So good luck out there. Be careful though. One goblin is easy to deal with, but if there''s more than one, it is ok to pull back and report it to the guild.¡± ¡°Ok, thank you very much¡­. Um¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve gotten your name yet.¡± Al asked, only just realising this. ¡°Oh, forgive me. My name is Maria.¡± She answered. ¡°Ok. Thank you very much Maria.¡± Al says as he smiled and headed out the door.


    Al headed towards the North Gate. In the Northern District is where most of the commercial buildings and trading happens. He gives a quick glance around as he continued walking around. ¡°Hey! You boy!¡± Someone shouted. Al turns to see a short man, with wild long orange hair as if it is on fire, a crazy beard, and even crazier eyes. A Dwarf. ¡°How about you replace that rusty looking sword of yours with a newly dwarven forged steel?¡± He said. ¡°Nothing beats dwarven steels.¡± ¡°Oh, I can¡¯t replace this sword. It¡¯s a¡­ memento of my father.¡± Al replied, but still, he walked closer to the dwarf. He looks around the forge and then turn to look at all the weapons on displayed. ¡°But I do think having a second weapon available would be good.¡± ¡°Gwahaha. That is true.¡± The Dwarf said with a huge smile on his face.


    ¡°The names Gendrol Goldensmith.¡± He introduced himself. ¡°Alderick. You can call me Al if you like.¡± ¡°Hmm, do you not have a last name lad?¡± ¡°Ah no¡­ it¡¯s a custom in my¡­¡± Al showed a sadden look on his face, then he continues. ¡° In my village, you don¡¯t receive a last name until you are of age.¡± ¡°What¡­ you not old enough to bed a woman yet lad?¡± The dwarf remarked, with a smirk on his face. Seeing the smile somehow cheered Al up. ¡°Oh no, I am old enough now. It¡¯s only because my village was raided and destroyed before I have come of age.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Gendrol cursed at himself for saying such a thing. ¡°I am sorry for your loss lad.¡± ¡°No no, its ok. It has been a year since it has happened. And it is because such a thing has happened that made me wish to be an adventurer so that I may help protect those who may need help.¡± Al replied, trying his best to show a smile. ¡°Good on ya lad. Good on ya. So have you succeeded in becoming one?¡± Gendrol asked. ¡°Ah yes. I have just finished joining yesterday, and I officially start today.¡± Al replied. ¡°That¡¯s great. Congratulations lad. Tell you what, as a gift. Feel free to take one of these Iron weapon here in this barrel. They aren¡¯t the best quality, but they are still dwarven-forged. Durable enough to last a while for new adventurers.¡± Gendrol said as he walks over to a barrel filled with all sorts of iron weapons.


    ¡°Oh no I couldn¡¯t. That¡¯s much too generous of you.¡± Al said as he shook both his hands and head. ¡°Its ok lad. Take it as both a gift and an apology for bringing up sad memories.¡± Gendrol said as he pushed the barrel closer to Al. Al smiled and took a quick look inside. He then pulls out a small dagger. Gave it a few quick swings to test it. Even though it was supposed to be a low quality weapon, it had a good grip and great balance on it, even for a dagger. ¡°Thank you. I think I¡¯ll pick this dagger.¡± Al said, as he shows it to the dwarf. ¡°Good eye lad. It¡¯s a good blade. Although all my weapon are good.¡± Gendrol says as he lets out a laugh. ¡°Come visit me again in the future. My forge is open all day.¡± ¡°Thank you. I will.¡± Al says. He waves goodbye and continued on his way to the gate.


    A few minutes after leaving the dwarven blacksmith, Al reaches the North Gate.There were many kingdom guards, inspecting people trying to come into the town. Luckily for him, there''s only an inspection for going in, not for going out. He walks past it and followed the road north. After a mile, he has reached the Northern Plains. It was a vast area stretching far and wide. Far Into the distance, you can make out the mountains of Dragon Peak and a little of the top of trees of the forest, covering the base of the mountain. Al stops to take a quick break. As he sat down on a nearby rock, he decided he should look up what a Bladed Grass look like. He flipped through his Book of Medical Herbs and searched for the name. He quickly found it. And then he throws the book to the ground. ¡°No wonder new adventurers have a hard time of finishing this quest!¡± He yelled. ¡°They look just like the regular grass that''s everywhere!¡± He stood up to go pick up his book, a little frustrated that Maria didn¡¯t tell him the reason for why new adventures couldn¡¯t complete the quest. Then also blames himself for not asking as well. ¡°I guess it''s a good thing I also grabbed the goblin slaying quest¡­¡±

 Chapter 2: Monster

    Alderick continues walking through the Northern Plains. It stretches farther than he had thought. The sight of the Dragon Mountains seems to not get any closer no matter how far he walks. He looks up towards the sun to see its positioning, in which it is at its highest peak, signifying that it''s midday. He looks around his surrounding. He could make out a few buildings scatter around the plains. There¡¯s so many farms out here, and yet the one I need to go to is the farthest one away. He thought to himself. He lets out a sigh, and continues on the road. He eventually reaches a fork in the road.


    According to the directions, to reach the farm, instead of taking either paths, you had to continued onward through the grass, until you have nearly reach the forest. Al could see a makeshift path where it looks as if people had walked on through the grass, and assume that was the way he needed to go. As he walked on the grass, a single thought came to mind. I wonder how many Bladed Grass I have step over already. Not like I can tell, they just look like grass. As he continued to walk, he notice a huge boulder nearby as he was walking by. Onces he got to the other side, he notice that there was actually two boulders, but the second one was only half as tall, and had a flat top, with a what looked like the top of the second boulder lying on the side, as if to imply someone had cut the boulder in two. After another hour or so, he could see a farmhouse in the distance, a little distance away from the forest. That looks like the farm. He thought, relieved that he reached it before evening.


    As Al walks towards the farm, he notice someone tilling the field, as well as what he assumed to be a chicken coop at the center of the field. He approached the person to ask if he was the one who had sent the request to the guild. ¡°Ex-excuse me sir?¡± Al said, still a little nervous around strangers. The person stood straight and looked at Al. It was an elderly man with a hard tan, surely from working in the fields all day. ¡°Can I help you boy?¡± He asked. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ from the adventurer¡¯s guild. I¡¯m here to inquire more about the request you sent to the guild.¡± Al replied while trying to hand the request paper to the old man, a little cautious because of the fact that the old man looks like he had his eyes closed, but his head was following Al as Al approached. The old man grabs the paper, and gave it a quick look. ¡°Ah yes. I did send a request a few days ago."


    "The other day my daughter saw a goblin ran off with one of our chickens. The following day a few more of our chickens have gone missing as well and also just this morning, so I¡¯m sure it was the work of the same goblin. I simply want you to track it down and kill it. Bring back both its ear as proof to the guild and you can then accept your reward.¡± The old man says, as he turns and point towards the forest. ¡°My daughter told me that it ran off into the forest when it stole our first chicken, so I¡¯m sure that it had made its nest somewhere in there.¡± ¡°Ok sir. I will go and deal with this goblin as fast as I can.¡± Al replied, as he started walking towards the forest. ¡°Oh, and one more thing.¡± The old man said as Al had almost reached the forest. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen my daughter since yesterday as well. I¡¯m sure she is probably playing in the forest, or got lost. It¡¯s more likely that she''s playing, since, even though I haven¡¯t seen her, she had done her usual morning chores this morning.¡± Al nodded, and made his way into the forest.


    The forest was filled with wild vegetations and the ground was uneven due to all the roots of the trees, making it hard for Al to walk through. After searching for awhile, he came to a sudden end of the trees. He had made it to the base of the mountain. There was a steep cliff just in front of him. Clearly, if you want to go up the mountain, this surely wasn¡¯t the path you¡¯d take. He was just about to turn back into the forest when he noticed a small cave at the bottom of the cliff, just a little away from his right. He walked towards the cave, and as he drew closer, he notice a foul stench in the air near the entrance to the cave. He gave a quick look inside to see complete darkness. This must be where the goblin¡¯s nest is at. But if I go in, he¡¯ll see me from afar, while I only see complete darkness. Too easy for him to set an ambush on me. And if there¡¯s more than one, I have very little chance of escaping.


    Al debated on what his next step to be. He looked back at the forest, and then up nearby trees. One of the tree look easy to climb and can provide a good ambush spot for when the goblin decides to come outside. Satisfied with his idea, Al moved towards the base of the tree. Took another look up and then towards the cave. No sign of the goblin, but he doesn¡¯t know when the goblin might come out or if he was already outside and was on his way home. He gave a quick glance around, and then quickly climbed the tree. Once he reached a sturdy looking branch, he sat there, and pulled out his new dagger he had just gotten from Gendrol, and waited. After a long wait, Al notice something pops out of the cave. A goblin.


    The goblin looks around cautiously, and then started sniffing the air. Luckily, Al was downwind and on higher ground, so no matter how good of a sense of smell it may have, it should not be able to smell him. Once it was finish looking around, the goblin started walking towards the forest. Towards the tree Al was waiting in. Once it got close enough, Al jumped down with his dagger aimed at the goblin¡¯s head. It immediately looked up and saw Al coming down, and quickly jumped back, but also fell backwards to the ground in the process. Al¡¯s ambushed had missed, but it means little, since he can still easily deal with a goblin on it¡¯s back. He leaps forward and again aimed for the head for a quick kill. In that moment, the goblin raised its hand as if signaling for Al to wait. Al didn¡¯t hesitate, and his dagger plugged deeped into the head of the goblin from the bottom. It struggle hard to push Al back, but to no avail. Al then pulls his knife out, and seeing that the goblin was still twitching, stabs the goblin a few times in the chest. Once the goblin stopped moving Al got up and looked down on the creature.


    First quest done. Now to just cut off the ear and return to the guild. Al was just about to crouch down when he felt a sudden blow to the left side of his head. He falls down to the ground, and dazed for a second. He looks at the entrance of the cave, and there was another goblin, slinging a sling with another rock, about ready to throw it at Al again. Al rolls into the cover of the tree. His head now bleeding, his breathing hard, and still a little dazed from the sudden blow to the head. He took another glance at the cave when, THUD!. Another rock was thrown, but this time it hit the tree. The goblin then picked up another rock, loaded it, and then starting to swing the sling again. Judging from the time it took to ready the sling, and the distance to between them, Al figured that at most the goblin could fire 3 more shots before Al could reach him. He then stood up, and ready himself.


    First, Al unfastion his short sword from his waist, and throws it, distracting the goblin, which had thrown a rock towards it. Al then immediately dashes out towards the goblin. Al was now halfway to the goblin when it readies its second shot, aim and throw. Al dodges it to the side and kept running towards the goblin. Starting to panic, the goblin frantically reached for a rock. But alas, there was none near him capable of doing any damage to the person charging at him. It turns and was about to run back into the cave, when Al catches him from behind and stabs him in the back with his dagger. The goblin falls to the ground. Al took a look at the goblin and notice it was smaller than the first goblin. It was a child goblin, probably a day old.


    Al then remembers what the old farmer said. ¡°I haven¡¯t send my daughter since yesterday.¡± A look of horror showed on Al faces as he looks into the cave. Goblins have a high fertility rate, and a fast growth. He debated on going in to possibly search and rescue the daughter, or to return and report to the guild for if there are too many goblins, he is not capable of handling them all on his own. He had to take the chance, it would take too long to return to the guild and then come back with a party. He dashes back to pick up his short sword, and then wipes the blood of his dagger. He then prepares to enter the goblin cave.


    Al stares into the darkness of the cave. He had not brought any torches for he didn¡¯t think he would be entering a cave. He thought for a moment, and then decided he shouldn¡¯t hesitate in this situation. Although he was not proficient in Holy magic, but was still capable in casting a few holy spells. ¡°Spark of Light¡± Al yelled, as he holds his hand together as if he started a prayer. From the inside of his hands, came a bright glow. He then opens his hands and a small ball of light appeared from his hands, and started to drift upwards. This spell will light my way through the cave, but since it is a holy spell, it¡¯ll drain my mana too fast. The longest I can activate it for is less than ten minutes. I must move quickly.


    Al then started walking into the cave quickly, listening for any sounds of movement, and focusing hard on every corner. It wasn¡¯t long before he reached a big room. There he saw three more child goblins. Much, much smaller than the other child goblin. At most a few hours old. The biggest of the three sees Al, and then grabs a nearby huge rock and charges towards Al, whilst yelling something. Another ran towards the back of the room towards a door. The last was too small, probably still too young to even walk. Al quickly kills the one running towards him, and then runs after the one who was running away, fearing that it might be running to alert other possible goblins. He catches the goblin moments before it could reached the door. He throws him to the ground and then stabs it repeatedly. Once it stopped squiming about, Al gets up and moved towards the last one. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Al hesitated a little. He knew that what he was killing were mere childrens. Monsters. But still childrends. They aren¡¯t even a week old. The last goblin could only stare up towards Al, not even making a sound. Its face didn¡¯t even showed fear or sadness. It doesn¡¯t even know what Al was, or what just happen or was going to happen. Al couldn¡¯t look the goblin in the eyes. He crouch down, cover its eyes, and then gave it a quick stab to the heart. It was a quick death. And hopefully painless. Al was about to stand up when he hears a deafening screech from behind him. He quickly stands up and turns around to see yet another goblin standing in front of the door as if it was just on the other side of it.


    This one was smaller than the first goblin, but clearly also an adult. It was holding a huge meat cleaver in one hand, and a chicken on the other. There was something unique of this goblin. It had long curly hair while all the other ones had been bald so far. Before Al can analyze it any further, the goblin throws the chicken at him. He knocks it aside. Right as he did, he saw that the goblin had already gotten right in front of him, swinging down the cleaver. Al grabs the hand and then shoulder throw her down to the ground. He then got a clear look at the goblin¡¯s face. He was shocked to see it showed emotions. Anger, hatred and¡­ sadness. There was tears rolling down the goblins eyes. It then started yelling something. At the same time, it seems it has given up the fight as it had dropped the cleaver from its hands. It looked as if the goblin had starting wailing. Again, it shouted.


    Al didn¡¯t know what to do. In his confusion, he let go of the goblins hand. Afraid that it would take this chance to grab the cleaver again, Al took a leap back. But instead, the goblin raises its hands and cover its face, still lying down on its back and sobbing harder than before. Al could only look at this sobbing goblin. He recognised this feeling that the goblin is displaying. The feeling of despair. The feeling of having lost your family. It is a goblin. A monster. Monsters have no feeling, for they feel nothing. But¡­ just what is this. Al could do nothing but watch as it continues to cry. It eventually sat up. It glares at Al, face full of anger and tears. And then it just keep shouting the same thing again and again to Al. It doesn¡¯t look like it intends to fight anymore. In fact, it looks like its begging Al to kill her too. Al couldn¡¯t do anything. He took a step closer. Monster. And then another step. It¡¯s a monster. And then the last step in front of the goblin. It is a monster. There is no need to feel pity for it. Al raises his dagger. It is a monster that will eventually hurt humans. He strikes down.


    Al stood there for a moment, lost in thought. It wasn¡¯t until his little light source started flickering that he came back to his senses. He looked at his spark of light. I¡¯m running out of mana. I must hurry and find the daughter and then leave the cave. He turns and runs to the door. Locked. He started kicking on the door hard. It didn¡¯t open. He then runs to the wall on the opposite side, and then started running towards the door. He shoves the door with all his momentum. It became loose, but still closed. He does it again and manages to break through. Inside was a smaller room. Al stood up in disbelieve. Around the room was broken pieces of wood, crates, dead chickens and a few tools and crude looking nails lying around. But no daughter. No other doors. No other paths. He turns to look at the last goblin he killed, and then finally realised what it was. It wasn¡¯t a goblin. It was a goblette, a female goblin. They haven¡¯t taken the daughter. It was simply a goblin and goblette starting a family.


    Al walked over to look at the goblette again. Al could still feel the despair from it. The anger, hatred, and sadness. Every feeling that it had shown him in its last moment. All the emotions that he had brought out of a monster.Al''s light flickers again, reminding him that time was running out. He quickly cut off the ears of all four, and then made his way out. Once he got outside, he cancel his spell so that he can slowly regain his mana. He looks at the last two goblins, which he hadn¡¯t cut the ears off of. He cuts off the child goblin then walks over to the adult. As he started to cut the ears off, a hammer fell out of its pocket. Al sees it, and picks it up to examine. Believing that the goblin had stolen it from the farm as well, he takes it with him.


    Al walks through the forest, and reaches the outskirts of the farm. The old farmer was feeding his chickens when he spots Al. ¡°Hey boy! Did you find the goblin?!¡± He yelled while waving his arms in the air at Al. Al quietly walks over to the farmer, then shows all the goblin ears. ¡°Blessed divines! How many of them were there?! And you killed them all by yourself?!¡± Al nodded. He then reaches to his pouch and pulls out the hammer. ¡°My hammer! I lost this hammer days ago, where do you find it?¡± The farmer exclaimed. ¡°The goblin. I think he might have taken it from your farm.¡± Al said quietly. ¡°Damn goblins, not just my chickens, but my tools too? Oh, by the way, did you find my daughter?¡± Al shook his head.


    ¡°No. I couldn¡¯t find her.¡± As Al said this he notice someone approaching them from the south. ¡°Father, I¡¯m back.¡± ¡°Lisa! Where have you been?!¡± The farmer yelled as he runs up to her. She knocks him down. ¡° What do you mean where I¡¯ve been? YOU sent me to Trisdia two days ago to sell stuff and use the money to buy wood planks to fix the shed!¡± She yelled. ¡°What? I did? But the shed is already fix. I thought you fix it this morning before you ran off to play or something.¡± He replied. ¡°How can I fix it when I wasn¡¯t even here?!¡± She yelled back. Al looked over to the shed. There was one question that came to his mind. ¡°If they didn¡¯t fix it¡­ who did?¡± He walks over to the shed and examine it.


    At the back he notice a part of it was a different color. He looked closely at it. The wood looks old, but sturdy. And the nails were rather crude. He remembers where he saw some similar wood and nails that look like this. Back at the goblin¡¯s nest. No. It¡¯s impossible. Monsters wouldn¡¯t do this. The old man must have just fixed it and forgotten. The goblins must have just stolen the stuff that''s at the nest. That has to be it. Al tells himself. But they were merely words to convince himself that monsters are monsters. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Al was surprised from this, and stood up quickly. It was the daughter. ¡°N-nothing. I just thought I¡¯d come check the coop for the damage you guys were talking about.¡± ¡°Oh ok.¡± She looks down at it. ¡°Huh¡­ it really did get fix.¡± Al nods. He then went back to the farmer.


    ¡°Um¡­ Since I have slain the goblin, I will return back to the guild to report it.¡± Al told the farmer. ¡°Oh ok. Thank you very much boy. Those monsters sure are pests. If only we could get rid of them all.¡± The farmer says as he pats Al on the back. ¡°Well, but then again, you¡¯d be out of a job.¡± He added as he starting laughing out loud. Al just showed a uninterested smile. Al started walking back to town from the farm. ¡°Hey.¡± A voice called. Al turns to see the daughter again. ¡°It¡¯s almost sundown. How about you stay here until morning¡± She ask, smiling. ¡°It¡¯s the least we can do for what you¡¯ve done for us.¡± Al thought for a bit. ¡°No thanks. I still have some stuff I need to do along the way. And I wouldn¡¯t want to impose on you guys.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yeah. And I think I still have some time, so I might be able to reach halfway before night falls.¡± Al replied and showed an awkward smile back. ¡°Ok, if you are sure about it. Thanks again. If you see me again, come say hi.¡± She said as she waved goodbye to Al. ¡°Ok. I will.¡± Al headed out.


    Al has now again started walking through the Northern Plains. But this time, his head was filled with thoughts of everything that happened during the hunt. Goblins are monsters. Monsters are bad. They have no emotions. They are no better than wild beast. Even worse that wild beasts. There''s no such thing as a good monster. And as such, no such thing as a good goblin. They stole a chicken. And then some tools. Eventually their greed would have gotten bigger. It would¡¯ve been a sheep next. Then a cow. And then¡­ humans. I did the right thing by killing them all. Al was completely lost in thoughts that he failed to realised it was already nighttime.


    When Al finally realised this. He started to look for a place to sleep. Then he saw the two boulders he passed on the way. Deciding that the boulder might be a good place to sleep, he climbs on top of it and tried to sleep. But his mind was still occupied by the goblins. How the first goblin looked like it didn¡¯t want to fight. How the baby goblin died without even knowing what was even happening. How the goblette looked like at the end. They are monsters. I did the right thing. Monsters need to be killed so that people can live peacefully. Monsters need to be destroyed. So that a husband and wife and grow a happy family. Monsters need to be eradicated so that kids can live a life free of danger and fear¡­ I did the right thing. The face of each of the goblins pops to his mind again.  No¡­ they weren¡¯t the only monsters in that cave.


    I''m a monster too.

 Chapter 3: Darretta The Slayer

    The rain was pouring down hard in the night, no moonlight to illuminate the darkness. The sound of thunder can be heard loud and clear, as if lightning has been striking down nearby. A flash of from the thunder shows a cabin, hidden far away from everything. Another flash showed two bodies lying down in front of it. One was of a middle-aged man lying on his back with multiple stab wounds, and a wound at the bottom of his head gushing blood. The second body was of a teenage boy, barely old enough to be able to use the nearby bow that laid next to him. He had a stab wound to his back, and his eyes focus on his father, who was laying down several feet away from him, as if before he drew his last breath, he saw his father drew his.


    The door to the cabin was open, and inside were three more bodies. Two small child, and one infant. One was near the door, with a deep cut that goes down his entire body. The other child was on the opposite side lying face down with horrible multiple wounds on his back. His eyes wide open with tears still seeming running down his face. The infant was lying down in the center of the room, with a stab wound directly to the heart. Two more was in the room as well. One was a woman, on her knees, sobbing as loud as the thunder outside. The other was a dark shadowy figure. It¡¯s red eyes glowed menacingly while it looked down at the sobbing woman. ¡°Just kill me! Just kill me like you have done to my family!¡± The woman bellowed. ¡°What have we done to deserve such a cruel fate?! Just kill me now so that I might join my family in the afterlife!¡± The shadowy figure just stare at her for a moment. It then raised its hand, and then struck down.


    Alderick suddenly woke up, drenched in sweat. While still in a daze, he looked around. He saw the familiar boulder in front of him, and the seemingly endlessness of the plains that he was in. He now recalls he had spent a night outside sleeping on top of a broken boulder. The sun had risen, but he could see that it was still in the early mornings. He began to wonder, Why would I have such a dream? Do I feel guilty about killing those monsters? He stood up, tired of such nonsense running through his head so early in the morning. He gazed back towards the direction of the forest. The feeling of killing those goblins still fresh in his mind. He pulled out his dagger to look at. It was still covered in the blood of the goblins. He spill some water on it from his water pouch. Then reached into his pouch that strapped to his right side of his waist, and pulled out a piece of cloth. He used the cloth to wipe the blood off his dagger.


    Once cleaned, he then gave another quick check on it. Satisfied, he put it away, climbed down the boulder, and made his way back to town. After a short walk, he reached the fork in the road again. Once he got on the road, he sees something in the distance on the road. A dust cloud. And it seemed to be heading his way. He stood there, confused as to what was causing it. He focus his eyes, and stare hard at it. He then made out a person running. As the person drew closer, he could slightly hear shouting. But being too far, he could not hear it properly, and was thinking of going closer himself. Just as he took a few steps, he heard, ¡°RUN!!!!¡±


    Al then looked to behind the person. He was being chased by something big and round. ¡°RUN! RUN! RUN! GET OUT OF THE WAY!¡± the person shouted. A little panicked, Al started running back in the direction of the boulders. The person soon caught up to him, and started running alongside him. He now saw that it was a girl with bright orange short hair. A lighter shade of orange shirt with a back vest, brown shorts with two swords strapped to both side of it. Al then looked back to what was chasing them. It was a full grown Devil Tusk, a wild boar with two huge tusks, black fur with a silver lining of hair along his back, three tails and the size of bull and in the most crazy frenzy it could ever be in. It squeal like mad as it chased them.


    Seeing what was chasing him, Al started booking it. A young Devil Tusk is slightly stronger than a goblin. A full grown one is way more than he can handle. Seeing this, the girl called out, ¡°How can you just leave a girl as cute as me behind?!¡± But Al didn¡¯t care, since she was the one who bought it to him. The girl started booking it as well, catching up t0 Al. Al then saw the boulders he spent the night at, and then looked back at the Devil Tusk, comparing its size to the boulder. It was smaller than the boulder, and it is known to not be able to jump high. Making his decision, Al ran up to, and climbed back up the broken boulder, then the bigger boulder. The girl then also started to climb as well, but was struggling.


    Seeing this, and that the boar closing in, Al jumped down and helped her up. The board grinds to a stop in front of the boulder, squealing in anger. Al then looked down on the boar, hoping that it would soon give up. It soons started circling the boulder, no intention of stopping. ¡°That was a close one. Thanks!¡± He turns to see the girl standing next to him. ¡°But it sure looks like it ain¡¯t giving up any time soon.¡± she added. ¡°It looks like he won¡¯t stop until we kill it, or it kills you.¡± Al remarked. ¡°What? You can¡¯t just let it kill me!¡± she shouted in response to what Al said. ¡° I wouldn¡¯t. That¡¯s why I helped you get up here. But why did you run after me instead of running a different direction?¡± he asked. ¡°Um¡­ hehe. Well¡­ I was hoping you were a silver rank adventurer that would be able to deal with it.¡± She replied smiling at Al. ¡°Well, sorry to crush your hopes, but I¡¯m a copper rank that started just yesterday.¡± ¡°EH?! What do we do now?! I¡¯m also just a copper rank!¡± Al just looked at her with a sadden faced, then respond, ¡°Well, we could just hope a silver rank happens to pass by soon. Oh, and I¡¯m Alderick. Copper rank Mystic support.¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯m Darretta, Copper rank Slayer damage.¡± She replied smiling.


    Al and Darretta continued to look at the boar as it stomps around. A crazy idea came to his mind, since they have been here for quite awhile. ¡°Maybe¡­ maybe we might be able to kill it.¡± He said to himself quietly. ¡°What?! Are you crazy?! Even two Iron rank members would have a hard time!¡± Darretta shouted to Al¡¯s ear. ¡°That¡¯s true, but if we can slow it down, we can possibly slowly deal enough damage to it to drive if away. I will slow it down with Bind, and I will buff your agility. But while I¡¯m channeling Boost: Agility, I can¡¯t attack, so you¡¯ll have to attack it by yourself.¡± ¡°What?!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°You want me to go fight that thing by myself, while you hide up here?! What kind of man are you!¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just that while I¡¯m channeling, I¡¯ll be wide open. If it targets me, I¡¯ll die. And then you will die next, by either the boar, or my ghost for having cause me to die.¡± Al says this while looking at her with a displeased and annoyed look for having brought this upon them. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Darretta turn her head away in guilt. ¡°Hrrg Nnnn. OK! Ok¡­ I¡¯ll do what you say. But if I die! I will haunt you for the rest of your life!¡± She replied, and then drew her two swords. Al then turns back towards the boar. ¡°Ok, once I cast Bind, you go attack it, and I¡¯ll support you.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Al focus on the boar. ¡°BIND!¡± The Devil Tusk lets out a squeal, then focuses on Al, completely forgetting about Darretta. At that moment she jumps down and strikes down on it. Even though she sliced down hard, it barely left a scratch on it. She then jumps back a few feet. ¡°It¡¯s fur is too strong, it might take me awhile to do some serious damage to it!¡± she shouted to Al. That attack had gotten the focus of the boar, and it made its way to her. But it moved slowly due to bind. ¡°Boost: Agility!¡± Al shouted and began channeling the spell. Darretta then decides to distance herself some more from the boar. Due to the boost, she quickly got a lot of distance. She then lift one of her sword in front of her, and started focusing. The sword then started to glow a faint light blue. She then sweeps out in front of her. ¡°Sonic Blade!¡±


    Once she swings the sword, a shockwave flew towards the boar, hitting it directly in the head. It chipped one of the tusk, but left a pretty deep cut on the boars face. It let out a loud screech in pain as his head started to bleed a little, and stopped in its path. Darretta readies her swords and charges towards it. She thrust with both weapon at the wounded head. The boar then dodges to the side, and then head butt Darretta¡¯s side, knocking her back. One of his tusk had stabbed her in her thigh. She was now having a hard time getting back on her feet, and was shouting in pain. It then started stomping the grounds, getting ready to charged then injured girl.


    Just then, Al jumps off the boulder, and stabs the boar in the back with his dagger. It penetrated the back, but Al had a hard time trying the pull the blade out. The boar jumps away from Al, then jumps back to him, slapping him hard with its three tails, and knocking him back. Now the boar focuses on Al, and started charging, evidently showing that bind has wore off. It charged extremely fast, Al barely dodging to the side. It grinds to a halt some distance away from them, giving Al time to cast a Minor Heal on Darretta, allowing her to get back on her feet. After he had finishing casting the heal, the boar had turn around and started to charge towards him again. But seeing that the boar can not stop fast enough, this gave him an idea. He made a dash towards the boulder, and the boar charges him.


    Al is now in front of the boulder, and wait for the boar to reach him. Just as the boar was about to reach him, he jumped out of the way, causing the boar to slam against the boulder. The impact was so hard that the ground around them started shaking. The boar had charged the boulder so hard that it left a huge cracked in it. On the other hand, the boulder had done much more severe damage to the boar. It had broken off its tusks, and stun it. Seizing this chance, Al shouted for Darretta to attack it once more. She readies another Sonic Blade, but this time did a downward slash, sending the shockway in a verticle line towards the boar. The attack cut the boar deeply on its sides, and it cried out in pain. ¡°Again!¡± Al yelled. ¡°I can¡¯t! I can¡¯t use it again in such a short amount of time!¡± Darretta yelled back.


    ¡°Then just run up and cut it! It¡¯s still dazed from the boulder.¡± ¡°It''s too hard, I can¡¯t cut deep enough!¡± ¡°Just do it!¡± Darretta then dashes towards the boar, and started wildly hacking away at the boar, barely scratching it. ¡°Boost: Sharpen!¡± Darretta¡¯s weapon then glowed red, and she started to be able to cut deeper into the boar. It then squeal out, and started thrashing about, forcing Darretta to back away. It had now recover from its daze, but now is incredibly injured. Not liking the odds, the boar started limping away from the pair. ¡°Hurry finish it off! Boost: Agility¡± Al told Darretta. She then dashes after it. And right when she reached it, Al switch back to Boost: Sharpen. She started wilding hacking away again at the fleeing animal. After several more hits, it goes down. She then walks to it¡¯s head and lopped it off. ¡°Divines blessed us! We killed a Devil Tusk.¡± She exclaimed excitedly at Al. Al then sat down on the grass, mentally tired from the fight. He could only smile back at Darretta, who was jumping around in happiness.


    ¡°So¡­ how do you want to split up the boar?¡± Darretta ask Al once he recovered and had walked over to the now dead Devil Tusk. ¡°I¡¯ll take its meat, seeing as I don¡¯t need its fur or tusk. You can have them all.¡± He replied. ¡°What? I want some meat too!¡± Darretta debated back, with what looks like drools coming out of her mouth. After a couple of debate they decided to split the boar down the middle. They each ended up with half the meat, some of the boar¡¯s fur, and one tusk each. Darretta gets to keep the head, seeing as she was the first to encounter the beast. ¡°So¡­ How did you come to be chased by this thing?¡± Al, now having the time to question Darretta. ¡°Well, I was searching the fields for Bladed Grass. And I heard that wild animals likes eating them more than regular grass, so¡­ I, uh¡­ I follow some young Devil Tusk around¡­ I guess the adult didn¡¯t like me stalking its babies¡­¡±


    Al showed a really annoy look to Darretta. It wasn¡¯t about her causing the whole boar problem. It was merely the mention of Bladed Grass that ticked him off. He had completely forgotten he also had that quest. ¡°So¡­ how many were you able to gather?¡± ¡°A little bit over thirty, I think. I don¡¯t know if they are all herbs.¡± Al¡¯s eyes light up. ¡°Can I get some?! So I can also complete my quest.¡± ¡°What? No way! It¡¯s one silver coin per ten. I can¡¯t just give away silver like that.¡± She replied, while covering her pouch, and slightly turning away from Al. ¡°...Boar. I was just an innocent bystander. But you dragged me into it, and then I had to help you out. If not for me, you could be dead right now.¡± Al replied as he just stare emotionlessly at her. ¡°Ehhhhhhhhhh¡­ Fine¡­ I¡¯ll give you some.¡± ¡°Great.¡± Al smiled. After a bit more chit chat between them, they both went their separate ways. Daretta needed to head off to a nearby village to send a letter, while Al needed to go back to town to turn in his quest. Al walked a pretty peaceful way back to Trisdia. He had to get into a line to go into town. Seeing as the line was fairly long, he knew he was going to wait for awhile.

 Chapter 4: Temple of Divines

    Alderick waited for what feels like days in the inspection line. The wait made long due to the extra items he is carrying on his back because of the Devil Tusk. Eventually he got close to the front near the gate. ¡°Hey you!¡± One of the guards shouted, and pointed towards Al. He then walk to Al, bends down, pat Al¡¯s head and then showed a friendly smile. ¡°Kid, where are your parents?¡± Al just looked at him and showed a sour face. He knew the guard. Or rather, the captain of the guards. Kolen, a commoner who had risen up to the rank of captain by pure skills alone. A master with the lance. No matter how you look at him, he looks just like any other guard or soldier in the army. Kolen doesn¡¯t get to wear the special Captain armor due to his commoner background. Usually commoners can¡¯t rise beyond the rank of a lieutenant, but he was an exception.


    ¡°Stop teasing me this early. Just let me through since you know who I am.¡± Al said still with a sour face. Kolen lets out a laugh. ¡°Well, procedures are procedures. But we normally let adventurer pass.¡± He then reaches out his hands, as if to ask for Al¡¯s Guild Card. Al hands it over to Kolen, and he carefully inspects it and hands it back. ¡°Alright! Let this man pass!¡± Kolen shouted towards the other guards. He then turns back to Al and smiled. ¡°Congratulations on becoming an adventurer Al.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Al replied, and started walking inside the city. ¡°Oh, Al! A few more things.¡± Al turns back towards Kolen. ¡°Go visit the orphanage, my sister misses you.¡± Al then just stare at Kolen. Thought for a bit about the orphanage, then turns back and headed into the city. ¡°OH! And next time just walk up to the front and show your Guild Card. They¡¯ll let you in right away!¡± Kolen added and turn and laugh away, knowing he had pissed Al off. Al stopped in frustration knowing that Kolen had just made him wait in line instead of just telling him. ¡°Damn that guy!¡± Al shouted in frustration and then continued on.


    Al walked pretty fast to get to the guild as fast as possible, since waiting in line for the inspection had taken him too long. He still had to visit the blacksmith, the magic shop, and then the Temple of the Divines. He thought for a bit, and then added the orphanage to the list. As he continued to walk, he heard a familiar voice called out. ¡°Hey Al! You back from your quest?¡± He turns to see Gendrol working at the forge, just stopping to put his hammer down and motions Al over. Al decided he might as well stop here first and then go to the guild, so he walked over.


    ¡°Yes, I finish it yesterday but had to spend a night outside.¡± Nothing like a night in the great outdoors after a hunt.¡± After saying that Gendrol smiled. His eyes then notice the fur that Al was carrying. ¡°Blessed Divines, how¡¯d you manage to get that?¡± ¡°Ah, I helped another adventurer kill a Devil Tusk.¡± Al replied, and then showed the fur to Gendrol. Gendrol inspected the fur and then gave an approving nod. ¡°This is in good condition. Not the best due to some of the cuts on it, but still good. What do you plan to do with it?¡± ¡°I was planning to just sell it to the guild.¡± ¡°What? You would just sell this? Tell you what, give it to me, and I¡¯ll make it into a nice piece of equipment for you. A nice cloak to keep you warm at night while you sleep outside.¡± Gendrol lets out a laugh.


    ¡°But it¡¯s only if you want. I also know an Enchantress who could enchant it with magic, but it¡¯ll cost you some coins.¡± Al thought for a bit. An enchanted item could really help him in future request. ¡°I don¡¯t have any money right now, but I will once I turn in the quest.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine lad. Give it to me, and then come back in a few hours, I will have it ready for you and you can pay me then. I¡¯ll give you a discount too since I don¡¯t get many chance to work with this kind of material.¡± Al agreed, and let the dwarf have the fur for now. He then said goodbye and continued on to the guild.


    Al reaches the Guild hall and walks in. It¡¯s busy as always. He looks over to the counter and sees Maria and the counter, working on paperwork. Seeing that there¡¯s no line at the counter, he walks straight up to her, and waited until she notice him. She looks up to see him and smiled. ¡°Hey, welcome back. How was your first quest?¡± ¡°It went well.¡± Al replied, and started pulling items out of his bag. ¡°There was six goblins in total. And can you check to see if these are Bladed Grass? I still can¡¯t tell.¡± He placed twelve goblin ears on the counter and a pile of grass. ¡°There was more than one goblin? I will run that with the higher ups, and give you the reward for six goblins. I will check on the grass right now.¡±


    Maria then start inspecting the grass, ¡°Analyze¡± She pick the up one by one. After she would check them, she¡¯d place some on the counter, while some she tossed to the side. ¡°You have eleven Bladed Grass.¡± She said and smiled. ¡°Great, that means I¡¯m turning in both the quest I have taken.¡± Al said, and hands over the quest papers to her. Maria takes the papers, and got up from her chair and moved to the back. After a short wait, she comes back with a small bag, and placed it on the counter. ¡°Ok, for the completion of two quest, your reward with be two silver coins. I have put one silver coin and one hundred copper coins in this bag. One silver coin for ten herbs of Bladed Grass, sixty copper coins for slaying six goblins, and an extra forty copper coins for the unexpected higher numbers of goblins in your quest.¡± She pushed the coins towards Al, in which he took and placed it into his bag.


    ¡°Is there anything else you would like to report?¡± Maria added. ¡°Oh, uh, Earlier today I helped another adventurer kill an adult Devil Tusk.¡± Al replied, having forgotten about it for a moment. ¡°What?! You killed a full grown Devil Tusk?!¡± Maria shouted, bring the entire hall into silence. Everyone looked over to Al. ¡°Y-Yeah¡­ I helped an adventurer by the name of Darretta. We both took turn to attack it, and eventually we killed it.¡± Al replied, feeling a little embarrassed and awkward from all the attention he is getting. ¡°Are you injured? Where did you fight? Do you have any proof of killing it?¡± Maria started bombarding Al as he just blanked out, unsure of what to say due to shock of how she was acting. He could only utter a ¡°Um¡­¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s just that an adult Devil Tusk is usually a rank Iron quest, and even sometimes a rank Silver only quest. It¡¯s hard to believe a copper rank took one down, even with the help of another adventurer. May I ask what rank Darretta was?¡± Maria asked, a little excited from hearing a copper rank had killed one. Al started to compose himself, and then tried to answer all the questions. ¡°Um¡­ No I¡¯m not injured. We fought it on the Northern Plains near the fork in the road. I have it¡¯s tusk and some meat. I¡¯m afraid I have given it¡¯s fur to a blacksmith to make me something. Darretta¡¯s rank is also copper.¡± Maria¡¯s mouth opened wide, not believe what she had just heard. Two copper ranks taking down a fully grown Devil Tusk is something that doesn¡¯t happen very often.


    ¡°M-May I see the tusk and the meat to confirm this?¡± She stood up, eagerly waiting for Al to pull the items out. Al then pulls out the tusk and a piece of the meat onto the table. Maria then started inspecting the items. She then placed it back on the counter. ¡°Please give me a moment.¡± She said as she started running to the back, and into the back door. A few of the other adventurers had gotten up and started forming a crown to see the tusk. ¡°Did you really killed one?" "Are you really copper rank?" "As expected of someone who passed Master Hudsonus¡¯ test.¡± The adventurer started saying and asking questions around him.


    At this moment, Maria came back from the door, and so did Kreyg. She directed him to the items, and he picked up the tusk and started inspecting it. Then help placed his hands on both ends of the tusk as if to measure it. After a few seconds, he nodded. ¡°This is indeed the tusk of an adult Devil Tusk.¡± He then place it back on the counter. He looks at Al and then smiled. ¡°Glad to see you are doing well. But I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t give you a reward for this just yet. We will have to wait for the other adventurer to come back and confirms this story. In the meantime, we will buy any materials you had gather from it.¡± He then bowed, and walk back to back room. Maria then looks at Al, and then smiled. ¡°Congratulations of killing a beast that gives even a Iron rank a hard time.We will buy any items you have for the current market price.¡± ¡°I think I will keep the meat, so the only thing I have to sell is the tusk.¡± Al said, putting the meat back into his bag, but leaving the tusk on the counter. ¡°Ok, the current price for one adult Devil Tusk¡¯s tusk is two gold coins.¡± Maria replied, and then took the tusk to the back. She soon came back with two gold coins and hands it over to Al. Al takes it and put it into his coin bag he got just a little while ago. A little nervous from the attention, he quickly left the hall.


    After leaving the Guild hall in a rush, Al made his way to the Temple of the Divines. The temple is where people go to pray to the divines and learn new skills. There are many divines, but the most well known and worshiped is the three major ones. Bravius, the god of Honor, Strength, and Courage. Marellda the goddess of Love and Magic. And Senpai, the goddess of Justice and Redemption. Most people prayed to these three to learn their skills, with their choice usually depending on their class.Most warriors, slayers, and berserkers pray to Bravius. Spellcasters such as Spell Masters, Enchantress, Priest, and Mystics pray to Marellda. While Assassins, Slayers, and Paladins prays to Senpai. People are born without their class and roles, and when they reach the age of five, then then choose which Divine to serve and pray to. Then from there, choose their Class, but their role is up to the Divines, who chooses depending on the person and what talent they have for the future.When praying to the Divines, most people will actually speak to them. They are taken into a state of meditation, and from there can make their reports to the Divine, and then request more skills. Most people describe the experience as being taking high into the sky above the clouds, the space filled with bright colors and they would feel warm.


    Al reaches the stairs to the temple. There he is greeted by the priests and allowed passage into the temple. He moved to a open area away from other people who are praying to their divine. He then gets on one knee and prayed. He then feels shadows rising from the ground and surrounds him. He feels cold air blowing against him, and a sense of dread and fear. He opens his eyes to complete darkness as if he never opened them. He could see a small, faint light. From there he could make out a huge shadow figure approaching him. Unlike most people, he prays to a lesser know Divine. He prays to Death, the God of Fear, Death, Destructions, and the Guardians of Souls. As Death reaches him, Al feels a cold as if he was standing in the middle of a blizzard, and such a heavy pressure that would crush him if he so much as moved.


    All Al could see is a giant shadowy cloak. Death had no face or features, only darkness. ¡°Well¡­ Look who we have here. Alderick, my only human worshipper.¡± When Death spoke, it sounds as if he spoke directly into Al¡¯s mind, almost to the point of driving him insane. ¡°I¡¯ve come to offer you a gift.¡± Al said, and he pulled his short sword from his waist and placed it in front of him. Death looks down on it, then waved his hands over the sword. The sword glows, and seven light float up from the sword. Six small light, and one really big one. They float to Death, and he lifts his hands in front of him with an open palm. The light gathers to his hands then cluster up and faded into his hands. He then closes his hands.


    ¡°I appreciate this gift Alderick. Rarely do I get offer the soul of a Devil Tusk. It was a most enjoyable fight that I got to witness.¡± Al was shocked to learn that Death watched him fight the boar. ¡°I know and see everything that you do Alderick. And remember, whether alive or dead, you belong to me. You shall serve me for eternity.¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m honor to serve. Now and forever. ¡°For such a nice gift, I shall grant you three new skills. Use them well to continued to serve me.¡± ¡°I do not deserve such a wonderful reward.¡± Death then surrounds Al in a cloud of darkness. Al feels as if his body was going to get crushed from it. But the knowledge of new skills came to him. ¡°I am done with you now. Go back and serve me well." The shadows then dropped Al back down. He opens his eyes, he was now back in the temple.


    Skills Learned:


    Aura of Agility


    Aura of Strength


    Aura of Sacrifice

 Chapter 5: Orphanage

    Alderick leaves the temple. He was about to make his way back to the blacksmith, but the Orphanage came into view. He contemplated going to visit or not for awhile. Remembering that he had more meat than he needed, he decided to drop by to give some to the orphanage.The Orphanage was run by a retired adventurer and his daughter. He walks over, and then peeks in. He could see several kids playing around in the yard. Then he spots a young woman playing with the kids. It was the daughter who helps run the orphanage, Ammalinde. She was a young lady, with long silver hair, with blue eyes that when you stare into, it makes you feel as in you are staring into the endless ocean. She is usually rather quiet, but can talk your ears off when you get her started on a subject she enjoys. From what Al could remember, she was also an adventurer from the guild. An Iron rank Paladin. He wasn¡¯t sure how to talk to them once he goes in and hesitated at the gate. Someone grabs him from behind on the shoulders, and he turns around to see an elderly gentleman.


    It was Carne, the person who runs the orphanage, and a retired Mythril adventurer. He was wearing a nice suit with a bowtie. If Al didn¡¯t know better, he would¡¯ve thought Carne was a butler from a noble¡¯s house. ¡°What you are doing is pretty suspicious young man.¡± Carne started. ¡°I can¡¯t have you try anything funny to my precious childrens.¡±He showed an expression as if he was about to show Al a beating of a lifetime. Al looked shocked. ¡°Wait, Carne! It¡¯s me. Alderick!¡± He explained himself. ¡°Kolen said I should come visit, so I just dropped by after visiting the temple.¡± Carne then showed a gentle expression. ¡°Oh-ho, It is Alderick. Why are you standing here like a pervert? Come on, let''s go in.¡± He then led Al inside.Al followed him in.


    ¡°Come on kids, we have a guest.¡± All the kids look over, and then ran up to Carne, cheering and yelling welcome back. ¡°This is Alderick. He was also living here until just a year ago.¡± He introduced Al to the group. ¡°Hello.¡± was all Al could say, uncertain on how to talk to the kids. Many of them were new faces that weren¡¯t there a year ago. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s Al!¡± One of the kid shouted while pointing at him. ¡°Welcome back! I miss you!¡± The kid ran up and hugged Al. The kid was a little girl known as Evie. She was an energetic girl with long brown hair. She was pretty attached to Al back when he was still living here.


    Al patted her head and smile. ¡°I¡¯m back for a visit.¡± ¡°Ehhh¡­. You aren¡¯t going to stay with Evie?¡± She replied with a sad expression, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes, making it almost impossible to say no to her. ¡°No, I can¡¯t. I have some more work to do. But I¡¯ve brought you guys some food.¡± Al said as he started showing the kids the meat he got from earlier. ¡°Oh-ho, aren''t those from a Devil Tusk? I¡¯m amazed you killed one.¡± Carne said while looking at the meat. Al was surprised that he could tell with one look. ¡°Amma, can you take this to the kitchen?¡± Ammalinde walked over, showing no expression on her face. She takes the meat, bowed to Al, then walked inside the building.


    Al and Carne sat outside talking and catching up while the kids continued playing. ¡°So, what have you been doing this past year?¡± Carne asked. ¡°I¡¯ve been continuing my training, and doing some odd jobs. I¡¯m now staying at the Shadow Raven Inn at the west district of town. I¡¯ve also just became an adventurer a couple of days ago.¡± Al replied, while his eyes focus on the kids. ¡°How have you guys been? There seems to be more kids here now than before. Are you guys getting enough to eat?¡± Al asked back. ¡°We¡¯ve been doing ok. A few adventurers come by and donate some gold or items for us to use. The war however is getting slightly worse. More and more orphans of war are showing up in all the towns and cities, and they end up getting pushed here. Amma has also been doing some quest to help us feed everyone so you don¡¯t have to worry too much.¡± Carne replied. The chit chat stopped for a moment.


    Al knew that Carne was waiting for him to ask, but he wasn¡¯t sure how he should. ¡°How¡­ how is Natalie? Is she still living here too? Or did she also moved out?¡± Al finally asked. Natalie was also an orphan who was the same age as Al that stayed here while he was still living here. She was the sister of Kolen, and also from the same village that Al was from. The two of them were close, but when Al turned seventeen, and planned to move out, Natalie asked him to stay with them. She wanted to stay here and continued helping the orphanage, but Al wanted to become a strong adventurer so that he can help villages out so that no more kids will become orphans. ¡°She cried herself to sleep for awhile after you left you know.¡± Carne said while he turn his gaze towards the kids.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t stay here. You know why.¡± Al said as he then turn his he down to look at the dirt. ¡°I couldn¡¯t stand the thought of more villages being burned down and more kids being forced to come here with no more family. I can¡¯t just not do anything.¡± Carne then patted Al¡¯s head, and then looked at him. ¡°I know why you left. I understand why you left. It is because I know that I thought you swordsmanship did I not? It¡¯s just that she didn¡¯t want to lose you too. You were her new family, and the thought of you putting yourself in danger was too much for her.¡± Al couldn¡¯t respond to this, and remained quiet. They both just sat there quietly while watching the kids play.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Ammalinde came back outside and told them the food was ready. All the kids cheered, and then ran inside the building. Al and Carne sat there still, watching the kids exiticly run back inside. ¡°Are you not going to join us? You did bring the food after all.¡± Carne asked as he got up and motions for Al to go inside. Al soon got up and went inside. He walked into the dining room. It was a huge room with one very large table and chairs surrounding the table. He sat down in the middle of one side of the table, while Carne and Ammalinde sat at both ends of the table. Evie ran and sat next to Al. Once she got on the chair, she turned and smile happily at Al. He smiled back and patted her head.


    Amma had cooked the meat into stew and stir fried. There were also breads laid out on the table. After Carne gave a prayer to the Divines, everyone started grabbing for food. Since Evie was having a hard time reaching some of the food, Al gave her food. ¡°Thank you.¡± She said, smiling like an angel at Al. Once everyone started eating, they also started exclaiming how tasty it was. It was a happy setting of everyone enjoying a meal together that Al had not experience since he was last here. He had missed Amma¡¯s cooking. She could turn the most simple ingredients into something amazing.


    As everyone was enjoying their meal, someone open the door into the room. ¡°Wah, something smells good.¡± Everyone turn to see who it was. At the door was a young woman, around Al¡¯s age. She had long black hair that was tied up in a ponytail. She wore a simple dress and had emerald eyes. She turns and sees Al. Her smiled disappeared, and she showed a sad expression. She didn¡¯t say anything. The room was quiet for a short time, that to Al felt like an eternity. ¡°Welcome home Natalie. Sit, and eat, Al brought us some food.¡± Carne spoke to break the silence. Natalie nodded and sat down on the opposite side of Al. The kids started talking again, and the happy mood came back. Only Al and Natalie remained quiet through the meal.


    After the meal, Amma and Natalie took the kids upstairs for class, while Al and Carne went into Carne¡¯s study. They talked for a bit more. ¡°Ah, before I forget, let me congratulate you on becoming an adventurer. It¡¯s not easy work, especially the higher rank you become. But remember to hold your head high, and that no matter what, you will always be welcome here.¡± Al nodded. He bowed and walked out the office. As he reaches the stairs, he notice Natalie standing at the front door, her hands behind her back leaning against the door. Al walks down the stairs to her. ¡°Can we talk for a bit?¡± She asked. Al nods and motions for them to go outside.


    ¡°Have you been doing good since you left?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°I¡¯ve been good. I just completed a few quest earlier at the guild.¡± Al replied, thinking about what to say next. ¡°So you did become an adventurer¡­¡± She said softly to herself. She showed a worried face. Al had always felt guilty whenever he sees he show that face. ¡°I¡¯ll be ok. I¡¯m only going to fight battles I know I will win. I won¡¯t do anything dangerous. It¡¯ll mostly be the likes of spiders, pests, and goblins¡­¡± ¡°I know you will be fine. After all, you got trained by Carne. I¡¯m still just worried.¡± The two became quiet.


    Al couldn¡¯t take the silence so he randomly asked a question. ¡°Where did you go earlier?¡± She looked at him, slightly surprised by the sudden question. ¡°Oh, I do part time work at the magic shop.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Silence again. After a couple of minutes, Al was just about to say goodbye and run off, but she suddenly spoke. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you come to visit until now?¡± She said softly. Al didn¡¯t know how to respond. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I just didn¡¯t know if I should. I didn¡¯t know if I would be welcome here anymore at the time.¡± He turn to face her, and made eye contact. She was on the verge of crying. She suddenly hugged him. ¡°You are always welcome here.¡± Al stood there for a second, then hugged her back. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± The two remained like this for awhile. A sudden chirping sound interrupted the two. Al pulls out his guild card that was making the sound. He had just received a message from Darretta. Heyo! It¡¯s Darretta. I¡¯m at the guild and they want you to come back to it. Something about the Devil Tusk we killed. After Al read the message, he looked at Natalie. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ The guild wants me to go back.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come back to visit again. When I have time.¡± She nodded and he left.


    Once Al reached the guild hall, he went in. The usual packed hall was now completely empty. There were only three people at the counter. Darretta, Maria, and Kreyg. He walked up to them to see what they needed. ¡°We have confirmed your story with Darretta, and consider that you both have defeated the devil tusk.¡± Kreyg stated. Both Darretta and Al smiled. ¡°But seeing as how it is a monster normally assign to rank Iron or higher, we decided it might be fair to allow you a chance to rank up.¡± Al was surprised by this. Ranking up a few days after joining is a big achievement. ¡°But for you to be allowed to rank up, you will go through a trial. It¡¯ll be sim-¡± He was interrupted before he could finish. Someone had grabbed him in the shoulder from behind. ¡°In short, you will be facing me together as a simple test.¡± Came a deep familiar voice to Al. One he dreaded hearing say ¡°Simple test.¡± Al turns to see Hudsonus with a huge grin on his face.

 Chapter 6: Promotion Test

    Hudsonus leads Al and Darretta to the arena in the back. As they reached the arena, Al now sees why the guild hall was empty earlier. Majority of the adventurer was around the arena, drinking shouting, and even started a betting pool. The odds were fifty to one for us winning, and two to one for Hudsonus. Even then, majority of the bets were on Hudsonus. And just right around the edge of the arena stood eight people all at different point of the arena. Kreyg went to an empty spot and stood there as well. Hudsonus went to one side of the arena and instructed Al and Darretta to the other. ¡°Alright so, this test is extremely simple. Survive for five minutes against me. I will be going at you at the same strength and speed as a Devil Tusk have.¡± Hudsonus stated. Al and Darretta looked at each other and then back to Hudsonus.


    These guys still doubt that we killed one. They are using this test as a judgment and to see if we were able to kill one by ourselves. Al started looking at the people standing near the arena. They were all the supervisors and head supervisors. ¡°Now, you are allowed to use your real weapons, while I¡¯ll still use training ones. Come at me as if your lives depends on it. Because it will, and I will not hold back.¡± Right as he said this, his smile disappeared from his faced and he focus intently on us. The pressure he exerted was heavy. The crowd grew quiet, all the cheering disappeared and they only sat and watched now. It took all of Darretta¡¯s strength to stay standing while the pressure had already forced Al down to his knees. This pressure is insane! It almost feels like the time I spend with Death. Not as strong, but still overwhelming. Kreyg tossed a wooden sword and a shield to Hudsonus. He then swing the sword around for a bit, then turns to focus on the pair again. ¡°Are you ready?¡± His usual light hearted tone gone, replaced with a deep gruffed voice. Al manages to get to his feet, and took one final glanced at Darretta. They made eye contact, and then turns to Hudsonus and nodded.


    Within a heartbeat of their nod, Hudsonus leaps forward with great speed, giving almost no time for the pair to react. They both leaped to the side away from each other and from Hudsonus. Al was just a tad slow, and his hands barely touched by the lunge attack from Hudsonus. His hands felt as if they were slammed against a boulder. He immediately focus to slow the madman down. ¡°Bind¡± Hudsonus stops for a moment, realising that he had been slowed, and turns towards Al to beat down first. As he was about to reach Al, Al had leaped back. ¡°Now!¡± To the side of Hudsonus came a wave of light. He lifted his shield to protect himself. The sound of the impact echoed away through the crowd and faded of into the distance. ¡°Oh-ho. Sonic Blade is it?¡± Hudsonus chuckled, amused to see a Copper rank with such a skill.


    Seeing as Hudsonus was distracted with the small amusement he was having, Darretta charged forth with blurring speed giving Hudsonus a rough time dodging and blocking the attack made from her. He then blocked a frontal attack, steps forward, and Shield Bashed her away and down from him. He thought to himself how is a copper rank moving at a speed equivalent to that of a Iron, almost Silver rank. He turns to see Al channeling a spell. ¡°Boost: Agility too? This is getting interesting.¡± He said to himself. ¡°But I will finish you off first!¡± He then strikes down on the fallen Darretta. She tried to dodge to the side, but was struck hard in the side. She rolled away afterwards and stood up. He was confused as to how she stood up after taking a direct attack from him. She was hurt, but not as much as she should¡¯ve been. Just then Al lets out a scream of pain, and fell to his knees, his hands applying pressure to the same area that Darretta had been hit in. Hudsonus stare at Al confused. Then his face turned into anger. ¡°Where did you learn that?!¡± He shouted.


    Hudsonus started stomping his way towards Al. Al tried to get up on his feet, but failed as the pain to his side was too much. As Hudsonus reached Al, Darretta springs in from his blind side and struck him. Hudsonus turns towards her, and started attack and blocking her attacks. Her speed was not as fast as before, making it easier for Hudsonus to deflect her attacks. Using this precious time, Al started to heal himself with Minor Heal. The pain subsided, but his sides were going numb. He then focus to try and heal Darretta as well, then to continued Boost:Agility and switching to Boost: Sharpen when the timing is right. Just as he finally healed her, and then buff, it was too late. Hudsonus speed came back and he was out matching her in speed even with the channeled boost from Al. Bind had wear off.


    Hudsonus knocks Darretta¡¯s weapon away, and then kicked her far to the side of the arena. He then turn his focus onto Al. Al had already lunged at him with his dagger, hoping to land a hit from the blindspot. Hudsonus easily deflect Al¡¯s blade to the side with his sword, and then used his shield to slam Al down to the ground. Al let out a gasped for air as the blow had knocked all the wind out of him. Hudsonus then grabbed Al by the collar and pulled him up to him. ¡°Where did you learn Aura of Sacrifice?!¡± He shouted. His faced full of anger as he said the skill. Just as he waited for Al to answer, Darretta had taken this time to pick up one of her swords and launched another Sonic Blade at Hudsonus.


    However, Hudsonus used he swords to deflect the attack up into the skies. He then throws his shield hard to Darretta, hitting her directly in the chest, knocking her out, and far away from the arena. He turns to Al, who started spitting out blood from his mouth, and tightly clenching his chest. His Aura of Sacrifice was still on. He stood up and shouted. ¡°This test is over!¡± Kreyg then look at his watch and announced. ¡°Four minutes and twenty seven seconds. Unfortunately, these two have failed the test, and denied promotion."This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Quickly heal them up!¡± Hudsonus shouted. Kreyg then clasp his hand together. ¡° Healing Light!¡± A wave of light shined down onto both Al and Darretta. Al quickly sat up, gasping and confused as to what had happened. He looks up to see an angered Hudsonus looking down on him. ¡°Come see me in my office later!¡± Hudsonus shouted. He threw his sword down to the ground and stomps off into the guild hall. Al could only blankly stare forward, dazed and not even know what was going on. Darretta had gotten up and walked over to Al. ¡°Damn, we were pretty close to it. Another thirty seconds, and we would¡¯ve been Iron rank!¡± She exclaimed, unsatisfied that they were so close, yet so far from beating the test. ¡°No¡­¡± Al replied. ¡°We weren¡¯t even close. He didn¡¯t even use a single skill once. He was merely having fun as usual.¡±


    ¡°Alderick. Hudsonus wants to see you in his office. Make your way to him once you have recover.¡± Al turn to see Kreyg standing over him. ¡°His office is up the stairs, and once you go down the small hallway, and then turn left. Continued going down it and it will be the room all the way at the end of it.¡± Al nodded and tried to stand up. He was struggling, so Darretta helped him up. She was about to accompany him to Hudsonus, when Kreyg stopped her. ¡°He only wants to see Alderick. You on the other hand can go home. It is getting late.¡± The sun was beginning to set. ¡°Alright people, pack it up. Shows over. All of you are to return home now!¡± He shouted at the crowd. None of them made a peep, and just quietly made their way into the streets. Al on the other hand made his way inside the guild hall, accompanied by all the supervisors. None of them said anything to him. As they walked in, Al walked over to the stairs, and took a glance at them. They just stood over by the door, not moving and watching him go up the stairs. Once he reached the top, he made his way to Hudsonus¡¯ office and knocked. ¡°Master, it¡¯s me, Alderick.¡± ¡°Come in, and close the doors.


    Al walks into the room, and closed the door behind him. He took a look around the room. It had all sorts of weapons hanging on the wall. There were greatswords, battle axes, and shields everywhere. ¡°Come, sit down.¡± Hudsonus said, and pointed towards a chair in front of his desk. Al walks over and took a seat, while Hudsonus pours drinks into two cups at a table near the wall. He walks over and handed one to Al, and then walked over to sit down on his chair on the other side of the desk. ¡°Tell me, and tell me truthfully. Where did you learn Aura of Sacrifice?¡± Hudsonus ask, with a serious tone. ¡°I-I¡­¡± Al was too fearful and nervous to answer the question. ¡°Take a drink, and take your time. I apologize for earlier. I didn¡¯t mean to go that far with the test.¡±


    Al took a sip of the drink, and coughed. It was an alcoholic drink, something that he was not used to. He then put the cup down on the desk, and tried to answer again. ¡°I just learned the skill earlier today when I went to pray at the Temple of the Divines, sir.¡± Hudsonus had his hands clasped together in front of his face and his eyes focus intently at Al as if trying to determine if he was telling the truth. ¡°If I may, can I ask you to tell me who you pray to?¡± Al hesitated, unsure if he should tell Hudsonus about Death. Although not banned, none prays to Death for he is said to claim your soul at the end of your life and sentence you to servitude for eternity. He is also the only Divine to be worshiped by demons.


    ¡°I¡­ I worship Death, sir.¡± Hudsonus showed a dead serious look. He lowers his hands and leaned back as if to ponder what to do about this. He grabs his cup, and chugged his drink down. ¡°I will not stop you from worshiping who you wish. But I will say that worshiping him is a terrible choice. May I ask why you worship him out of all the Divines?¡± Al stayed quiet for awhile. ¡°About ten years ago, my village was attacked. Houses were burning, fields destroyed, everyone running and screaming as they got cut down from bandits. The village had request aid from the kingdom¡¯s army months before the attack, but no one came. As I was outside in the fields as a child, watching my friends and family get slaughter like animals, I did the only thing I could. I prayed to the Divines for aid. There was no answer. I prayed and prayed no answers. When I had given up hope, and was ready to accept my cruel fate. I heard it.¡±


    ¡°Swear yourself to me. And I will give you the power to survive this fate.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t hesitate. I wanted to survive. I wanted to help whoever else was still alive. I didn¡¯t even question who or what it was. I was merely a child who needed help with no other choice but his. So I swore myself to him. I swore myself to serve him forever should he allowed me to survive this as bandits approached me. Next I know, shadows rosed up and surrounded me and my mind faded away. After that I awoke to see myself standing, with a short sword I do not recognized, dead bandits everywhere, and my childhood friend crying near me.¡± Al stopped. He waited to see what Hudsonus response was. But he too was quiet, lost in thought, listening and thinking hard about what Al had just told him. ¡°May I ask what your true class is? Death is not someone who can grant Mystic skills. He can grant similar and a few basic ones but not them all. Nor can a Mystic learn Aura skills.¡± Hudsonus ask, in a much softer tone now, after hearing what Al had gone through and the reason he chose his current Divine. Al looked up to Hudsonus. And he mutters¡­


    My real Class is Rune Master

 Chapter 7: Magic Shop

    Inside of Hudsonus¡¯ office, Alderick and Hudsonus sat in silence. After Al reveal his real class to Hudsonus, he waited to see how Hudsonus would respond. Hudsonus on the other hand didn¡¯t know how to respond either. He has never heard of a human being a Rune Master before. At the same time, he was wondering why Al feels the need to hide his class. Although it is true that usually only demons and other demi-humans become Rune Master, it is not impossible for a human to become one, especially now that he has seen one. On the other hand, it would make sense why Al, who was supposedly a Mystic doesn¡¯t use a staff as a weapon.


    Al, unable to take the silence any longer, chose to break it. ¡°Is it¡­ possible to keep my class hidden? I am capable of using skills that are usually associated with Mystics.¡± Hudsonus thought about this request for a bit. ¡°Only on a few conditions. One, all the supervisors and above in this guild hall will know about your true class. Two, should you move on to a new guild in another town, all the supervisors and above there will also know. Three, you MUST learn to control your skills so that they will not kill you.¡± He paused for a bit.


    ¡°My¡­ oldest friend died with that skill. I do not know how he came to learn it or why he learned it. He used it to save me and my group. He never learned to fully control it, and when we were surrounded by the enemy, he died using it to save me. I was stabbed in the heart, but it was his that bled.¡± He removed his shirt to show a large scar on his chest and pointed to it. He then puts his shirt back on, and then another long pause ensured. Hudsonus showed a sad expression, remembering the event. His eyes started getting watery, but he wiped the tears with his hands. ¡°So, for me to keep this secret, you will have to promise it to me. Promise you will not use it unless it is absolutely your only option left, and that it would not kill you in the process.¡± Al remained silent. The room fell into another moment of silence. ¡°I promise. I will accept these conditions, and learn to fully control these abilities.¡± ¡°Good.¡±


    Al walks out of the office, but stopped just right outside the door. He turns back to the door, and heard what sounds like sniffing, but chose to keep it to himself and walked to and then down the stairs. There he saw all the supervisors still at the counter. He walks over. ¡°He wants you guys to finish all your current paperwork and finish closing the hall. And once you are done, he wants all the supervisors and above to go see him. Everyone else is to head home.¡± Al told the group. He then bow slightly, and turned to leave. ¡°Wait.¡± Kreyg called out. Al turned around. ¡°Although it was not a quest, you still defeated a Devil Tusk, and is to be awarded. The reward for a Devil Tusk is usually around eight gold coins. But we have already split the reward, and given have of it to Darretta. Here¡¯s yours.¡± Kreyg then put four gold coins on the counter. Al walks over and pick them up. He then bowed again, and the left the hall. Once outside, Al notice that it was already sundown. It is much too late to go back to Gendrol for his item, and to go visit the magic shop. He decided to call it a night and headed back to the inn.


    Al reaches the inn, but paused outside the door for a bit, before heading in. The dining room for the guest was empty, except for the innkeeper that was working on paperwork at the counter, and the girl that was cleaning the tables. She looks up and sees Al. ¡°Oh, Welcome back Al.¡± She said. This girl¡¯s name is Tabita. She is the innkeeper¡¯s daughter, and helps cook and clean the tables for guest that stays at the inn. She is a little older than Al, and is the reason why there were people who constantly stay at the inn, even though they had a house somewhere in the town or just a village not too far from here.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you for a few days, I thought you had left.¡± She said as she runs up to Al. ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± Al replied, showing a half-hearted smile. She could see it, but chose not to ask about it. ¡°Are you hungry? We still have some leftovers from dinner. Grab a seat and I will reheat it for you.¡± She said, as she tried to guide him to a table. ¡°No it is alright, I had already ate today. I think I will just take a bath then go to sleep.¡± ¡°Oh, ok. It¡¯s good that you are back, we were about ready to pack up your stuff in your room.¡± ¡°I guess I came back in time.¡± Al said, showing a much better smile this time. ¡°Al, come here.¡± The innkeeper called out. Al walks over.


    ¡°Yes Jaiden.¡± ¡°You had payed for a month¡¯s worth for you room, but disappeared without any notice. Is everything alright?¡± Jaiden asked, showing a concerned look. ¡°Yes, everything is alright. I just had to spend a night outside due to being too far from town and not being able to return in time.¡± Al replied. ¡°Well, ok. As long as you are ok. You are still young so I understand you are still energetic, but please, don¡¯t overdo it. Not only for my sake, but for Tabitha''s too". Al nodded, and then glanced over to Tabita. She was like an older sister to him, so he didn¡¯t want to make her worry too much. He then headed up to his room. He put his stuff away, and then headed back downstairs to the bath house that was also run by the inn. After he was done, he headed back to his room and lied down in his bed. He started thinking about everything that happened to him in one day. It felt like a really long day. He soon fell asleep.


    The following morning, Al got up and got ready. He headed downstairs. He ate a breakfast while talking to Tabitha. After he finish, he walked out. He decided he should go see Gendrol first. It was a short walk from the inn. After he reached the blacksmith¡¯s shop, he didn¡¯t see the dwarf there. ¡°Gendrol, you there?¡± Al called out. A short while later, ¡°Aye, I¡¯m here.¡± A voice called out. Shortly after, Gendrol walked out and sees Al. He showed a friendly smile. ¡°Hey, I thought you were letting me keep the fur since you didn¡¯t come back.¡± he started chuckling to himself. ¡°Wait right here, I¡¯ll bring it out.¡± He walked back inside his little hut, and then came back out with a black coat, and a pair of boots on it. ¡°I finish making it, and used the leftover materials to make you a nice new pair of boots.¡± He hands it to Al. ¡°Go on, try them on.¡±


    Al put them on, and surprisingly, the coat was a little big, but the boats fit perfectly. :How¡¯d you know my foot size?¡± Al asked. ¡°A good blacksmith can tell with one look. Otherwise, they would have a hard time fastioning armor for every person that walks into his shop. Oh, but, unfortunately, the coat has not been enchanted. The enchantress I knew was busy and couldn¡¯t come over yesterday to take a look.¡± Gendrol added. ¡°That¡¯s fine. How much is it for both of these?¡± ¡°Well, usually for these stuff, I would charge two gold piece, but since you brought me the material, I will only charge you a gold piece.¡± Al pulls out a gold coin from his bag, and hands it over to Gendrol. He took it and smile. ¡°I can¡¯t ever get over the glint that a gold coin shows.¡± Al smiled. He then saw some armor piece on the counter, and walked over to take a look. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    The thought that having some more armor would help him in the future, he started looking to see what else he could afford, but wouldn¡¯t weigh him down. He picked up a small plate of metal, and started inspecting it. ¡°That is a good piece of equipment for a new adventurer. It¡¯s just that it only protects the wearer¡¯s upper body, leaving the bottom half open. So if you choose to wear that, well¡­ don¡¯t get stab in the gut.¡± Gendrol started laughing at his own comment. ¡°How much is it.¡± Al asked, deciding that this was good enough for him at the moment. ¡°Since that is just a simple piece of armor that my apprentice made out of iron and copper, I¡¯ll let you have it for thirty silver coins.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡± Al then reaches into his bag again, and counted thirty silver coins for the dwarf. ¡°Pleasure doing business¡± The dwarf smile as more coins are now in his hands.


    ¡°Oh, but if you still want to get your items enchanted, you can go visit my friend. Let her know I sent you there, and she might give you a discount.¡± ¡°I might pay her a visit.¡± Al added, not really expecting to go visit her anyways. ¡°She owns the magic shop near the temple. She is a¡­ little weird at times, but usually she is pretty normal.¡± Gendrol added. ¡°Her shop is called The Withering Tree. Kind of ominous if you ask me, but it¡¯s just like any other magic shop here in town.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ll go pay her a visit then.¡± Al replied, never realising that there was a magic shop near the inn, temple and orphanage. He walked towards the temple, and started searching for the magic shop. As he searched, he walks by the orphanage, and decided to peek in again. He saw a bunch of kids playing around again, but Natalie was also playing with them.


    Natalie looks up and sees Al, who tried to ducks back into the wall to not get spotted. She walks over to him. ¡°Should I called the guards about a suspicious person lurking around the orphanage?¡± She jokingly commented. ¡°Please don¡¯t. Your brother won¡¯t take it as a joke.¡± Al meekly replied back. She just smiled. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°I was searching for a magic shop around here.¡± She thought for a bit. ¡°There¡¯s only one around here. The Withering Tree I believe.¡± ¡°Yes that¡¯s the one.¡± ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll take you there.¡± She smiled, and ran back to the orphanage. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back!¡± She shouted as she entered the building. After a short wait, she came back outside, wearing pretty much the same thing she wore yesterday. ¡°Ok, lets go.¡± She said as she grabbed his hands and started pulling him along as she walk.


    As Al and Natalie walked to the shop, they started talking and catching up with each other. ¡°Ah there¡¯s the shop.¡± She said as she pointed toward a building. They got to the store, and entered. ¡°Natalie, is that you?¡± A voiced called out from the back. ¡°Yes ma''am, it¡¯s me.¡± Natalie replied. ¡°Ok, then can you start cleaning the the shelves?¡± ¡°Ok I will.¡± Al was confused, and turn to look at Natalie. She simply smiled. ¡°I was pretty sure I told you I work part time at a magic shop.¡± Al thought for a bit, and remember that she told him yesterday. ¡°Oh, right¡­ you did.¡± Just then, someone walked in from the back.


    ¡°Oh my. Did you bring your boyfriend with you today? Or did you bring a boyfriend for me?¡± The person asked. Al then got a good look at her. She was a older, mature looking woman, She wore a mage¡¯s hat, and a rather revealing dress that barely covers her chest, and the skirt had an opening that revealed her right leg. She had long reddish hair that covered her left eye. From there, al could then make out some rather long ears. A sign that she was an elf. ¡°Madam, please don¡¯t tease me and my friend.¡± Natalie replied, but her face was blushing. She turn to look away from Al. He notice it, and blushed a little too, but then decided to talk to the lady to change the subject and avoid anymore awkward situations.


    ¡°Hello. My name is Al. Gendrol sent me here to get my gear enchanted.¡± ¡°That stubborn old fool doesn¡¯t know when to leave me alone.¡± The lady said. ¡°Well, since you are here now, I guess I have no choice.¡± Al was surprised by this. The dwarf never said they were on rather¡­ bad terms from the tone of her voice. ¡°Well, come on over boy.¡± She motions with one finger for Al to walk over. He nervously approached her. ¡°The name¡¯s Evistin Trisdia. Now let me see the item you want me to enchant.¡± She lays out her hand waiting for Al to give her the item. Al wanted to ask about her last name, but thought it be best to not keep her waiting. He took off his coat and handed it over to her. ¡°What did you want to enchant it with?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I never really thought about it. Gendrol was the one who recommended it, and told me I should come see you.¡± Al swore he saw a smile appeared on her face, but it quickly disappeared. ¡°Hmph, that bastard sure likes bothering me with these things. What is your class? I can recommend you some.¡± She asked and she started inspecting the coat. She found a pocket, and searched inside. She pulled out a hair pin that looks as if it was made from silver, with the top in the shape of a lily. She blushed and smiled gleefully, grasped the hair pin with both hand, pulled it to her face. She started squirming, and started stomping in place. Al¡¯s eyes and mouth opened wide as he realised what was going on.


    The two were most likely lovers who have not seen each other for awhile. She was probably mad at the dwarf for not visiting her or something. After awhile, she composed herself. "Forgive me for that. Please forget what you just saw.¡± Al don¡¯t think he could ever forget the idea that a dwarf and an elf, two races that are usually at odds, are lovers. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ a Mystic. Support.¡± Noticing that he wants to get back on the subject, she thought about some enchants that would benefit him. ¡°I think I know of a good one. It is Enchant: Focus. It¡¯ll allow you to focus on your spells better. It¡¯ll also allow you to cast channeling spells and defend yourself at the same time.¡± Al thought it would be the perfect enchant. ¡°How much will that cost?!¡± He asked excitedly. ¡°Two hundred gold.¡± He was shocked by the amount. At most he only had eight gold on him.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I only have about eight gold coins and some silver.¡± Evistin thought for a bit. ¡°Ok, how about Enchant: Regeneration? It will allow you to recover more mana quickly. It should allow you to cast spells more frequently in battle. It will only be five gold coins. It is usually ten, but I will give you a discount since you are an acquaintance of that bearded bastard.¡± ¡°Ok that sounds good too.¡± Having giving up on the really awesome enchant, he settles with the latter choice. ¡°Ok, come back later, and I¡¯ll have it ready for you.¡± Al agrees, and was about to walk away when she stops him.


    ¡°Sometimes, I think men should really speak with their heart. I hate men who can¡¯t.¡± She looks over to Natalie, then back to Al, smiling knowingly. Al then looks over to Natalie too. He then nodded, and walked over to Natalie. ¡°Looks like I¡¯m done here. I will be heading out.¡± He told her. ¡°Oh, in that case, I will walk you out.¡± She replied, putting some items back on the shelves, and followed Al out. ¡°So, what do you plan to do now?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯m going to go look at the quest board, and then probably go buy some more items at the common shop.¡± Al replied. ¡°Oh¡± She smiled. Al looks at her and she just meet his gaze. ¡°I love you.¡± Al says. He then blushes, and walks away. Natalie, was shocked by this and stood there for a moment. She then blushed as well, and the crouched down and hug her knees. ¡°Al you idiot. At least let me say it too.¡±

 Chapter 8: Protection Agency

    Alderick was walking down the streets of Trisdia in at a quick pace, not even sure where he is going. He was feeling nervous and embarrassing for running off after telling Natalie how he felt about her. A number of thoughts ran through his head, as he pace about. What if she doesn¡¯t see me that way? What if she rejects me? What if I never see her again because of this? Damn that enchantress for pushing me. He continued to have this though until eventually he reached the front of the guild hall, and he came to a halt. Thinking that he might be able to get his mind off of the matter if he did a few quest, he tried to compose himself, and then walked into the building.


    Once inside, he walked over to the request board and started searching for something to do. Although he could hear some of the people inside whispering about him, he chose to ignore them, figuring they were talking about the promotion test he had taken just the day before. He only saw some collecting request for Bladed Grass and the sort on the board that were for rank Copper, in which he rather not go through that stuff again. In the corner of his eye, he could see a group of elves. He turns to see them better. There were two females, and two males. One of the female made eye contact with him, and waved. She then motions for him to come over. Seeing that there were no quest of interest, he decided to go talk to the group of elves.


    ¡°Hi¡­¡± Al says as he approached the group. ¡°Hiya!¡± replied the female who waved him over. ¡°You¡¯re Alderick right? The guy who fought Master Hudonus for the promotion test?¡± The rest of the group then stared at Al, making him a little nervous and feeling kind of awkward, since he had failed the test. ¡°Yes¡­ but I didn¡¯t pass the test.¡± he replied, a little saddened by his replied. ¡°Oh, man. That was a great fight you put.¡± One of the male elf remarked. ¡°Too bad Master didn¡¯t go easy on you. Usually they send people out on an urgent quest to slay a group of spiders or goblins, or maybe even send them as a group to slay a hobgoblin for the promotion test to Iron. At least that¡¯s what they did for us.¡± He added.


    ¡°Oh, pardon me for our rudeness.¡± The female said politely. ¡°We are a group of adventurer¡¯s who are in a registered party within the guild. We called ourselves the Protection Agency. My name is Luna Fiera.I am the Party leader and I am an Iron Rank adventurer.¡± [A Registered Party is a group of adventurers who are working together to pull their resources and help each other complete quests] ¡°Astragoth Hashut, Silver Rank, and also a member of the Protection Agency.¡± The first male said. ¡°I am¡­ Poku¡­ Poku. Iron rank and am in the same party as them.¡± The second male said, seemingly embarrassed by his name. Al turn to look at the last member of the group for an introduction. ¡°I am Teiki Ahmu. Iron rank and an officer in the Protection Agency.¡± She said, smiling. Then point towards the ground. ¡°This is Chad, my animal companion. Don¡¯t worry he won¡¯t bite.¡± Al looks down, but didn¡¯t see anything.


    ¡°Oh¡­ As Luna have just said, I am Alderick. Copper rank.¡± Al then introduced himself. ¡°I thought a registered party needs at least ten members?¡± he then asked. ¡°Oh, there''s more members, just that they are all doing their own little thing at the moment. And before you ask, yes usually the guildmaster is the member with the highest rank, but they all said they rather I stay guildmaster.¡± Luna answered. ¡°Oh. Please forgive me, I didn¡¯t mean to offend you or anything.¡± replied Al. ¡°Oh none taken, it¡¯s just that most people asks us these questions.¡± She replied smiling. ¡°In case you were interested, I can tell you about the other members of our little guild.¡± ¡°Um¡­ Sure¡­¡±


    ¡°Ok then, well, there¡¯s Nazgro Dil Sealion. He¡¯s a gold rank adventurer. He join the Adventurer¡¯s Guild at the same time as us. He helped us made the party, and then he just shot up the rankings. He¡¯s really strong. There¡¯s also Tarlach who¡¯s a Silver rank, but he likes to travel to places and we haven¡¯t really heard from him in awhile. You won¡¯t believe this, but Kreyg, one of the Head supervisors here, is also one our member. He¡¯s a Platinum rank adventurer, but Master Hudsonus always said he is equivalent to a Mythril. He is mostly busy with the guild but when he has time, he comes to help us out with some of the stronger foes we face."


    "There¡¯s also Ireene Stormy. She¡¯s an Iron rank who runs the orphanage in Sentros to the south of Trisdia. Speaking of her, We can¡¯t forget her brother-in-law and niece, Carne, and Ammalinde. They both run the orphanage here in Trisdia. Carne is retired, but he still helps us out when he can. He mostly give us info we need on quest and the such. He was a Mythril Rank. On the other hand, his daughter Ammalinde comes out to help us with the quest itself. She is also an Iron rank like us¡± Al was shocked to hear that the two was also members of this group. Teiki notices Al¡¯s shocked.


    ¡°Do you know some of these members?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah. I was an orphan in the orphanage that Carne and Ammalinde runs.¡± replied Al. ¡°Oh wow, Small world.¡± Teiki giggles. ¡°Maybe this is fate.¡± ¡°It could be.¡± ¡°Oh I know!¡± shouted Poku. ¡°We are about to set off on a quest to destroy a large nest of spiders. How about you join us? We could use a support.¡± ¡°Oh, that sounds like a good idea!¡± Luna agreed. ¡°You should join us!¡± ¡°Will he be able to? I do want to see him in battle up close, but the request is for rank Iron or higher only.¡± Astra asked. ¡°We¡¯ll talk to Kreyg about it. He might just let it slide.¡± Luna replied, and got up and ran off to the counter to find Kreyg. Everything happen too fast that Al couldn¡¯t even respond to the situation. But he didn¡¯t dislike it though. Maybe this was the distraction he needed.


    While waiting for Luna to come back, Al had sat down and started to get to know more about the group that he was talking to. He learned that Astra was a Slayer like Darretta. His role was a damage. Poku was an Assassin, and also a damage role. Teiki was a Beast Master, and a damage role as well. She was also skilled at using a bow. Luna was a Ranger and again, another damage role. Al began to wonder if a group with nothing but pure damage and a support would be good.


    Usually a group compose of a tank, damage, support and a healer roles. But thinking that as long as they are careful, they should be able to destroy a spider nest as long as they don¡¯t encounter anything big. As they were talking, Luna came running back gleefully. ¡°I¡¯m back!¡± she said as she reached the group. Behind her was Kreyg making his way to the group. ¡°Alderick.¡± he called out to Al. ¡°I will give you special permission to go with them on this quest. It is only because I know the group that I am allowing you to go.¡± ¡°Yes sir. Thank you.¡± replied Al. He and Kreyg made eye contact. Kreyg looked at him as if saying ¡°Remember your promise to Hudsonus.¡± Al nodded.


    ¡°Since you guys are going to go fight spiders, I recommended you guys stock up on some antidotes and torches. You guys might not enter a cave, but the fire from the torch should keep them at bay should you find yourselves surrounded.¡± Kreyg added before he made his way back. ¡°Is¡­ is it just me or did Kreyg just give Al a loving and worried look before he left?¡± Poke asked, while looking back and forth at Al and Kreyg. ¡°What?¡± Al asked, a little taken aback. ¡°An elderly gentleman and a young boy¡­¡± muttered Teiki, as her faced flushed red and blood ran down from her nose and she smiled a creepy disturbing smile. Al showed a sour face, not wanting to know what was going on in her mind right as this moment.


    ¡°Tei! Keep your fetishes to yourself near our new friend.¡± said Astra. Although he lecture Tei, he was seemingly enjoying this as he was trying hard not to laugh. The group started laughing, as seeing Al become a target for Teiki¡¯s fantasies seemed to be a good icebreaker for whatever reason. ¡°Well, seeing as the spider nest is near the Village of Villnist, we can all go do our own preparations and then meet up as the East gate. It¡¯ll take us a few days to reach it, so make sure you guys prepare enough rations and water for the trip.¡± Luna said, before dismissing the group to go do her own preparation. After leaving the group, Al heads towards a magic shops to buy some antidotes and maybe a potion or two. He headed to a different magic shop from The Withering Tree, as he was still a little too embarrassed to see Natalie.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    After a little shopping and going back to the Inn to fetch his gear, Al meets back with the group near the East gate. ¡°Alright, is everyone done with their preparations?¡± Lun asked the group. ¡®Yes¡± The group replied. ¡°Ok, let¡¯s head out!.¡± The group cheered and made their way out the gate. ¡°Alderick!¡± someone called out, just before the group made it far from the gate. Al turns to see Kolen running after them. ¡°Hey¡­ did you go to the orphanage?¡± he asked. ¡°I did.¡± replied Al, hoping that Kolen didn¡¯t stopped him just to make small talk or to ask about his sister. ¡°Oh ok. As long as you have gone.¡±


    Kolen then took a look at the group that Al was with. ¡°Where are you headed?¡± ¡°We are going to go destroy a spider nest near Villnist.¡± ¡°Oh ok. Be careful. Spiders are nasty creatures. I hope you brought some kind of fire tool.¡± ¡°I bought some torches. They should suffice.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± Kolen then took another look at the group and then got a clear look at Luna. He runs over to her got on one knee, and grabs one of her hand. He looks up at her and smiled. ¡°Oh, beautiful maiden! May I have the honor of knowing your name?¡± Luna was puzzled and awkwardly smiled back. Al could see the anger showing on both Astra and Poku¡¯s face.


    ¡°My name is Luna Fiera.¡± ¡°Ah a beautiful name for a beautiful lady. My name is Kolen, and I am a captain of the guards.¡± After he introduced himself, he tried to kiss her hands. Just before he could both Astra and Poku kicked him to the side, and continued to kick him while he was down. ¡°Get your hands off her!¡± They shouted in unison, unrelenting in their attack on the captain. Al could easily stop them, but chose to watch. He was tired of Kolens lame attempt of hitting on any women he sees.


    ¡°Um¡­ Guys please let him off with just that.¡± Al finally said after being satisfied of watching Kolen get beat up. ¡°He may be a flirt, but he is still a captain. We should leave before his guards sees us.¡± Astra and Poku finally stops. Both the girls just giggle at the entire thing. Al kind thought of what might be going through Teiki¡¯s mind at the moment, seeing that she was starting to have a nosebleed, but he didn¡¯t mention it. ¡°Ah¡­ hey¡­ Al¡­¡± Kolen said, while still beaten up and the ground. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Stay¡­ safe¡­ they¡­ guys are¡­ pretty strong¡­¡± he mumbled out before staying silent. ¡°Nut¡¯s lets move out!¡± Al shouted for the group to move. They ran off leaving the injured captain behind.


    After walking for almost half the day, Teiki pulls out a map. ¡°According to this map and our pace, we should be reaching the Graveyard Hills soon.¡± The Graveyard Hills is a small landscape with hills everywhere and several rocks at the tops of the hills. Due to the numbers of hills, from a distance, the locations look like graveyards, and thus the name. The group eventually reach a cliff. There was a path down the side of the cliff, but from the top of the cliff, you can see the hills. The hills looks like mounds of dirt burying the deads. The group made their way down, passing by other travelers headed in the opposite direction. ¡°Beware the graveyard!¡± One of them shouted. ¡°Ghost and zombies are coming out!¡± Some of them started laughing as they walked off. Al knew it was a lie, as the Graveyard is merely a name, no one was actually buried there.


    As they drew closer to the hills, Poku started showing signs of being afraid. ¡°There¡­ won¡¯t be any ghost popping up right?¡± He asked, as he started to tug at Astra¡¯s arm. Teiki showed her usual creepy smile and Al tried to ignore the entire thing. ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid Poku. There¡¯s no graves here, so why would there be ghost?¡± Astra said as he pulled his arms away from him. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Poku let out quietly, as his eyes started to get watery. ¡°You¡¯re an impe- an adventurer! Stop being so cowardly!¡± Astra shouted to Poku. ¡°We can easily deal with a few ghost and zombies even if they show up.¡± ¡°But¡­ but¡­ ghost are scary¡­ and immune to physical attacks¡­ I can¡¯t hit them!¡± Poku cried out, again, reaching and tugging at Astra with both hands this time, and grasping hard.


    ¡°Get off! Blessed divines! Give this man some courage! Even if ghost are immune to physical damage, I have an enchanted blade, and Luna has magic arrows. We will be fine.¡± ¡°Magic arrows?¡± Al asked. ¡°Ah yes. I have a magic bow that has been passed down my family from mother to daughter. It lets me shoot an unlimited amount of magic arrows. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t carry a quiver.¡± Luna answer. ¡°Oh, that sounds quite useful.¡± ¡°It is. It has save me a number of times. Oh and, don¡¯t let how Poku is currently worry you. He may be scare of ghost, but I assure you, when it comes to a fight, he can give even Dil a hard time.¡± ¡°Oh really?¡± Al was kind of shocked to hear this. An Iron rank that gives a Gold rank a hard time in a fight is probably much stronger than an Iron rank should be.


    Al hears a small growl behind him and footsteps. He turn and saw nothing, only Teiki who was a little behind him. She smiled at him. He has been hearing these sounds since they first set off, but never saw anything just like now. The sun was beginning to set when they made it out the of the hills. ¡°We should find a place to set camp.¡± Teiki said to Luna. ¡°You¡¯re right. Is there an open area around here?¡± Luna asked. Teiki pulls out the map and started searching for a decent place. ¡°Just a little bit ahead of here is a small open landscape near a river. We can set up camp there, and refill our water packs too.¡± ¡°Sounds good. Let¡¯s head there.¡± Luna said, and had Teiki lead the way. They shortly reached the area Teiki spoke of, and started setting up camp, except for Poku, who looked back where they came from.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t we too close to the hills? What if ghost comes to attack us in the middle of the night?¡± he asked. ¡°There¡¯s no ghost!¡± Astra shouted. ¡°We just walk through without seeing one! So I can assure you there¡¯s none.¡± ¡°But¡­ But it was still daylight, they probably only come out at night!¡± Poke answered back, this time tugging at Al who was standing next to him. ¡°Um¡­ if ghost do come out, I can give you a temporary enchant to your weapon to damage them.¡± Al said, looking at the almost crying Poku. ¡°Really?! You will?!¡± he asked back, now with hope brimming in his eyes. Al nodded. ¡°Oh thank you!¡± Poku shouted. He then hugged Al, and looked over to Astra. ¡°See! You should learn from Alderick, Astra. He at least knows how to comfort people.¡± ¡°Oh shut up you coward.¡± Astra replied and continued to set up his tent.


    ¡°You¡¯ll take first watch then. At least we¡¯ll know we¡¯ll wake up when you scream like a girl when you do see a ghost or something.¡± Astra stated. ¡°What?! That¡¯s not fair. I was also first to keep watch last time. It¡¯s your turn.¡± Poku shouted, hugging Al a little tighter. ¡°Well¡­ I can take first watch, since this is my first time in a group, so I¡¯d like to try it out.¡± Al said to Astra. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that Alderick. You can take second or third watch.¡± Luna said, having finish setting her tent up already and was helping Teiki, as she seemed to be distracted with a creepy look on her face. ¡°It¡¯s fine, I want to.¡± ¡°Well, if you are sure, then I don¡¯t see a problem.¡± Astra added. ¡°If you see anything out of the ordinary, then just wake us up.¡± ¡°Ok. That sounds easy enough.¡± ¡°Oh, and don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll leave Chad to watch with you. He¡¯ll alert you if there''s anything.¡± Teiki said, seeing as she also just finish her tent. ¡°Ok. You guys have a good night.¡± Al said, unsure of what or who Chad was, as he has yet to see Chad.


    ¡°After a few hours, wake Astra up to replace you.¡± Poku added as he ran to quickly set up his tent. ¡°What no. You are taking second watch.¡± Astra shouted to Poku. The two bickered for a bit. After awhile, they reach a compromised and went to sleep. ¡°Goodnight. I¡¯ll see you in the morning.¡± Luna said as she crawled into her tent. Al then sat down by the campfire they had set up earlier. He then heard something moved beside him and he turn to look. Nothing. The noise made him think that maybe there really was a ghost following them, and he could feel his arms getting goosebumps. Thinking about it, whatever was making the footstep noise could be ¡°Chad¡±. The footsteps then came closer to him, and stopped right beside him. He could feel a presence there, but still saw nothing. He reached his hands out to see if he could touch something. His hands came into contact with something. It felt like fur, it was a really soothing feeling. He started rubbing it, and then heard a small pur. He now has figured what ¡°Chad¡± was. Chad was a Shadow Cat, a type of feline that can turn invisible, and are rare. They are only seen in the West, where the elves capital is. They are strong ferocious animals that can easily kill Devil Tusk and other animals. Knowing now who his partner was, Al felt assured that nothing will go wrong during his watch, and continued his watch through the night.

 Chapter 9: Loremaster

    The following morning, Alderick and the Protection Agency got up and had a quick breakfast and started packing up their equipments. Al notice that both Astra and Teiki had bags under their eye and moved sluggishly. ¡°Did the two of you not get enough sleep?¡± he asked. ¡°Thanks to a certain crybaby, we didn¡¯t get any sleep.¡± Astra replied, and pointed towards Poku. Al then notice that Poku had a few bumps in the head along with his right cheek red and swollen. ¡°It wasn¡¯t my fault!¡± Poku cried out. ¡°It was!¡± Astra shouted back. ¡°You cried out at the smallest thing, waking us up.¡±


    Al didn¡¯t recall being woken up in the middle of the night after switching with Astra. ¡°But, I saw things moving around in the darkness. What if it had been a ghost?¡± Poku stated. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a ghost! We didn¡¯t even see a ghost yesterday after walking through.¡± Astra then went on to lecture Poku, and seeing that it was going to take awhile, Al decided to go help the others pack up. ¡°At least it looks like you had a good night sleep.¡± Al said to Luna as he approached her. ¡°Yep, I did. I didn¡¯t even hear Poku cried out.¡± She replied and started giggling as she watch Poku get lecture. ¡°Those two have always been like that, so don¡¯t mind them.¡± ¡°Is that so? I also didn¡¯t hear him cried out. If those two have always been like that, then they must be good friends. Are they the same age?¡± ¡°Oh, no. Astra is the oldest member in the group. He¡¯s over 3000 years old, while Poku is only 500. Since we are on the topic, both me and Teiki are almost 700.¡± Al was shocked at their age, having forgotten that elves are immortals that only die to unnatural causes. He was mostly shocked at Astra¡¯s age.


    Due to his age, Astra was among the first elves to be created by Marellda, who created them to help the humans defeat the demons that was rampaging the world at the time. Since then, the humans and Elves had an alliance together along with the Dwarves that was created by the goddess Senpai, and the Beastman, created by The god Bravius. It was due to this event that made these three Divines the most revered among the Divines. ¡°Does Astra know alot about the history 3000 years ago?¡± Al asked, curiously. ¡°No don¡¯t-¡± Teiki shouted to Al. ¡°Why yes I do. Where shall I begin?¡± Astra interrupted, his eyes now fully awaken due to the question. Poku, Teiki, and Luna all let out a long sigh. ¡°Why did you have to ask him¡­¡± Poku said quietly.


    Al was confused to the three¡¯s reaction, and then had a bad feeling that he had started something he didn¡¯t wanted to. ¡°We¡­ will go on ahead, you two can cover the rear and follow behind.¡± Luna said then motions for the three of them to move on ahead. Al was about to chase after them, but he was stopped by Astra. ¡°I think the best place to start would be the human¡¯s war against the Demons and their prayer to the Divines for aid.¡± Astra said to Al while smiling. Al then deeply regretted asking. ¡°3152 years ago. The humans¡­¡±


    ¡°We should be reaching the village tomorrow if we keep going at this rate.¡± Teiki said, looking at the map to determine their location. ¡°We should find a suitable place to camp, even though there is still time before it gets dark, since after this small plane would be the Rocky Pass, and I rather not make camp where theres rocks everywhere that can cover any potential threat at night.¡± ¡°Ok, that sounds good. We¡¯ll make camp at the bottom of this hill. Its a open field so we have a wide field of vision even at night.¡± Luna said, and pointed to a open area at the bottom of hill they were currently on.


    Poku looked behind them, at Al and Astra who were some distance away from them. Astra was still talking, while Al looks like he was worn out both mentally and physically. ¡°I feel a little bad for Al.¡± he said. ¡°We should¡¯ve warned him first.¡± Both Luna and Teiki laugh at the situation. ¡°But then we wouldn¡¯t have gotten to see this poor boy get his ears talked off by Astra.¡± Luna said, laughing away with laughter. After calming down a bit, the three walked down from the hill. Once they reached the bottom they started setting up camp. Luna asked Poku to go gather some firewood from the nearby small forest a little off in the south from where they currently are. Poku hesitated a little about going by himself, and wanted to wait for Astra and Al to reach the group first. ¡°Please Poku? That way you¡¯ll be back sooner and we can start cooking.¡± Luna pleaded to Poku, in which made it really hard for him to say no.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make Chad go with you.¡± Teiki said. ¡°No thanks.¡± Poku said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but he was what scared me the most last night. He made me think I had sleep paralyze yesterday.¡± ¡°So you rather go into the dark, scary forest all by yourself?¡± Teiki jokingly remarked. Poku hesitated again. ¡°Fine. But he has to stay within reach of me so he doesn¡¯t scare me when he walks on a branch.¡± He walks towards the forest. Teiki pats Chad, and he purred, then he followed Poku to the forest. As he got fairly far from the camp, Al and Astra finally reach it.


    ¡°And that was how the Elf general slew the Demon King and brought peace to the land.¡± Astra said, seemingly finishing his story that he started early in the morning. ¡°That was a really interesting story.¡± Al said in a worn out voice. ¡°I think I will take a short rest to think about everything you just told me.¡± He walked over to a nearby rock, and sat down, completely worn out from the long lecture of history, not to mention the walking without a rest stop that, which seemed to have been going on for days, had also worn him out physically. ¡°Where did Poku ran off to?¡± Astra ask Teiki. ¡°We sent him to go get firewood from the forest over there.¡± ¡°By himself? Pretty soon he''s going to come running back once he hears a noise.¡± ¡°I think he¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ve sent Chad with him. Come on, help us set up camp.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Everyone had finish setting up their tents, and now just waited for Poku to return with the firewood so they could start cooking. Al sees something in the distance to the south of them. He alerted the group and they all looked over. ¡°It looks like Poku.¡± Teiki said. ¡°Looks like he¡¯s running away from something.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure he got spooked by something and just came running back. Is he carrying the firewood at least?¡± Astra replied. ¡°He is. But there¡¯s something following him.¡± Al focus his eyes to try and see better. Poku was running with all his might, dropping a few of the pieces of wood he had gathered. As he drew closer to the group. He started shouting. ¡°Help me!¡± ¡°Giant Wasps!¡± Teiki shouted to the group, after realising what was chasing Poku. Everyone grabbed their weapons, and got ready to fight the large group of wasp that was chasing after Poku.


    Luna raised her bow, and pulled her bow string, aiming at the wasps. ¡°Aren¡¯t they too far to hit them?¡± Al asked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. She¡¯s one of the best marksman in elven history.¡± Astra replied. Energy started to form at Luna¡¯s bow, and then took on the form of an arrow. She lets loose of the arrow and it flew far and fast. It pierces through three wasps, and they dropped. She then continued to fire away at them, withering their numbers a couple at a time. Once they got close enough for Teiki, she readies her bow, and then started shooting as well. Although her arrows didn¡¯t penetrate like Luna¡¯s arrows, she shot her arrows at a much faster rate than Luna did. She shot her arrows with insane precision, not missing even once. Not losing to Teiki, Luna started firing multiple arrows at the same time. ¡°Multi-Shot¡± She shouted. Her bow now started forming three arrows instead of the one, and even though there were more arrows, her power and accuracy was still spot on, taking down five to seven at a a time.


    The wasp now had their attentions on the two archer shooting at them, and ignoring Poku. They flew past him and headed towards the two. ¡°Can you give me Boost: Agility?¡± Astra said as he drew his two swords. "Sure thing¡± Al replied. ¡°Boost: Agility.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Astra then turns towards the group of wasps that was fast approaching them. ¡°Accelerate¡± He then ran towards them at even greater speed than they were going. He ran so fast that it looked like he was flying towards them. He quickly slew a few that was near, but didn¡¯t stop, instead made his way towards Poku, cutting down every wasps along the way in a flurry of swings.


    Luna and Teiki continued to support him from a distance, killing the wasps that was just a little to far for his swords to reach. Some of the wasps was about to reach Luna and Teiki, but Al canceled his buff on Astra, and drew his dagger to cut them down. He cut down a few when one of them got past him and flew towards Teiki. As it reached her and was going to attack, it was then swatted down and squashed just before it could do so. ¡°Thanks Chad.¡± Teiki said, not even batting an eye at the nearby wasps, but instead focusing on the wasps that was in the distance.


    Astra finally reaches Poku. ¡°Just drop that and help us you idiot!¡± Poku then dropped the firewood and then drew his daggers. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t do that in the first place¡­¡± He then started attacking the nearby wasps that was around him. Al was slowly moving farther away from Luna and Teiki and closer to Astra and Poku. Once he was what he assumed to be the middle between them all he stopped moving. ¡°Aura of Agility.¡± Al then focus his energy on maintaining the Aura, but was still able to attack the wasps near him. Due to the Aura, everyone was able to quickly cut down all the wasps.


    ¡°What happened in the forest Poku?¡± Luna asked. ¡°Uh¡­ well¡­ When I was gathering the firewood, I came across their nest. I was about to sneak past them and then come back, but¡­ their nest was much bigger than I thought. I stepped on a part of it, and it collapsed and then they started chasing me so I just ran. Chad also stepped on their nest too and made more came out.¡± Poku said, trying to get Chad in trouble too. Chad slapped him down for it. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t try to blame Chad for it.¡± Teiki said angrily. ¡°But¡­ He did it too though. It¡¯s not completely my fault that there were so many of them. He also just left me behind afterwards.¡± he started to rub the cheek that was hit by Chad. Chad then bit into Poku lightly in anger for trying to get him in trouble. ¡°You stupid cat.¡± Poku and Chad started wrestling around on the ground. If Al didn¡¯t know about the Shadow Cat, he would¡¯ve thought Poku was just rolling around on the ground for no reason.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to tell Tami to stop giving you fish when we get back!¡± Poku shouted as he continued to wrestle the beast. ¡°Tami?¡± Al asked. ¡°Oh, She¡¯s our cook.¡± Teiki answered. ¡°Your cook?¡± ¡°Oh, uh¡­ Yeah she¡¯s a member of the Protection Agency. She cooks our meal for the group.¡± ¡°Poku, as punishment for dragging us all into a pointless fight, you will be taking watch at night between everyone.¡± Astra said. ¡°What? That¡¯s so unfair! I won¡¯t get any rest then.¡± Poku cried out. ¡°That¡¯s a little harsh Astra.¡± Luna said. ¡°Besides, with this fight, we all now better understand how well we work together and it could be helpful later.¡± Poku crawls up to Luna and hugs her legs. ¡°Thank you! I won¡¯t forget this!¡± ¡°But you will still be punish.¡± She said with a evil looking grin on her face. Poku smiled turned upside down, and his face now turned paled.


    ¡°You will be taking first, middle, and last watch. And breakfast better be ready by the time we all wake up.¡± ¡°What¡­ that¡¯s a little¡­¡± Poku mumbled. ¡°Would you rather take every other watch instead?¡± ¡°Breakfast tomorrow will be fresh caught fish at the nearby lake over there!¡± Poku shouted. Al felt a little sorry for Poku, but then remember how he did just left him alone with Astra the whole day, and the feeling vanished. ¡°Oh, Poku, seems Chad is a little upset with you, so he might try to scare you in the middle of the night as revenge. Don¡¯t wake us up or you¡¯ll get it.¡± Teiki said as she crawled into her tent. ¡°Good night.¡± Poku showed a sour face. ¡°Don¡¯t do it Chad. Or I really will tell Tami.¡±

 Chapter 10: Spider Cave

    Alderick and the Protection Agency reached the end of the Rocky Pass and were standing at the top of a cliff at the end of it. From there, they had a perfect view of the Eastern Plane. ¡°That¡¯s the village over there, near the forest.¡± Teiki said, pointing towards the village just ahead of them. Al looked towards the south, and saw a giant silhouette of a giant tree far into the distance. ¡°That¡¯s the World Tree.¡± Poku said, walking up behind Al. ¡°The World Tree? I heard the it was supposed to be far to the South.¡± ¡°It is, but it¡¯s a tree that reaches the heavens. You can almost see it from anywhere as long as you have a clear view to the south.¡± Poku added. ¡°Ah, yes. The World Tree. It is a tree with 3000 years worth of history.¡± Astragoth came up behind them. ¡°It was from-¡± ¡°NO! NO! NO!¡± Poku shouted. He covered his ears and made loud noises as he ran down the path. Astra watches as he ran off. Then looked over to Al. Sensing a long lecture of history, Al ran off after Poku. Astra then looked over to the other two. ¡°Hmm, I wonder what¡¯s the rush for those two?¡± Luna and Teiki just smiled nervously and then slowly walked after the two that ran off. Astra then followed suite.


    Poku and Al reaches the village first as they were the ones running away from the group. The village seemed rather peaceful for one that requested aid from the guild. There was a large field filled with crops outside the village and on the other side of the village was a lumber mill. Seeing as how the lumber mill was the largest building, Al assume that was the village main source of income. The two debated whether to wait outside for the others or to go on inside first. While they were debating among themselve, one of the villager spotted them and walked over.


    ¡°Excuse me? Can I help you two?¡± He asked. ¡°Good afternoon sir, we are adventurers that came here for a spider nest extermination request from this village. I am Poku Poku, and this here is Alderick.¡± Poku introduced themselves to the villager. ¡°The guild only sent two members?¡± He asked, showing a concerned face. ¡°Oh, no, theres a few more members, but we came ahead of the group. The rest will be here shortly.¡± ¡°Oh, good. I will go inform the village chief.¡± The villager said, now seeming a bit happier to know that there were more coming, and ran back into the village, leaving both Poku and Al outside waiting.


    Luna, Teiki, and Astra finally made it to the village gate as well. ¡°Why are you two waiting here, and not going inside?¡± Luna asked. ¡°Well, we didn¡¯t want to go in by ourselves so we decided to stay here and wait for you three.¡± Poku answered. ¡°Why did you two ran off in the first place?¡± Astra asked. Poku avoided Astra gaze, and tried to come up with an excuse. ¡°We¡­ uh¡­ we both had to use the restroom?¡± Astra stared at Poku, as if not believing in his words. ¡°We¡­ already introduced ourselves to one of the villager and he went to get the chief.¡± Poku said, changing the subject. ¡°Oh, ok. Good, then I guess we will wait out here for them to come back.¡± Luna said. They waited outside until a group of the villagers came out to greet them and invited them inside.


    The group was brought into the village hall, and lead into the meeting room. There the village chief introduced himself. ¡°I am Brian, the village chief. Our village discovered a spider¡¯s nest nearby and they have been attacking our lumberjacks, severely hindering our progress in producing wood for the kingdom. We need you to destroy their nest so that we may continued.¡± ¡°Very well. May we know of the location of the nest?¡± Luna asked. Brian and the other villager looked at each other in confusion. ¡°Are you the leader of the group?¡± he asked. This time, Luna had a confused look on her face. ¡°Is there a problem if I was?¡± she asked politely. ¡°No, no¡­ We just expected one of the males to be the leader.¡± This statement angered everyone in the group, and they were not afraid to show it on their face.


    ¡°My apologies, we didn¡¯t mean any offense. It is just customary for our village that a male is the lead.¡± Brian said in a monotone voice, as if he wasn¡¯t sincere in his apology. Luna calms the group down, and asked him to continued. ¡°The nest is deep into the forest, and inside a cave. The spiders roam around throughout the forest, but once their nest is gone, they will either die or leave.¡± ¡°Thank you. We will discus on how to deal with this matter by ourselves tonight and then go deal with the nest tomorrow.¡± Luna said, and then motion for everyone to leave.


    There have been something that has been bothering Al since he first got to the village, and even more now after the meeting. He had noticed that he has yet to see any females in the village, and all the villagers that was in the meeting were males. This village also lacked children and the elderly. The village chief was rather young looking, late thirty at the oldest. Most village had a good mixture of everything, and yet this village mostly consisted of young adult males. And because of this, Al feels as if the village is hiding something from them. He looks over to Astra, and it looks like he too, felt that something was off about the village. Over Astra¡¯s shoulder, Al sees a head peeking out from the door of a house. A small child from the looks of it. So there are childrens in this village. Al thought to himself. The child notice that he has been spotted and looked as if he was about to step out of the house when he looked like he was pulled back inside and the door closed. Al was about to walk over to investigate, but Luna stopped him, and motioned for them to go outside the village.


    Once the group got outside, they all quietly set up camp some distance away from the village. Luna and Astra made Poku cook dinner for the group as a continued punishment from the previous day, while everyone else started their discussion about the village. ¡°Did you guys find the village a little strange?¡± Al started. The group nodded. ¡°We noticed it since even before we met up with the two of you who ran off.¡± Astra said. ¡°Once we felt something strange from just the look of the village, we had our guard up. At the moment, it doesn¡¯t seem like the villagers are planning to do anything to us. But on the other hand, it looks as if they are hiding something from us.¡± Luna added. ¡°As a precaution, we will be stay a bit far from the village to camp out instead of sleeping inside of it.¡± The group started discussing more about the absence of females, children and the elderly in the village.


    Al then notice that Teiki, although was a rather quiet person, was especially quiet today. ¡°Teiki, are you ok?¡± he asked, reaching across to tap her on the shoulder. She turned and, to his surprised, purred at him. ¡°Oh, at the moment, she¡¯s not actually here.¡± Luna stated. ¡°What?¡± Al asked in confusion, as Teiki had then bowed her head, seemingly asking for a head pat. ¡°She¡¯s not currently conscious in that body of hers. She is using a Beast Master skill called Kindred, which let¡¯s her control the body of Chad, and vice versa. I asked her to look around the village before we caught up to you two.¡± Al then glance back at Teiki, or in this case, Chad, who was now looking at him, still eagerly waiting for the head pat. He hesitated, but gave into the shadow cat¡¯s request. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Teiki asked, moving her head away from his hand, again, surprising Al.


    ¡°Oh, you are back?¡± Luna asked. ¡°So what did you see?¡± ¡°It is strange. I did find a few children and womens in the village, but they are all in houses on the edge of the village, near the forest.¡± Teiki replied. Al, now feeling a little awkward, scooted a little farther away from Teiki, but in the process, moved closer to Astra. Teiki noticed Al moving closer to Astra, and a grin showed on her face. Astra and Al notice the grin, and both scooted away from each other. ¡°What else?¡± Luna asked. ¡°Although the way the villagers are acting is suspicious, I don¡¯t think they will do anything to us as long as we complete the task.¡± Teiki replied. ¡°Ok. Since we aren¡¯t here to investigate the village, we will leave it here. We will continued with the spider¡¯s nest extermination, and once done, we will report it back to the guild.¡± Luna said, closing down the discussion about the village and it¡¯s villagers.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    After the group ate, they started discussing on how they plan to deal with the spiders. The group eventually decided that the formation they will take will be to have Astra in the front, Luna and Teiki will take the center and Al and Poku will cover the rear. With Astra in the front, he can deal with majority of the spiders that could come from the front that are too close for the two archers, while Poku and Al can protect them from the rear and on the sides. Luna and Teiki can shoot any enemies they see from any direction.On the other hand, Chad will stay near both of them to help protect them in case any spiders get through. They decided to go to sleep early so that the following morning they can get up and head into the forest and find the cave before it was midday. Hopefully they can clear the nest and return to the village before evening.


    Early the following morning, everyone checked their gears. After a light breakfast, they set off into the woods in the direction of the nest. The forest itself wasn¡¯t crawling with spiders. It was a rather small simple forest, with some vegetation but not overgrown. There were many pathways that split off in every direction. The group passes by a number of tree stumps from previously cut down trees. Although the group has not come across anything dangerous, they stay alerted. All of a sudden, Teiki stopped the group. She pointed to the left of their current position towards a large bush that was rustling several feet away from them.


    Everyone drew their weapon and got ready for anything that may pop out from there. Shortly after, a giant spider walked out from the bush. It had a grey exoskeleton, with hair on the legs. It was a large spider, almost the size of an average dog. It walked out in front of them and turn to face them. Everyone tensed up as they realised it wasn¡¯t a normal Giant Spider they had thought they were going to be facing, but a variant of it. A normal Giant Spider would be brown, and hairless. The variant is a faster and more poisonous version of a Giant Spider, and typically more aggressive and had lived for quite awhile already.


    The group then was about to attack the spider when all of a sudden, the spider turn and continued to walk it¡¯s path, ignoring the group. ¡°What was that?¡± Poku asked. ¡°That¡¯s weird. Spiders are aggressive by nature and would attack people on sight, or run off if it feels it can not win the fight. But this one seemed calmed, as if it has no interest in us.¡± Teiki stated. ¡°That¡¯s fine, for now we will take advantage of this. Poku, go and kill it quickly before it can call for aid.¡± Luna said. Poku nodded, and rushed towards the spider.


    Poku was about to reach the spider when it suddenly turns towards him. He hesitated, cautious of the spider¡¯s bite. Again, the spider stared at him, then turn to continued on its way. Taking this chance, Poku strikes down hard on the spider. It squeal out in pain, and leaps away from Poku. It stopped and then stare at Poku, as if in confusion to the attack. Poku rushes the spider again, and the spider then turns and attempted to run away, only to be mounted by Poku and then stabbed multiple times. It was only able to take a few steps before succumbing to his attacks.


    ¡°That is strange.¡± Al stated. ¡°Why didn¡¯t it tried to attack you when you approached it? And then even more strange that it didn¡¯t retaliate once you attack it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Poku replied, getting off the spider, and then stared at the corpse. ¡°Something doesn¡¯t seem right.¡± Poku then looks up to see that they were near the end of the forest. He could see the bottom of a cliff from where he was. ¡°Hey, I think we are almost at the cave.¡± The group walked up to him to see what he was staring at. Seeing the end of the forest, the group then ran out of the forest.


    ¡°The cave must be near here then.¡± Luna stated, and started looking around for the entrance. Astra spots something in the distance and called it out. ¡°Over there!¡± He ran towards it and the group followed. There was webbings everywhere. They follow it down the opening, and eventually reached a cave completely covered with webbing. ¡°This must be the entrance to the cave the villagers talked about.¡± Al said, looking around to see if there were any other spiders nearby. The group paused for a minute, and then after confirming that they were ready, lit their torches and lanterns, and made their way into the cave.


    Inside the cave was completely dark and damp. There were webbings everywhere, but there was only one path, so they had no choice but to follow it. They spotted a few more variant spiders, and like the previous ones, only stared at them. When one of the spider seemed to have creeped closer to the group, Luna shot an arrow towards it, penetrating it¡¯s skull. Once she shot that arrow, the rest of the spider screeched out, and charged the group. They were fast and agile, dodging the arrows from both Teiki and Luna. Only one or two got hit, but only the first spider died so far. As they reached the group, Astra started to cut them down with the support of Al¡¯s Boost: Agility. Poku stayed in the back in case any spiders creeped up behind them. After a short skirmish, the spiders were killed, mostly from Astra, as the path was too narrow for Luna and Teiki to be able to shoot once they got too close.


    ¡°I think thats all of them that was around here.¡± Astra said after the fight was over. Just then the group heard more screeching coming from deeper inside the cave. ¡°It seems like the screech from the first group was a call for aid.¡± Poku stated. ¡°It would seem so.¡± Astra replied. ¡°Come on, let''s go deeper inside to see if there¡¯s a area with a bigger opening.¡± Luna told the group, and they all rushed deeper inside. As they ran in, the path gradually got bigger, but Al notice that there were pathing from the ceilings, where spiders could jump down from and alerted the group, and they came to a stop.


    ¡°What should we do? Should we head back towards the entrance?¡± Astra shouted, as he fought some of the spiders that had appeared. ¡°No.¡± Luna shouted back. ¡°We won¡¯t be able to clear the nest if we just wait outside for them. Who knows how many other entrance into the cave there are.¡± ¡°If we go too deep inside, we could get surrounded.¡± Al stated. More spiders jumped down from the ceiling, cutting the group¡¯s discussion on what to do. One jumped down right on top of Teiki, knocking her down. It tried to bite her, but was knocked away by Chad. Teiki got back up, and started shooting at the spiders that were making their way down. ¡°There¡¯s more coming in from the entrance, we have no choice but to go in deeper now.¡± She shouted, once she heard more skittering coming from where they just came in from.


    The group fought their way in deeper. ¡°If we can find an open clearing, Teiki and I can start clearing more of them.¡± Luna shouted as they ran through. ¡°Do you think there¡¯s going to be an opening?¡± Al shouted, trying to keep his Aura of Agility active as they run. ¡°The path is slowly getting wider, so there¡¯s a good chance of an opening.¡± Teiki answered, trying to shoot the spiders chasing them. ¡°We are close!¡± Poku shouted. ¡°I sense a large room ahead.¡± The group now a little relieved to hear that there¡¯s an open room for Luna and Teiki to fully be able to utilised their skills. As they ran close to the room Poku talked about, Luna came to a halt. ¡°STOP!¡± she shouted. Everyone else came to a halt.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Astra asked, peeking behind the group at the oncoming spiders. ¡°We have to go NOW!¡± Luna looked back towards the spiders. ¡°I sense an incredibly strong individual near the room!¡± Some of the spiders caught up to them. Al and Poku intercepted them and cut them down. Astra looked at Luna with a worrying look. ¡°At the moment, we will be overrun by the spiders if we don¡¯t get into the room so that the two of you can support us. We have to take the chance.¡± Luna hesitated, then agreed. The group then continued on towards the room.


    ¡°We are near the room!¡± Poku shouted. ¡°It¡¯s just ahead of us!¡± The group made it into a large open room in the cave. Al turn to look behind them, and to his surprise, the spiders had stop chasing them. This gave him a very bad feeling. ¡°Quick, search the room for every possible opening so that we can know where they will be coming in from!¡± Teiki shouted. The group started looking around frantically for any opening. ¡°WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!¡± shouted a voice from above them.


    The group looked up, and saw nothing but darkness. The ceiling was too high for their torches to lit up. ¡°WHO ARE YOU? AND WHY HAVE YOU COME HERE?¡± shouted the voice onces more. Then from the ceiling came a large shadow slowly making its way down. It looked like a much, much bigger spider coming down. ¡°Damn, it¡¯s possibly the queen of the nest!¡± Astra alerted the others, and brandished his swords towards it. The large spider has now reached the ground, letting the light from the torches reveal it.The large spider had a black exoskeleton. And to the surprise of everyone, in place of the head, was a female human torso. It wasn¡¯t just a spider queen, It was Arachne.

 Chapter 11: Spider Queen

    ¡°WHO ARE YOU? AND WHY HAVE YOU INVADE MY HOME AND KILL MY CHILDREN?¡± the Arachne shouted. She drew closer to the group, revealing more of her face that was hidden from them. Her multiple black eyes glaring at a different target, and her mandibles that are now visibles are covered in her drool, dripping to the ground. Her size was made clearer too. She was bigger than the houses in the village. Astra and Poku step out in front of the group and ready themselves in case of an attack from the monster. Luna can only stare in horror at the Arachne. ¡°Run¡­ We have to run!¡±


    ¡°Where can we run? She¡¯s blocking our path forward, and the way we came in is crawling with spiders.¡± Astra said, not looking away from the Arachne. ¡°We have a better chance against the spiders¡± Luna shouted. ¡°She¡¯s an Arachne! She is a Demigod! We have no chance by ourselves. We have to get out of her now!¡± The group look at the leader in shock. Al looks back towards the way the came in, and at the moment, was clear of any spiders. If they run for it now, they have a chance to get pretty far into the path they came in, and with luck, face only a portion of the spiders they saw on the way in.


    The group turn back towards the entrance to the room, with Astra and Poku guarding the rear in case the Arachne attacks. Al led the group on their escape out. ¡°WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING?!¡± The Arachne shouted. She walked closer while the group headed towards the path. Just as they reached the narrow pathway, they encounter a large web, obstructing their path. ¡°I WILL NOT LET ANY OF YOU LEAVE HERE ALIVE. YOU WILL BECOME FOOD FOR MY HATCHLINGS TO PAY FOR THE KILLING OF MY OTHER CHILDRENS.¡± Al threw his lantern at the web, hoping it would burn it down and open the path. The lantern lands on the web, merely got stuck on the web. The heat from the lantern only managed to burn a small portion off, and then fell to the ground. Al ran up to the web, and using the flame from the now broken lantern to light a torch, and hacked away at the web. Luna and Teiki reached him shortly after and started to help him. After they broke the web, they came to realised that it was only the first set of web, and there were more of them afterwards.


    While the Al, Luna, and Teiki was trying to break through the web, Astra and Poku had already engage the Monster. They both ran in opposite direction of each other around it to try and pincer it. It leaped towards Astra, who was the slower of the two. It sends Astra flying towards the wall with it¡¯s sickle-like hands. While it was focusing on Astra, Poku took this chance to jump on to it¡¯s back, and started stabbing at it. ¡°Flurry Strike!¡± he started hacking away wildly on the monster¡¯s back. As he continued to stab it, a green goo started to spurt out. Cautious of it, he jumped off the monster, and tried to gain some distance. But as he landed on the ground, it spun around, and hits him hard with her hands, sending him off to the other side of the room. Taking this chance, Astra then leaps towards the torso. ¡°Cross Slash!¡± But she parries it with her arm, chipping one of Astra¡¯s sword and then shoves him back a few feet away.


    Astra lands on his feet, and readies himself to launch another attack. But the Arachne was already facing him. It shoots out a blast of green gas at him from her mouth. It enveloped him, and made him feel nauseous, weak and feel like throwing up. Poison Breath! Before he could react, it had gotten close to him and was about to slam down on him with both hands. Just before it landed the blow, an arrow of energy flew towards it. It dodges the attack by leaping to the side and away from Astra. At this moment, Al runs over to grab him, and takes him away from the Arachne.


    Once far enough from the Arachne, Al hands Astra an antidote. ¡°Watch out for it¡¯s Poison Breath.¡± he mumbled out. ¡°I will.¡± Al then turns and runs back towards the Arachne. Luna and Teiki continued to shoot at it to distract it so that Astra can have time to recover. The Arachne makes a beeline towards the two. As it got about halfway to them, Poku attacks its blindside by throwing some knives at it. It knocks the knives with a sweep of its arms. It then turns towards Poku and spits out another Poison Breath. Poku dodges by rolling away to the side, but was able to completely avoid the attack, and breath in a little of the poison, slowing him down a little.


    While it was distracted by Poku, Al ran up and stab its sides with his dagger. It kicks Al back with one of its leg. It followed up with a sweeping attack with one of its arms at Al. He dodges by leaping back, but before he landed from his leap, the Arachne had sweep again with it¡¯s other arm, knocking Al towards Poku, who tried to catch him, but the force of the impact was too much, knocking them both down to the ground. Before they could get back on their feet, the Arachne was already on top of them thrusting down with its right arm. Just as it was about to hit them something grabs onto its arm and knocks it away from them. It lets out a screech, and started swinging its arm wildly to shake off whatever it was that had taken hold of its arm.


    Thanks to Chad, Al and Poku was able to get back on their feet, and tried to blindside the monster. Meanwhile, Astra had recover, and rushing in from its other blindspot. They all jumped onto it, and started stabbing every small opening they could. At the same time, Luna and Teiki take shots at its lower body, but they were mostly ineffective in their attack against its armor. The Arachne finally manages to shake Chad off by slamming him against the wall. It then spun around wildly to shake off the three that was taking stabs at it, successfully knocking them off. It leaps backwards away from them, and spat out more poison gases at them. Al and Astra manages to barely dodge in time, but Poku, already slow from the small intake of the previous poison, wasn¡¯t able to react fast enough, taking a full hit. The poison put him in a daze, and at that moment, the Arachne shoots out a net of webbing at him, completely wrapping him in it and immobilized him.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Alderick! Go help Poku out of that and give him an antidote!¡± Astra shouted as he ran towards the Arachne to distract it. Al runs over to Poku, and tried to cut the webbing with his dagger, but to no avail, as the web was as tough as steel. Poku started to choke and spasm around. Seeing that the poison would kill Poku before he could cut the web, Al tried to give the antidote to drink, but he was moving to much and couldn¡¯t take the antidote. ¡°Chad! Help me hold him still!¡± Al shouted out. Chad runs over and then sits on top of Poku to keep him from moving. Al shoves the antidote through the web and into Poku¡¯s mouth to force him to drink it. Seeing that Poku was starting to recover and had stopped choking, Al turns his attention back to the Arachne. ¡°Stay with him Chad!¡±


    The Arachne lets out a loud screech as it was fighting Astra, as it was starting to get annoy by the arrows from the two archers in the back that it has not yet been able to reach to kill. It was summoning its children to deal with them. Soon the cave was willed with screeching from all over. ¡°Al! Help Astra! Teiki and I will deal with the smaller ones!¡± Luna shouted. As a few started showing up, Teiki and Luna started shooting them to keep them from reaching the others. Some tried to finish Poku, but was stopped by Chad.


    ¡°Teiki, cover me for a bit!¡± Luna shouted. Teiki started to focus on the spiders that were heading towards them to protect Luna. Luna then started focusing her energy into one shot. She then aims towards the ceiling. ¡°Silver Rain!¡± She shot a large energy towards the ceiling, which disbursed into many smaller energy arrows and fell down onto the many spiders that was starting to flood the room. She started to focus for another wave when a spider jumped down on her. ¡°Get off of her!¡± Teiki shouted, drawing her short sword and cutting the spider. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°Yes. Hurry we have to help the others.¡± The two started to slowly make their way to where Chad and Poku were.


    Luna and Teiki made it to Chad and Poku. ¡°Check up on Poku! Me and Chad will cover you.¡± Luna told Teiki. ¡°How is he?¡± ¡°He¡¯s alive, but unconscious. We can¡¯t waste time in trying to get him out of the web at the moment, so it''s best if we just leave him as is, but we will have to protect him from the spiders.¡±Ok. We will stay here to cover Poku, but will also have to provide support for the other two!¡± ¡°You focus on the spiders going towards them. Since I¡¯m out of arrows, me and Chad will protect you two here.¡± Luna shifted her attention to the spiders closing in on Al and Astra, while Teiki and Chad focus on the spiders closing in on their position.


    Al could only use his Auras as using Boost would leave him open to attack. Since they have entered the cave, he had been maintaining Aura of Agility, but it was starting to wear him down, and it did not increase their speed as much as Boost: Agility would have. He was running low on mana too, as this fight was unexpected and drained too much of his focus. ¡°Astra! I will have to cancel my Aura so I can recover some mana!¡± ¡°Alright! I will do what I can to buy you some time!¡± With the cancelation of the Aura, Astra¡¯s speed had dropped, making it harder for him to dodge attacks from the Arachne. He was forced to rely on blocking majority of its attacks.


    While waiting for his mana to recover, and without the speed boost from his aura, the most Al can do was to keep some of the smaller spiders from reaching Astra. But some of the variants spiders were too fast for him and slipped by. ¡°Astra! Watch out!¡± Astra notice the approaching variants and had to take his eyes off the Arachne to quickly kill them. But while he was distracted, it struck him hard from the side, knocking him down. It prepare to thrust down on him to finish him off. ¡°Aura of Sacrifice!¡±


    The thrust from the arm of the Arachne penetrates through Astra, but he didn¡¯t feel anything even though he had started bleeding from the wound. Al fell to his knees, and spat out blood. The Arachne removes its arms from Astra to attack again, but Astra rolled away. He leaped at the torso to attack, but gets blocked. A spider attacks him from the side, and he swiftly cut it down. The Arachne attacks with a sweep and Astra tried to block with his swords. The impact from the attack pushed Astra back, and shattered his sword.


    The Arachne then grabs Astra by his legs and slams him on the ground repeatedly. And then throws him to the side. ¡°Aura of Sacrifice¡­ Cancel¡± Al whole body is numb. Several broken bones as well. He looks over to where Astra was thrown, and sees that he wasn¡¯t moving. He slowly turn towards the others. They were slowly getting over run. The Arachne was slowly walking over to him. ¡°STILL ALIVE? GOOD. I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER FOR WHAT YOU¡¯VE DONE TO MY CHILDREN. YOU ALL WILL BE FOOD FOR MY NEWLY BORN HATCHLINGS.¡± Al reached for his short sword that was hung around his waist. I really didn¡¯t want to use this. But I can¡¯t die here. He unsheathed his short sword.

 Chapter 12: Runeblade

    The numbers of spiders coming into the room was slowing down, giving Luna and Teiki the impression that most them had came into the room already. ¡°We just have to finish off these last few groups, then we can go help the others.¡± Luna shouted. ¡°Yes, but there¡¯s still a lot of them. Will we even be able to finish them off fast enough?¡± Teiki said as she cut down a few of the smaller ones. Chad had been bitten a few times by the small hatchlings, and was starting to get slowed down from the poison. Luna takes a quick glance over to where Astra was fighting the Arachne. The Arachne had broken Astra¡¯s sword with a heavy blow, and then it grab Astra leg and lifted him up. ¡°Astra!¡± Luna aimed her bow at the Arachne¡¯s claw, hoping her arrow was enough to make her let Astra go. But before she could fire, she was tackled by a spider from her blindside. The tackle had knocked her bow out of her hands and it landed a fair distance away from them.


    ¡°Get off her!¡± Tei cuts down the spider, and helps Luna up. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°Yeah. But I dropped my bow.¡± Luna searched for her bow, but was forced to draw her dagger when more spiders ran towards them. Chad leaps towards one and slams it down. This attracted the attention of them all, and they all jumped towards him, biting him everywhere. Luna and Tei ran to help Chad, cutting down the spiders that had surrounded him. Once they were killed, Tei quickly grabbed a antidote and gave it to Chad, forcing it into his mouth. It can cured the poison, but he had taken too much damage, and could no longer help them fight. Tei reached for another antidote to take for herself when she felt a bite at her ankle. She looked down and saw a hatchling.


    The hatching, however, was a different color than the others. It was yellow and had really long legs. Tei smashes it, and tried to get up on her feet. She tumbles down, and her legs was numbed. The numbness spread upward, and she could no longer move. It seemed the spider had a toxin that paralyzes its victim instead of a poison that slowly kills. Luna had not realised that Tei had been paralyzed because she was fighting the last few large spiders around them. She looks over to where the Arachne was, and saw that it was approaching Al who had been knocked down. ¡°Al!¡± she shouted as she started running there to help, but she was bitten by a group of the yellow hatchlings. She instantly went down.


    The Arachne slowly made its way towards Al, already assured of its victory over the group. Al looks over to Luna, and saw that they were getting overrun by the spiders. I really didn¡¯t want to use this. But I can¡¯t die here. He unsheathed his short sword. The sword glowed a faint blue light as he unsheathed it. It was a rusty sword with multiple strange markings and symbols on the blade, extending from the hilt all the way to the tip of the blade. ¡°Rune of Ignore Pain¡± The symbol in the center of the blade glowed brown. ¡°Rune of Speed¡± Another glowed a light green. ¡°Rune of Power. Rune of Recovery.¡± Two symbols glowed. One a crimson red and another dark blue.


    Al gets up on his feet, his sword in front, aimed towards the Arachne. ¡°STILL HAVE SOME FIGHT IN YOU?¡± The Arachne shouted. ¡°I WILL ENJOY FEASTING ON YOUR CORPSE WHEN I AM DONE WITH YOU!¡± It now charges at Al, raising both its claws and struck down on him. Al dodges to the side, and gave a deep cut to its sides. It quickly spun around a sweep its claw at Al. He jumps over the Arachne and thrusted his sword down on its back. It screeched out in pain. All the remaining spiders in the room rushed over to aid their queen.


    Al jumps off the Arachne¡¯s back, and started cutting down all the spiders that hard swarmed his location. The Arachne started swiping down wildly at Al. He avoids the attacks, while still continuing to cut down the other spiders. One of them shoots a web at his leg, and rooted him in place. The Arachne takes this chance and sweeps at him. Unable to avoid the hit, Al strikes down on its claw with all his might. He slams it down to the ground and cracks the claw. The Arachne staggers backwards, screeching out in pain. Al took this chance to cut the web, and kill that last of the spiders. All that was left was the Arachne.


    Luna and Tei could only watch as Al fight due to them being paralyzed. ¡°You two ok?¡± Luna slowly turn her head to see Poku had crawled to them while still covered in web. ¡°Should I cut myself out to go help Al?¡± he asked. ¡°No. This is a good chance for us to see what he is capable of. We shall continued to observe him.¡± Luna answered. ¡°How is Astra? Can you see him?¡± ¡°I see him, he¡¯s alive and awake. I think he¡¯s just waiting to see what you want to do.¡± ¡°Ok, signal to him to stay down and observe Al.¡± Poku started sending signals to Astra, and he replied with a thumbs up. ¡°Ok, I think he understands. Do you guys need an antidote?¡± ¡°No, we our antidote doesn¡¯t cure the paralyzation. We will have to wait for it to wear off on it¡¯s own.¡± The group then continued to observe Al in his fight against the Arachne.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    The Arachne screeched out loudly. ¡°HOW DARE YOU KILL ALL OF MY CHILDREN! I WILL FEED ON YOUR CORPSE TO GIVE BIRTH TO NEW ONES! THE CORPSE OF YOUR FRIENDS WILL BE USED TO FEED MY NEW HATCHLINGS.¡± The Arachne started glowing red, clearly now in enrage. It charges at Al at a much greater speed than before. It swings its claws at Al, and he tries to deflect it. The blow was heavier than before, forcing Al to block the attack instead, and then knocking him back with the impact. Al quickly bounced back to his feet, and using the speed from his runeblade to try and out match it in speed, and circle around it. But the Arachne was still the faster of the two, and it blocked his path.


    The Arachne strikes at Al with one of its claw, and he jumps up to avoid the attack. Anticipating this move, it strikes Al with it¡¯s other claw, knocking him to the wall. The blow from both the Arachne and the the wall was enough to knock the wind out of him. Even though he didn¡¯t feel the impact, his body will still take the damage. He was unable to use his left arm anymore due to dislocating it using it to block the attack. Still, he was determined to kill the monster. After thinking for a bit, he figure he might be able to make it flee now that all the other spiders are dead. If he can just injure it enough, the monster might make a run for it.


    The Arachne starts to swipe wildly at Al. He dodges and attack random points on its body, hoping to find a weak spot. The human part of its body seems to be the most vulnerable, but its heavily focus on not letting me get close to it. I will try to find somewhere else for now until I can find an opening to strike it. After striking at random points, and making light wounds on the monster¡¯s body, he notice that there was a part of flesh connecting its legs to its body. After avoiding the random thrashes from it, Al leaps up and strikes down on the fleshy part of the leg. The leg was cut off, and the Arachne cried out in pain, louder than before. Al lands on the ground, happy that he was able to injure the Arachne to this degree. But his celebration was short. From the open wound of the Arachne, sprouted another leg that shot out and pierce Al in his right shoulder.


    The Arachne grabs Al by the legs, and then removed her leg out of Al. It lifts Al up to its face. ¡°BEFORE YOU DIE. ANSWER ME THIS. WHY DID YOU COME TO MY LAIR AND ATTACK MY CHILDREN? WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO DESERVE THIS MASSACURE?!¡± It screeched to Al. Confused by the sudden question, Al answered. ¡°You spiders have been attacking the nearby village and disrupting their work.¡± ¡°LIES¡­ THE VILLAGE IS UNDER MY PROTECTION.¡± It hollored. ¡°YOU SEE¡­ THEY AND I HAVE MADE A DEAL. FOR AS LONG AS THEY PROVIDE MY CHILDREN WITH COWS AND OTHER LIVESTOCKS, THEY WILL IN TURN PROTECT THEM FROM OTHER CREATURES. I EVEN GRANT THEM LONGEVITY FOR THEIR CONTINUED SERVICE.¡± Al was shocked to hear this. Why would they sent us to come deal with these spiders, if they were being protected by them? Then he recall the farm near the village, and that they didn¡¯t have any livestocks in the village. If they didn¡¯t have livestocks, what did they sacrifice? Then he suddenly remember the weird feeling he got in the village, and what they discover in the village. The womens and children.


    Al now have discover the reasoning behind the absence of women and childrens in the village. The village has been sacrificing them to the Arachne for protection and longevity. But if they are doing this. Why did they send us in to destroy the nest. Could they no longer be able to provide sacrifices and decided its best to claim ignorance and get the guild to dispose of the Arachne? As Al was thinking, the Arachne suddenly throws him at the wall. He slammed hard against the wall, and the impact made him dropped his sword. Now that he was no longer under the influence of his runeblade, all the damage he had sustain when he was using it affected him simultaneously, and his recovery rate decreased.


    The pain was too much for Al to endure. He tried to reach for his runeblade but it was just out of reach. He can feel his mind slowly fading into unconsciousness. ¡°IF THE VILLAGERS REALLY DID SEND YOU TO DESTROY MY NEST, I WILL MAKE THEM SUFFER. THEY WILL DIE HORRIBLE DEATHS AS MY HATCHLINGS FEED ON THEM. BUT YOU. I WILL PERSONALLY ENJOY YOU. I WILL USE YOUR NUTRIENTS TO GIVE BIRTH TO MY NEW HATCHLINGS.¡± The Arachne slowly approaches Al, now assured that Al could no longer fight back. Al desperately reached for his runeblade, but its distance too far and the pain he is feeling was too much. His vision darkened as he felt fear. A sudden feeling of fear that he was familiar with, and he faded into unconsciousness.


    ¡°Well¡­ This looks interesting.¡±

 Chapter 13: God Vs Demigod

    Luna, Teiki, and Poku continues to watch Al fight against the Arachne. ¡°What is that sword he is using?¡± Poku asked, excitedly. ¡°It made him incredibly powerful. He might just win against the Arachne by himself with it!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a runeblade. It makes no sense.¡± Luna respond. ¡°How did he get his hands on a weapon that only demons can use? We might need to capture him to inquire him about it after this.¡± ¡°A runeblade?¡± Teiki ask, as she had crawled closer to the two. ¡°A runeblade is a sword inscribed with powerful magic. Unlike normal enchants, runes provide much stronger magic, but at a heavy price.¡± Luna paused to think for a bit. ¡°Al¡­ what price did you pay for this runeblade?¡±


    As the group continued to watch, Al was grabbed after he cut one of the Arachne¡¯s leg off. Then was thrown against the wall. ¡°Damn! Poku, quickly cut yourself lose, and go help Al!¡± Luna called out. Seeing that the paralyzation had worn off, she got on her feet and was about to make her way towards her bow. She suddenly felt a heavy pressure that knocked her down to her knees. A pressure she had never felt before. Someone or something exceedingly powerful was joining them in the cave.


    ¡°Well¡­ This is interesting.¡± Black smoke rises from the ground between the Arachne and Al. It gathers together and forms into a black robe just barely floating above the ground.The robe was as large as the Arachne, and the hood of the robe covers the face of its wearer in complete darkness. The only visible body part that you can see of the wearer were its skeletal hands. The Arachne took a few steps back, cautiously. ¡°DEATH¡­ WHY ARE YOU HERE?¡± It called out. Death look around the room, ignoring the question, and spots Astra lying down on the ground. ¡°Oh, now this is really interesting.¡± He slowly floats to Astra. ¡°I never thought I find you in a dark cave, general. I¡¯ve been waiting thousands of years to collect your soul you know.¡± Astra quickly rises to his feet, sword drawn. He strikes quickly at Death, but his sword shattered into thousands of pieces upon impact.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Death merely stare at Astra, puzzled by the sudden attack. ¡°Don¡¯t worry general. I¡¯m not going to collect your soul¡­ yet.¡± Death rises one of his hands in front of Astra while he stood frozen in front him. ¡°Sleep¡± He snaps his fingers, and Astra collapses to the ground. ¡°I ASKED YOU WHY YOU ARE IN MY LAIR!¡± The Arachne yelled out again, louder than before. Death glances over to the Arachne. ¡°Clearly, I¡¯m not here for you.¡± He turns over to face Luna, Teiki, and Poku who had been watching the whole time. ¡°You guys over there, sleep as well.¡± He snaps his fingers again, and the three collapse. The Arachne screeches out angrily, and charges at Death, and swipe at him with both claws. Death turns into a large cloud of smoke, and drifted towards Al.


    The smoke reforms into the robe, and floats over Al. ¡°Since you keep asking, I guess I will answer. I sensed a follower of mine was near death, so I came personally to collect his soul, but it seems that this follower is still clinging to life.¡± Death merely stood there, staring down at Al. ¡°HE¡¯S MINE! HIM AND ALL OF HIS FRIENDS ARE MINE!¡± The Arachne readies itself, clearly prepare to fight Death. Death looks over to the entrance, towards the direction of the village, again ignoring the Arachne ¡°I am sensing some really strong, dark magic. Is this your doing?¡± ¡°AND WHAT IF IT IS?¡± ¡°I see¡­ That would explain why I haven¡¯t received any souls from this area for awhile. So you have been stealing souls that belong to me?¡± Death now stare coldly towards the Arachne, but it showed no signs of being intimidated.


    ¡°I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU. YOU GROW WEAKER BY THE DAY, WHILE I GROW STRONGER.¡± The Arachne shouted. ¡°MAYBE I¡¯LL TAKE YOUR PLACE ONCE I KILL YOU ALONG WITH YOUR FOLLOWER.¡± ¡°It is true that I have grown weaker due to losing my followers. And that is why I can¡¯t lose any more of them. Especially this one.¡± Death now finally prepare to fight the Arachne. ¡°WHAT MAKES THIS ONE SPECIAL?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I guess you can call it an investment. I have plans for him in the future. And I must warn you. You are a mere Demigod, know your place.¡± The Arachne screeches out in anger and charges towards Death once more.


    The Arachne swing wildly at Death, and he dodges with ease. This angers the Arachne, and it attacks grows more ferocious, destroying every part of the ground that its attack lands on. After a dodging a few more attacks, Death grabs one of the Arachne¡¯s claw, and places his other hand on it¡¯s torso. ¡°Repel¡± Death sends the Arachne flying to the other side of the room, and it slams against the wall, creating a huge crack that extends all the way to the ceiling. ¡°Maybe this is too much for you?¡± Angered, the Arachne started to spit out poisonous clouds at Death.


    Although the poison would have no effect on Death, it could still kill Al who was lying there unconscious. Death grabs Al¡¯s body, and swiftly dodges the attack. He flies towards the other members of Al¡¯s group, and placed his body there. Death then turn to face the Arachne again, but it had rushed in closed to him. Death was struck hard, and was sent crashing into the ground some distance away. ¡°IS THAT ALL YOU CAN DO?!¡± The Arachne charges wildly at Death once again. Death stood there and waited for it to reach him. It tries to tackle him, but Death phases through the Arachne. Once he goes through the Arachne, he turns around to face it. He lifts up one hand, which was holding a glowing ball of light, that stretched and connected to the Arachne. The Arachne them stumbles, and falls down. ¡°NO¡­ GIVE¡­ IT¡­ BACK¡­¡± it said, weakly. ¡°Never underestimate Death.¡±


    ¡°For a Demigod, your soul is much smaller than I thought it would be.¡± Death raises the ball of light to his face. ¡°I can easily crush your soul, and kill you here.¡± The Arachne was turning even more pale than it was originally, and now was too weak to say anything back. ¡°But, where is the fun in that?¡± Death releases the soul, and it bounces back to the Arachne. It raises back on its feet in confusion. ¡°Instead, I will have you help me with a little test run.¡± ¡°AND¡­ WHY¡­ WOULD I HELP YOU?¡± ¡°Simple. If you don¡¯t, you will die here. If you do, then you might get a chance to live.¡± The Arachne pondered for a bit. ¡°WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?¡±


    ¡°It is simple. We will fight again. You win, you can do what you want with these adventurers, my follower included. Lose, and your soul belongs to me. You will serve me for eternity.¡± The Arachne was angered at this. ¡°AND WHY WOULD I DO THIS? I HAVE ALREADY LOST. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WIN?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will be giving you a handicap this time.¡± Death turns into smoke once more. The smoke flies towards Al, and surrounds his body. The smoke dispersed, and Al gets up on his feet.Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°I will fight you like this.¡± Deaths voice echoed from Al¡¯s mouth. ¡°I will be test running this body and see how it is at the moment.¡± Death starts randomly moving parts of the body to check for damage. ¡°Hmm¡­ seems the left hand is broken. And a few broken ribs. But this is fine.¡± He lifts his right hand. Al¡¯s runeblade lifts up off the ground and flies towards Death. He catches it, and takes a fighting stance towards the Arachne. It grins, believing it has a really good chance of killing Death, now that he was in a form he wasn¡¯t used to, and the body was a weak boy that it was already on the verge of killing without even going all out.


    ¡°Whenever you are ready. You can make the first move.¡± Death calls out to the Arachne. It instantly shoots out a ball of web at him. He quickly cut it effortlessly. At that moment, the Arachne had rushed in from the sides and strikes down on him. ¡°Rune of Agility¡± Death swiftly dodges the attack. ¡°Sigil of Explosion¡± A large marking formed under the Arachne. It glowed a bright red and then fire erupted from it, knocking the Arachne down. Death leaps at the fallen Arachne. ¡°Rune of Power.¡± He sweeps, and cuts off two of its legs. It screeches out in pain, and sweeps its claw at Death. He leaps away from the attack and away from the Arachne. It tries to get back on its feet, staggering around having lost its balance.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ This body is much better than I thought. I can¡¯t wait to see how it grows.¡± Death has ceased his attacks, busy admiring how well Al¡¯s body was working, despite the heavy damage it had sustained from earlier. He was also happy at how compatible the body was to him. The Arachne wildly, and random spat out poisonous gas everywhere in the room, trying to buy itself time to grow back its limbs. ¡°Good try. But that is not enough to buy yourself time. Sigil of Purification.¡± A huge sigil covers the entire room. It flashes brightly and cleared the room of all the poisonous gas. The bright light from the sigil had blinded the Arachne, and it staggers backwards. Death took this chance to rush in and jumped of its back. ¡°Sigil of Impact¡± Another marking appeared and flashed. A forced slams the Arachne down to the ground, creating a crater around it.


    Death leaps off and lands on the ground. He stops to stare at the unmoving body of the Arachne. The Arachne swiftly swings its claw at Death, sending him flying at the wall. Death landed smoothly against the wall. He turns to face the Arachne, and saw a ball of web flying his way. He cuts it down, but there was a second one that caught him off guard. The ball of web spread out and then rooted him against the wall. The Arachne rises up, and was visibly worn out from the damage it had sustained. Knowing it was most likely going to lose and forced to serve Death for eternity, it planned its escape. It looked around, and then towards the ceiling. It sees an opening created from when it was sent flying against the wall. It starts to ascend the wall. ¡°I WON¡¯T DIE HERE TODAY! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE ON YOU DEATH!¡±


    Death stare as the Arachne climbs the way. ¡°Hmm¡­ well¡­ I can¡¯t let you run off on our deal.¡± He tries to struggle out of the web, but to no avail. His right hand had been rooted to the wall as well, so his chance of cutting himself free with the runeblade was nonexistent. The Arachne was nearing the top, so Death had to think fast on his next move. He could easily release himself from Al¡¯s body and finish off the Arachne in his normal form, but he feels that he should finish it in Al¡¯s body. Otherwise he would not be satisfied in his little test. He wiggles his runeblade around, and freed it, but his hand was still bound. He drops the sword and it falls to the ground. He grins as he has now planned his next move.


    Death focus his entire mind into the runeblade. The sword lifts up off the ground and the floats to be in front of him. He aimed the sword towards the Arachne. ¡°Sigil of Projectile.¡± A small sigil formed around the runeblade. ¡°Sigil of Projectile.¡± Several more formed in front of it. ¡°Sigil of Projectile.¡± More formed. They all line up towards the Arachne. ¡°Now¡­ Launch.¡± The first sigil glowed a silver glowed and pushed the sword forward. As it reach each sigil, it grew faster. Upon reaching the last of the sigil, the runeblade flew at an incredible speed towards the Arachne. The Arachne turns to face and laugh at Death one last time before it makes its escape, savoring its victory against Death. It spots the runeblade flying towards it, but a moment too late. The sword penetrates its torso with a heavy blow, cutting the torso off from the main body. The Arachne came crashing down to the ground.


    The Arachne coughs up blood once it lands on the ground. It looks around for its body. Once it found it was several feet away from it, it showed a face of true terror, having now realised that it can not escape Death. Death had wiggle himself free from the webbing, and was beginning to slow make his way towards it. The Arachne was overfilled with fear as it desperately tried to crawl away. Fully regretting its foolishness in thinking that it could win against a god. Tears starts rolling down its face as it crawled. ¡°NO¡­ no¡­ please¡­¡± Its once powerful voice, now a mumble. It continued to crawl away randomly, not even knowing the direction it was crawling towards. It feels a sudden pressure on its back, and turns its head to look. Death has reached it, and was looking down on it.


    ¡°Please¡­ spare me¡­¡± The Arachne whimpered. ¡°I was foolish¡­ I will never try to offend you again.¡± ¡°Thank you for helping me with this little test of mine. I will have to say it was a great success.¡± Death stare down at the Arachne with a smile. He put sheaths his swords, and lifts his foot off the Arachne¡¯s back. This gave it the impression that it was going to be spare. ¡°As promise, since you have lost. Your soul is mine.¡± Death reaches down to it. His hands penetrates the Arachne¡¯s body, and he began to pull out it¡¯s soul. ¡°No¡­ NO! PLEASE!¡± It cried out. ¡°I don''t¡­. I don¡¯t want to die.¡± ¡°Die? No¡­ No no no¡­ you will not die. Did you forget our little deal? Should you lose, you are to serve me for eternity. And I have plans for you. Great plans.¡± Death grins down at it evilly.  The Arachne cries out more. Then its vision turned into darkness.


    ¡°Now then.¡± Death turns towards the collapsed adventurers. ¡°What shall I do with these?¡± He walks over to them, and started to inspect them. ¡°Oh ho. It seems my follower has made some really important friends. I wonder if he even knows who they are.¡± He contemplate for a bit. ¡°I would love to harvest their souls now that I know who they are. But they could prove useful in the future. They could provide this follower with the growth that he needs.¡± He debates to himself for a moment. ¡°I will make use of them I guess, since I¡¯ve already invested so much into this follower. Sigil of Tracking.¡± A small sigil appeared on each of the members of the group. Small enough that you would not see it if you weren¡¯t searching for it. ¡°Now, I will alter their memories. Can¡¯t have them know that I was here. Alter Memories.¡± Everyone¡¯s body glowed with a shadowy black light. ¡°There. Now then. I am done here it seems. Maybe I¡¯ll head over to the village and collect their souls while I am here.¡± Dark smoke flows out of Al, and he collapses on the ground. The smoke seeps into the ground and disappeared.

 Chapter 14: Lurking Darkness

    ¡°Al, are you awake?¡± A voice called out. Someone starts shaking Al¡¯s body lightly. Al awoke with a grunt. ¡°Oh, good. You¡¯re still alive.¡± Al vision starts to clear and he sees Luna kneeling down next to him. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± she asked, and started searching around his bodies for any major injuries. ¡°I can¡¯t feel my left arm.¡± Al tries to move, but every part of his body starts to hurt. ¡°Try and stay still. The Arachne did a number on you.¡± Al turns his head and sees Astra standing above him. Astra hands him a healing potion, in which he wanted to, but was unable to grab. ¡°Oh right. You¡¯re injure. Let me help you drink it.¡± Astra pops open the potion, got down on his knee, and lifted Al¡¯s head to help him drink the potion. Al heard a slight, and creepy giggle come from behind Astra. He turns his eyes in the direction and spots Teiki with a huge grin on her face. After seeing that face, he rolled his eyes away.


    ¡°The potion will only help numb out the pain so we will still have to get you to the village.¡± Astra starts to lift Al up, and then carried him on his back. ¡°Is¡­ Everyone alright? Where did the Arachne go?¡± Al ask. ¡°Everyone is alive, albeit injured. But not as bad as you were.¡± Luna answered. ¡°As for the Arachne, didn¡¯t you chase it off? Did you forget?¡± Al tried to recall his fight with the Arachne, but only remember bits and pieces. He remembers getting caught and then thrown at the wall. ¡°Who knew the Arachne could also spit out a sleeping gas. We all tried to come help you when you got slammed into the wall, but was all rendered asleep when it spat it at us.¡± Poku said, as he kicked some of the spider corpses that was littering the room. More bits of memories flashed into Al¡¯s mind. They were more like images than memories to him though. Images of the Arachne getting knocked down, and even images of him stabbing it¡¯s back with his runeblade. The last images he recalled was the Arachne crawling up the walls towards an opening in the ceiling. ¡°I¡­ I think it got away¡­¡±


    ¡°It most likely fled after getting weakened by you. We couldn¡¯t find it¡¯s body when we searched the room while you were still unconscious.¡± Luna said. ¡°But it¡¯s truly a blessing from the divines that we all manage to survive against a Demigod.¡± Al was happy that he had fought off a Demigod, even though he didn¡¯t manage to kill it. The group makes it out of the cave with no issues, seeing as most, if not all of the spiders were dead. ¡°We should return to the village and probably spend some time there to recover.¡± Teiki says. ¡°Should we tell them about the Arachne?¡± Poku asked. ¡°Maybe they¡¯ll pay us more for fighting it off.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we should. Chances are¡­ They already knew about it.¡± Luna answered. ¡°I think the villagers knew more than what they told us, but chose not to tell us.¡± ¡°Why would they keep quiet about the Arachne?¡± Astra asked. ¡°Maybe they didn¡¯t want to attract too much attention. Or maybe they just don¡¯t have a good enough reward for the subjugation of an Arachne.¡±


    Having decided to keep quiet about the Arachne, the group reaches the edge of the village. A sense of dread came over them all. ¡°Teiki, send in Chad to scout the village for us.¡± Luna ordered Teiki. ¡°Ok, I¡¯m on it. Kindred.¡± Teiki falls down to one knee as footsteps is heard dashing off into the village. A brief moment later, Teiki speaks up. ¡°What happened in there? There¡¯s no danger¡­ but we should proceed with caution.¡± ¡°What did you see?¡± Poku asked. ¡°You can go in and see for yourself.¡± The group hesitated, and then headed into the village.


    The village was eerily quiet and no one was in sight. Luna couldn¡¯t sense the presence of anyone other than themselves. The group makes its way into the village chiefs house. Astra opens the door and calls out. ¡°Hello? Anyone here?¡± No answered. The group cautiously makes their way inside. Astra lays Al on the ground. ¡°We should split up and look around to see if we can find anyone.¡± Luna said. The group nodded and split up to search around the house, leaving Al behind due to his injuries. After a short search, a scream could be heard coming from the second floor. Everyone rushed upstairs, and into the room that had the door opened. They found Poku, frightened in the corner of the room. ¡°What happened?! Are you alright?!¡± Astra shouted. Poku pointed towards the other side of the room. There was a body lying there, unmoving.


    Astra slowly crept up to the body. Upon reaching the body, he reaches down to turn the body. It was the body of an old man who had dried up as if he''s been dead for awhile. ¡°Is¡­ is that the village chief?¡± Luna asked. ¡°It can¡¯t be. He¡¯s much older looking than the chief.¡± Astra answered while still inspecting the body. ¡°But isn¡¯t that the clothes the chief was wearing?¡± Teiki asked as she walked up closer to also take a look. Astra pulls out a badge from the body. ¡°The badge of the village leader¡­¡± Astra said quietly. ¡°So¡­ it is the village chief. Why does he look so old now? And what killed him?¡± The room was filled with silence.


    The group headed back down after not finding any answers to what killed the village chief. ¡°I think we should get out of here.¡± Poku said, clearly frighten. ¡°We can¡¯t leave. We will be easy targets for beast out in the wilds. And Al is much too injured to be able to move. We will at least have to wait for him to recover.¡± Astra answered. As the group reach the room where Al was, they were shocked to see him standing on his own, with a horrified expression on his face. ¡°Al, are you ok?¡± Luna asked as she slowly approached him. ¡°We¡­ should get out of here as fast as we can.¡± he replied without even turning to look at them. ¡°What happened? Did you see something?¡± ¡°No¡­ but I don¡¯t want to be here any longer.¡± Al realised what had happened and now understands why the feeling of dread he felt when he awoke felt familiar, but decides to keep quiet about it, not wanting them to know what happened and why he would know.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The group made their way out of the village and followed the road back to Trisdia. They only made it to the entrance of The Rocky Pass when it was near dark. ¡°Guess we¡¯ll have to camp here for tonight.¡± Teiki said reluctantly. After setting up camp, the group gathered around the campfire to discuss the recent events they went through. The group started with small comments and remarks, trying to lead up slowly towards the big question that was on their minds. Until finally, Poku asks, ¡°Al, where and how did you get your runeblade?¡±


    Silence overcame the group as they waited for Al¡¯s response. Al debated whether he should tell them the truth or tell a lie. He then remember what he felt in the village. The presence of Death. Then he recalls his deal with it. ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t tell you guys. I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust you guys or that I don¡¯t want to¡­ I just can¡¯t.¡± The group remained silent for awhile. ¡°Ok then. We won¡¯t pry too much then. Forgive us for asking the question.¡± Luna said, trying to change the topic. ¡°I wondered what happened in the village?¡± The group thought for a bit before Astra spoke up. ¡°Maybe¡­ they had some kind of deal with the Arachne. But once they could no longer hold their side of the bargain, they decided to kill it?¡± ¡°Maybe¡­ they were sacrificing the womens in the village¡­ it would explain their absences.¡± Teiki answered.


    ¡°What do they gain from it?¡± Luna asked. ¡°Maybe protection from the spiders. It could explain why the Arachne haven¡¯t attack the village all this time.¡± Poku answered. ¡°But if it wanted humans, couldn¡¯t it just attack the village? It be much faster and it wouldn¡¯t have to provide the humans with anything.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± Astra interrupted. ¡°What if it wasn¡¯t a simple human sacrifice for some protection?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Teiki asked curiously. ¡°The Arachne was a Demigod right? What if it wanted followers and souls. If it gained enough of them, it could eventually grow in power to become a god.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s true, it must have made a promise with the villagers and grant them some kind of power to make them its followers.¡± Luna stated. ¡°Longevity. Powerful dark magic that a god, in this case, a Demigod, could grant to its followers. It would explains why the village chief and other villagers are so young.¡± Astra said. ¡°And explains why they withered and died after it left.¡± Al added. ¡°Should we report this to the guild?¡± ¡°We have a responsibility to. But I think we should only report it to the supervisors and above. It might cause trouble in the future for us.¡± Luna answered. ¡°Why would it?¡± Poku asked. ¡°It will draw unwanted attention towards us if people hear that we drove off a Demigod.¡± The group then agreed to the idea of reporting it to the higher ups. Although Al agreed to it, he was suspicious as to why they didn¡¯t want the attention, considering that they are adventurers, and attention and fame is what every adventurer wants.


    The following morning, the group was awoken by a screeching cry. They all got up of their tents with their weapons, ready for anything. ¡°Wait.¡± Teiki called out. ¡°It¡¯s my messenger bird.¡± A large bird flies down to them, landing in front of Teiki. She reaches for a pouch that was strapped to it, and pulls out a letter. She gave it a quick read, then hands it to Luna. She reads it, and a worried expression showed on her face. ¡°What is it?¡± Poku asked. ¡°There¡¯s been reports of demon sightings near Hashut, Poku, and other villages. We are to report back to our commanders.¡± ¡°Commander?¡± Al asked. ¡°Sorry Al. The thing is, we are all part of the army. Every elf is part of the army. Due to sightings of demons near the borders between Elvia and the Dead Zone, we have to return home.¡± Luna answered. ¡°Please report the quest back to the guild for us.¡± ¡°What about your rewards?¡± ¡°Give it to Kreyg, he will hold it for us.¡± Al nodded. ¡°We will split up here. Be safe on your way back.¡± Astra said, giving Al a pat on the back. ¡°You guys too.¡±


    The group split up at the entrance to The Rocky Pass. The Protection Agency headed south towards the border between Elvia and the Northern Kingdom. Al waits at the entrance, as he watches the group go back down the cliff. ¡°Princess, what do you think of Al?¡± Poku asks. ¡°Al is a good man. But there¡¯s a deep darkness hidden within him.¡± Luna answered. ¡°Do you want me to deal with him Princess?¡± Astra asked. ¡°No. Not yet. For now we will watch him. We will try to keep him out of the path of darkness. But should he choose to follow that path, then I will ask you then.¡± ¡°Yes, Princess.¡± The group makes it down to the bottom of the cliff, and after a short walk, they reached a large gorge called the Shadow Gorge, due to its tall cliff on both sides, that covers the path in darkness. ¡°Princess, we have come to escort you.¡± A large group of armed Elves was at the entrance. ¡°Ok. Let us return with haste. We must investigate these demons. I, Princess Shigi, will not tolerate any demons that dares to rampage this land again.¡± Luna Fiera is the fifth princess of the Elves. Astragoth Hashut, the General of the Elvish army, and the first Elf ever created by Marellda. Poku Poku, Astra¡¯s Lieutenant, and also Luna¡¯s primary spymaster. Teiki Ahmu is the advisor, and Security Captain to Luna. The Protection Agency is a group of Elves, sent to investigate a rumor of a young man, with a darkness lurking deep within him.

 Chapter 15: Report

    After having separated from the members of the Protection Agency, Al returns to Trisdia by himself. He reaches the Eastern Forest. Although it was a forest, it is still a major trade route that many merchants take, due to many roads that connect to the path through the forest. As Al was about to exit the forest and come into view of Trisdia, a group of people stepped out of the forest. ¡°Hey kid, if you want to live, better give us all your stuff.¡± One of them said. He was a big guy, and wielding a large battle ax. Behind him was an archer and a magic caster. The archer had his bow out and aimed at Al, while the magic caster was leaning against one of the three, showing an evil grin.


    Bandits Al thought to himself. He couldn¡¯t gauge how strong they were, but knew that the berserker was much stronger than the other two. He could¡¯ve easily escape from them, but due to the injuries he got from the Arachne, escape wasn¡¯t an option. He consider just giving his items, since he was only carrying his camping supplies and the few remaining potions he had left, but knew they weren¡¯t going to be satisfied with them. He place his sack in front of him, and backed away from it. ¡°Smart choice.¡± The caster said. The berserker walks up and grabs the bag, and searches it. ¡°What the hell is this?!¡± he shouted. He throws the sack down. ¡°You only have junk?! Where¡¯s all your gold?!¡± He raises his ax and stomps towards Al, but stops when he notice a wagon heading their way from the direction that Al came from.


    The wagon reaches them and comes to a halt. ¡°Is that you Alderick?¡± A familiar voice called out. Al turns to the driver of the wagon and sees Carn. ¡°Uh, yes sir. It¡¯s me.¡± Al replied, surprised to run into Carn outside the city. Carn steps down and walks over to Al with a smile on his face, and hugs Al. ¡°Are you returning from a quest? Come, I¡¯ll give you a ride back to the city.¡± Al just quietly nodded. ¡°Hey! We aren¡¯t done here!¡± The berserker called out. Carn turns towards him and looked back at Al and asked ¡°Are these your companions?¡± ¡°No, I think they are bandits.¡± Al replied. ¡°Bandits? That¡¯s not good. We should report them to the guards when we get back to town. Come.¡± Carn leads Al to the wagon. ¡°Don¡¯t ignore me!¡± The berserker yelled.


    The Berserker charges Carn and Al as Carn helped Al onto the wagon. He swings his battle ax at them, and Carn stops it with one hand. Carn gave him a crazy cold look. ¡°You should learn some manners young man.¡± The berserker struggles hard to try and free his ax from Carn¡¯s grip. Carn pulls the ax towards him and punch the berserker straight down to the ground, causing a shockwave and created a small crater around them. The archer shot a few arrows at Carn, but he easily knocked them down. ¡°Flame Lance!¡± The caster shouted. She launched a flame lance towards Carn. ¡°Watch out!¡± Al shouted. Carn slammed the ground with one foot, and a huge part of the ground came up and blocked the attack. He then punched the center of the wall he created and broke it in two. Then readies both his hands to his side. ¡°Shove¡± Both his hands reaches forward at the two pieces of rock in front of him and sent them flying towards the two bandit. One of the rock slams the caster towards the tree she was leaning against earlier and crushed her. The archer however dodge the rock that went his way. He started running into the forest trying to escape. Carn picks up the berserker¡¯s ax, aimed, and then throws it at the archer. The archer ducks and the the ax barely missed him and cuts into the tree behind him. The archer started foaming at the mouth and passed out. Carn turns towards Al. ¡°Let¡¯s be on our way then.¡±


    As the wagon passed the fallen bandits, Al just stare at them. ¡°Guess they didn¡¯t know they were dealing with a Mythril adventurer.¡± Carn laugh at the statement. ¡°That¡¯s all in the past Al. I¡¯m now just an old man who runs an orphanage.¡± Al just smiled. Then he heard a cough coming from inside the wagon. He looks inside and saw a small group of kids sitting there and staring back at him expressionless. An expression he knew well and then he was saddened. ¡°Which village?¡± Al asked. ¡°Riverbank.¡± Carn answered. ¡°Bandits or monsters?¡± ¡°Does it matter? They need a home now, and that¡¯s all that I care for.¡± ¡°It does. So I know what to hunt down later.¡± There was a moment of silence. ¡°Bandits. But it don¡¯t matter now. They were long gone by the time I reached Sentros near Riverbank.¡± ¡°You were at the capitol?¡± ¡°Yes. I went to visit my sister-in-law Ireene. She asked me to take these orphans.¡± ¡°How is big sis Ireene?¡± ¡°She¡¯s in good health. Happy and loving as always. Just that her orphanage is full so she couldn¡¯t take these kids in.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± was all Al could say in response as he continued to stare at the kids.


    ¡°So, what happened to your arm? It looks like it¡¯s in really bad shape.¡± Carn asked, staring at Al¡¯s left arm. ¡°It¡¯s broken, but it should recover in a couple of months.¡± Al replied, now turning away from the kids. ¡°What caused it? If you don¡¯t mind me asking.¡± Al thought for a bit, wondering if it was ok to tell Carn. Considering that Carn was the one who took care of him when he was a kid, and that he was also a high ranking member of the guild adventurer¡¯s guild and apparently a member of Luna¡¯s Protection Agency. ¡°I fought against an Arachne with the Protection Agency. It slammed me against a wall and that¡¯s what broke my arm.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Carn shouted in surprised. ¡°The Protection Agency? How did you meet them?!¡± Carn asked, unconcerned about the Arachne for some reason, and instead was more interested on the Protection Agency.


    Al was surprised by Carn¡¯s question being more focus on the Protection Agency. ¡°Uh, yeah. I met them at the guildhall and we went on a quest together. But due to something, we split up after completing the quest.¡± Carn had a worried look on his face. ¡°Did¡­ did they tell you who they were?¡± he asked. ¡°Uh. They told me they were a group of adventurer composing of mostly Iron and Silver ranks.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Ok¡­¡± Carn replied, and sigh. ¡°Did they tell you I am a member of their group?¡± Al nodded. ¡°I met them when I was a still a gold rank adventurer. I saved them from a group of ogres and we have been friends since.¡± Al was surprised, but was also happy to hear more of Carn¡¯s exploits from the past. The stories that Carn told him was always something he looked forwards to. ¡°Ogres? What happened?¡± Al asked hoping to hear more. Carn smiled and pat Al¡¯s head. ¡°That¡¯s a story for another time. For now we have to go into inspection.¡± They had reached the gate into Trisdia before Al had realised, to his disappointment.


    ¡°Hold!¡± One of the guard called out. ¡°Can I see some identifications please.¡± Carn got off the wagon, and gave the guard his guild card. ¡°Oh! Excuse me sir. I¡¯m so sorry for not recognising you sir!¡± The guard exclaimed, bowing apologetically to Carn. ¡°It is quite alright. You are merely doing your job.¡± Carn smiled. ¡°May I ask what is in the wagon sir?¡± ¡°They are orphans from Riverbank. I¡¯m taking them to my orphanage.¡± ¡°Ok sir. Sounds good to me. You may pass. I¡¯m sorry for stopping you sir.¡± The guard moved out of the way and let them pass. ¡°Wow. Must be nice to be a Mythril rank adventurer.¡± Al said with envy and staring at the guards as they pass. Carn smiled. ¡°Someday you will be remember too Al. Don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    They rode through town without much talk afterwards, and Carn drops Al off at the guildhall. ¡°I¡¯ll see you again Al.¡± ¡°Thanks for the lift Carn. I¡¯ll visit the orphanage soon.¡± Just as Al was about to turn to head into the guildhall, Carn called out. ¡°Oh, by the way. Did something happened between you and Natalie?¡± Al looked at Carn in confusion. Then recalls what had happened at The Withering Tree magic shop. He blushed and turn his head away from Carn. Carn laugh at Al¡¯s attempt to hide his embarrassment. ¡°Did¡­ did she tell you anything?¡± Carn smiled and replied. ¡°No. She came home from work one day and her face was as bright as yours. So I asked if you did something to her again. Her face turned brighter and she ran upstairs to her room.¡± Al covered his face in embarrassment from the teasing tone of Carn¡¯s voice. ¡°You can tell me about it over dinner when you decided to come visit. For now I have to get these kids to the orphanage.¡± Carn waved bye to Al, but with a huge grin on his face. Al took a moment to calm himself before heading inside the guildhall.


    Once inside, Al walks over to the counter where Maria was busy working at. She turns her head up and sees Al walking to her and smiled. ¡°Welcome back. How did your quest go?¡± she asked. ¡°It went well. I think. We manage to destroy the spider¡¯s nest.¡± Al replied. ¡°Ok that¡¯s good.¡± She reached for some paper and hands them over to Al. ¡°Please fill out your report and then hand them in please.¡± Al took the papers, but stood there. ¡°Is there something else I can help you with?¡± ¡°Uh yeah. Is Kreyg or the guildmaster here?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go get Kreyg for you. Wait one moment please.¡± She walks to the back room. A few seconds later, she and Kreyg comes back out. ¡°Did you need me for something?¡± Kreyg asked. He then looked around, and then looks at Al. ¡°Where¡¯s the Protection Agency?¡± he asked in a serious tone.


    ¡°About that¡­ Um¡­ Can I talk to you in private? And preferably with the guildmaster present too.¡± Al stated. ¡°Master Hudsonus is out of town for some business and will be back later today. For now let''s go talk in my office.¡± Kreyg lead Al upstairs and then into his office. ¡°So what did you want to talk about?¡± Al told Kreyg about the Arachne and how the Protection Agency and AL wanted to keep it a secret for now. ¡°Is that what happened?¡± Kreyg asked. Al nodded. ¡°I will be sure to report this to Master Hudsonus when he returns. I will also send a team to go investigate about this demon activity. Thank you for reporting this to me Al.¡± Al bowed and was about to leave the office when Kreyg stopped him. ¡°Did the Protection Agency tell you who they were?¡± Al was surprised by this exact same question that Carn had asked him earlier. ¡°They told me they were a group of mostly Iron and Silver rank adventurers.¡± Al gave the same answered he gave Carn. Kreyg nodded. ¡°Then¡­ Did you tell them who you were?¡± Al again was surprised by this question. ¡°No. I did not.¡± ¡°Good. But I think you should tell people who you can trust about it. So if you were to continued to quest with them, I implore you to tell them. So that they at least know what you are capable of.¡± Al nodded and left the office.


    Once Al finish writing his report, he gave it to Maria. ¡°Ok, as for the reward, here you go.¡± She hands him a bag of gold. ¡°The reward is 25 gold coins for each member that took part.¡± She then looks around for the other members. ¡°Oh, the other members had an emergency and left for Hashut I believe. They told me to tell you guys to have Kreyg hold it for them.¡± ¡°Oh ok. I will hand it over the Kreyg when he comes back down then.¡± Al the leaves the building. He looks at his broken arm. With this injury, I doubt I can take on most quests. Guess I will just rest easy for awhile. Al then pulls out his dagger to give it an inspection. It could use some repairs. I guess I¡¯ll go visit Gendrol, and maybe buy some other equipment while I¡¯m there. I also need to go back to the Withering Tree to pick up my cloak.


    Al walks over to the forge that was run by Gendrol. ¡°Hey boy! You¡¯re back!¡± Gendrol called out. ¡°Yes I¡¯m back.¡± ¡°What do you need today? A new weapon? Some repairs? Whatever it is, I can do it.¡± Gendrol said with a smile. Upon seeing Gendrol face, Al recalls the little incident that happened at the magic shop, and showed a sour expression. ¡°Eh? What¡¯s wrong lad?¡± ¡°You could¡¯ve told me about Evistin old man.¡± Gendrol laugh. ¡°Had a hard time with the old lady eh?¡± ¡°Old lady?¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t let her looks fool you lad. She¡¯s over 3000 years old.¡± Al showed a shocked expression. Evistin was also part of the first wave of elves?! ¡°Hehe, surprised lad?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah. How¡¯d do you guys¡­ get over this age difference if you don¡¯t mind me asking.¡± Gendrol let out a loud laughter. ¡°Elves aren¡¯t the only one that lives a long life lad. I¡¯m also over 3000 years old.¡± Al just stare blankly at Gendrol, doubting the dwarves words. ¡°You don¡¯t believe me? We dwarves have the blessing of Senpai. We also get to live long lives. Although most of us do drink ourselves to an early graves so I understand that people would think we don¡¯t live as long.¡± Gendrol laugh once again.


    ¡°So what can I do for you lad?¡± Gendrol asked. Al pulls out his dagger and hands it over to him. ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s in pretty rough shape. But I can repair it. It¡¯ll take a day or two.¡± ¡°Ok that sounds good. I¡¯m planning to rest for awhile so no real rush.¡± Al then takes off his breastplate and hands it over to Gendrol as well. ¡°This isn¡¯t in as bad a shape, but could use some repair.¡± ¡°Not in as bad a shape? This has a bloody hole in it! It¡¯s far worst. I¡¯ll repair it as good as new. Give me a few days though.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± Al then went to look at the stuff Gendrol had lying around, but nothing caught his eyes. ¡°Oh lad. Do you want to help me test something?¡± Gendrol called out. ¡°What do you need?¡± ¡°I have these leg guards, and I want to see if they hinder movements. It¡¯d be bad if it does. Just use them for awhile and let me know what you think.¡± Gendrol hands Al some leg guards. It looks like some pieces of metal that was stitched to a leather piece. Al took it and then said he¡¯ll come back in a few days. ¡°Send Evistin my love if you happen to go see her at her shop.¡± Again, Al showed a sour face to Gendrol, and left.


    Once at the Withering Tree, Al peeks his head inside and looked around. ¡°If you are looking for Natalie, she has the day off today.¡± A voice called out from the back. ¡°Come inside.¡± Al walked inside, and Evistin walked out from the back. ¡°Here to pick up your cloak?¡± Al nodded, looking a little embarrassed about being seen. ¡°How cute. To be young again.¡± She smiled and stare at Al. ¡°Did she tell you?¡± Al asked meekly. ¡°No¡­ but I got a nice view of the scene from inside the store.¡± Al covered his face in his hand again, and let out a muffled scream. Evistin giggle to herself. ¡°Well, here¡¯s your cloak. I¡¯ve finish enchanting it a day ago, but you never showed up to pick it up, so I was about to put it up to sell.¡± Al takes the cloak, and he could feel magic oozing from it. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°My pleasure. Come back again. I¡¯ll always be up to making any enchants to your gear. Or to hear how your love story progress.¡± She showed a teasing smiled. Al blushed and walked out. Once outside, Al just thought about how long a day he had, and made his way back to his inn.

 Chapter 16: Deaths Bargain

    After waking up in his room, Al debated on what to do for the day, as he was unable to do most quest due to his injured left arm. Figuring that he could go visit the orphanage, and help out for the day, he wash up, got ready to head out to the orphanage. Just as he was about to leave his room, he felt a sudden chill down his spine. He glances over to his runeblade that he left in the corner of the room. He was planning on leaving it behind since he was only going to go visit the orphanage, but then felt that he shouldn¡¯t leave it behind. He walks over and picks it up. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll go visit the Temple of the Divines as well¡­¡±


    Upon reaching the Orphanage, Al, again, hesitated just like his previous visit. He peeked inside and saw Natalie putting up the laundry onto the drying racks. Just remembering what had recently happened between them made his face blushed, making him hesitated a little longer. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Ammalinde asked, seeming appearing out of nowhere. This had spooked him, making him jump out into the opening in front of the gate. ¡°If you are going in, hurry up. These bags are heavy.¡±


    Al then notice that Ammalinde was carrying big bags in both her hands. ¡°Oh, uh¡­ Let me help you carry them in.¡± He reaches for one of the bag. She hesitated for a second before handing one of the bag to him. ¡°I guess you are still uncomfortable near men?¡± Al asked. ¡°It¡¯s only because men are weird.¡± She replied before walking around him and walked inside the orphanage. Al followed behind her when someone taps him on the shoulder. He turns to see that it was Natalie.


    ¡°Well, this is a pleasant surprise.¡± Natalie said with a smile. ¡°Back for another visit?¡± Al could feel his face blushing at the sight of her and fumble for words. ¡°Y-Yeah.¡± Natalie then notice his injured arm that was in a cast. ¡°Divines! What happened? Are you ok?¡± she asked with a really concerned look. ¡°Ah this¡­ I was just a little careless. I¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s the reason I¡¯m taking a break from adventuring for awhile.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m ok. The adventurers I was with said my arm should recover after a few months.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ If you say so. Well, you better take that in before Amma kills you for taking too long.¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± Al rushes inside. ¡°I¡¯ll see you in a bit.¡± he said just before going inside.


    Al places the bag on the counter near where Amma was standing. ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll put them away in a bit. For now I need to finish cooking breakfast before the kids wake up. Father is upstairs in his study if you came to see him.¡± She said with her back towards Al, not once turning to look at him. ¡°Ok, thanks. I¡¯ll go say hi to him.¡± Al leaves the room, and headed up the stairs to Carne¡¯s study room. He knocks on the door and Carne calls out. ¡°Come in.¡±


    Al enters the room and sees that Carne had his back turn towards him. Carne was looking at a book in front of one of his many bookshelves. ¡°Did you need something Amma?¡± He asked, still nose-deep into his book. ¡°Um, no. I just came to say hi.¡± Al replied. Surprised, Carne turn towards Al.  ¡°Oh, hello there.¡± He said with a warm smile. ¡°What brings you here today? How is your arm?¡± ¡°I just drop by to say hi. My arm is healing, but I doubt I can do much with it for awhile.¡± ¡°Oh, that''s good.¡± ¡°Can we talk for a bit?¡± ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll get us some tea.¡± After his talk with Kreyg, Al had decided the night before to tell Carne about everything, including the Runeblade and his bargain with Death. Carne was like a father to him and the person who he trusted the most.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Carne remained silent afterwards. He took a minute to absorb all the information that Al had just told him. ¡°A runeblade?¡± he finally spoke. ¡°Yes. It was a gift from Death.¡± Al replied. ¡°I¡¯ve only heard about these in legends. There is no information about the weapon aside from it being a powerful sword.¡± ¡°Yes, it is indeed a really powerful sword. But I still try my best to use it as little as possible.¡± ¡°Oh? Why is that?¡± ¡°It¡­ it slowly chips away at the user¡¯s mind. Using it for a long time can cause the user to go berserk and attack anything in site.¡± ¡°That sounds rather dangerous.¡± Al remained silent to the comment. ¡°Have you gone berserk before?¡± ¡°Only one time. Since then I have been careful.¡±


    Al pulls his runeblade out. It glowed a light blue glow as it did before when Al used it in the spider¡¯s nest. ¡°The glow from the sword is sort of a warning to me. It slowly changes from a faint light blue to dark blue, then purple, and then a crimson red. Once red, it¡¯s when the Rune of The Berserker activates.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Carne inspects the runeblade, but dares not to touch it. ¡°When was it that you went berserk?¡± he asked. ¡°When¡­ when my village was attack. It was then that I struck the deal with Death, and receive the runeblade.¡± ¡°Do you recall what happened in the state of berserk?¡± ¡°No. I only recall pulling the runeblade out of the sheath, and then before me laid the bodies of countless dead bandits and a crying Natalie, scared of everything that had happened¡­ but she was most scare of me¡­¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    The two remained silent for awhile. Carne was unsure of what to ask next as Al was recalling some horrible events from childhood. Carne finally decided to break the silence with a question. ¡°Can you tell me more about your bargain with Death?¡± Al took awhile before he responded. ¡°For the power to save my village¡­ or what was left of the village¡­ Death gave me two conditions. One was for me to be his follower. The second was one of either of two things. Harvest a million souls or to serve him forever after death.¡± Carne slammed on his desk. ¡°AND YOU AGREED TO THIS?!¡± he shouted angrily. ¡°What was I to do?! My village is burning, my family slaughter! Natalie was the only one left near me. What can a young boy do at that moment?!¡± Al shouted back, tears flowing from his eyes.


    Carne was upset that Al had agreed to a life that when he dies, he would be unable to rest in peace. But was also able to understand why he had chosen to do so. A stupid decision, but the only choice left. ¡°What about the other Divines? Did you pray to them?¡± He asked softly. ¡°I tried. I prayed to all three. Bravious, Marellda, Senpai¡­ none of them answered. I prayed and prayed but no answered¡­¡± Al started to tear up again. ¡°Then I made an opened prayer. A prayer for anything that could hear me. Again no answered. I prayed and prayed still no answered. Until a whisper. A whisper that sent chills down my spine. A whisper that filled me with more fear than the bandits going crazy and killing all the other villagers.¡± ¡°Interesting¡±


    Al stayed silent afterwards, trying to calm down. Carne waited for Al to calm down. After Al had calmed down a bit, Carne continued with his questions. ¡°How many souls have you gathered so far?¡± ¡°A little over a hundred.¡± Al replied. ¡°What kind of souls does it required?¡± ¡°Anything. From rabbits to demons to¡­ humans.¡± Carne was a little perplexed. ¡°How do you collect these souls? Do you need to land the final blow?¡± ¡°No. As long as I am within a certain distance from anything that has died, their soul will get absorbed by the runeblade. I then just have to take it to a Temple of the Divines, and pray to Death to come collect it.¡±


    ¡°It would take you a lifetime to collect those souls. You know that right?¡± Carne stated. ¡°Yes.¡± Al replied quietly. ¡°But it is something I will have to do. I will find a way.¡± Carne leans back onto his seat, deep in thought. ¡°Why not join the army instead of being an adventurer? They are constantly fighting bandits and other monsters. I hear they have been finding remnants of the demon army. Surely you can collect more souls there.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± Al replied. Al can¡¯t trust the army. They did not come to the aid of his village, even when they asked for help months prior to the attack. ¡°I can¡¯t join the army¡­ My movements will be restricted. And I have no control over what souls get absorb. I can¡¯t allow for the souls of friendly soldiers to be absorb and sacrificed into slavery after death just to save myself.¡± ¡°That is understandable¡­¡± Carne replied, and followed up with silence.


    ¡°Does she know?¡± Carne asked. ¡°Only about the runeblade. I can¡¯t tell her about the rest. It¡¯ll make her worry.¡± Al replied. ¡°Speaking of¡­ What happened between you two?¡± Carne asked, hoping to change the subject and lighten up the atmosphere a little. Al appreciated what Carne was trying to do. ¡°Um¡­ something did happen¡­ yeah¡­¡± he replied meekly, again remembering his confession to Natalie. ¡°Oh-ho. Tell me. I believe you promise to tell me before.¡± Carne grin evilly at Al.


    ¡°I, uh, I told her I love her¡­¡± Al said meekly. Carne laugh loudly. ¡°Well? How did she respond?¡± ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ I kinda¡­ ran away after confessing.¡± Carne showed Al a very sour look. ¡°Coward.¡± The word stabbed Al deeply. ¡°I don¡¯t remember raising a coward. I recall raising a good gentleman! You should always wait for the ladies reply afterwards! You coward!¡± Carne said with a slight joking tone. ¡°But¡­ it¡­ I was embarrassed! It was nerve wracking!¡± Carne again laugh loudly. ¡°Well, make sure you hold onto her. You have sacrifice so much for her. Don¡¯t lose her now.¡± Al quietly nodded. He then gets up to leave and as he reach the door, Carne calls out to him again. ¡°Al, I¡¯ll do what I can to help you. You can always come ask me for help with anything.¡± Al nodded again and left.


    Al exited the orphanage and was about to reach the gate when Natalie calls out to him. ¡°Hey, you leaving already?¡± she asked. ¡°Ah yeah.¡± ¡°Do you have some time?¡± ¡°I do. I don¡¯t have much to do today.¡± ¡°Ok, then can you accompany me for today? At least until I have to go to work.¡± ¡°Oh ok. Where are we going? Natalie smiles. ¡°A date.¡± Al was taken by surprised. ¡°A date?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Um¡­ Why?¡± ¡°Why?¡± she giggle, and her face was turning red. ¡°It¡¯s because I love you too.¡±

 Chapter 17: First Date

    ¡°Come on Al, lets go check out some of the shops!¡± Natalie said, as she was leading Al by the arm. ¡° Al was happy about going on his first date with Natalie, and that she reciprocate his feeling. So much so, that he had forgotten about recent events. All he could think about was this date, and how beautiful she looked in her white dress. ¡°Oh look, a clothing store! Let¡¯s go inside.¡± She says as she runs inside, not stopping to let Al respond.


    Al walks inside the store, and was immediately greeted by one of the workers. ¡°Hello! Welcome to Family Tailors! Can I help you with anything?¡± The worker said with a smile. ¡°Ah, thanks, but I¡¯m just looking for now. I¡¯ll let you know when I see something I like.¡± al replied. ¡°Al come look at this.¡± Natalie shouted from a few rows down. The worker looked over to Natalie, and then back to Al, smiling knowingly. ¡°Hehe, you two have fun, I¡¯ll be over by the counter if you need me.¡± She walks over to the counter and sat down, while Al made his way to Natalie.


    ¡°I think this matches you.¡± Natalie said as she compare one of the shirt to Al. ¡°Yeah, dark colors match you better than that white shirt you have on.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with a white shirt?¡± Al asked. ¡°Nothing. It just don¡¯t match you overall.¡± Al was surprised to hear this. He thought the shirt look nice on him. ¡°You tend to just wear whatever, so let me pick out some clothes for you.¡± She starts to search through the cloth racks, pulling out shirts and giving them to Al.


    ¡°Go try those on and let me take a look.¡± Natalie said as she start pushing Al towards a fitting room. Al just wanted to get it over with as he didn¡¯t care too much for clothes. After a few shirts, he puts on the first shirt that Natalie handed to him. It was a nice fit and comfortable to wear. ¡°As I thought, dark colors match you. Dark blue especially.¡± Natalie got up and started circling Al, looking him up and down. ¡°Yep. Perfect. Just need some pants to go with it.¡±


    After what felt like hours in the store, Al and Natalie finally left the clothing store. Al had bought the shirt along with some new pants of the same color, and wore it out the store, with his old clothes in a bag. Al looked across the street and saw a restaurant. ¡°Have you ate yet? If not, do you want to go eat there?¡± ¡°Sure. I didn¡¯t get to eat breakfast this morning. Let¡¯s go.¡± Natalie runs across the street to the restaurant without waiting for Al again. Al ran after her.


    The new couple had a nice breakfast at the restaurant. They decide to stay there and chit chat for a bit. Natalie talked about the new kids that arrive at the orphanage and about the few adventurers that came by to donate items and gold. Al talked about the Leeble Protection group that he quested with recently. Their conversation was cut short when a large group of soldiers started marching past them.


    The group of soldiers formed lines on both end of the road and blocked people from going into the road, and had moved everyone thing that was already on the road out. ¡°Is there some kind of event happening today?¡± Al asked. Natalie then recalls something that was happening that day. ¡°Oh yeah! It seems there¡¯s a high ranking noble moving here.¡± ¡°Oh really? Who?¡± ¡°If I recall correctly, it is supposed to be the son of the minister of finance. I think his name was Jedin Ebonheart.¡±


    ¡°Is there a reason he came all the way here from the capital?¡± Al asked curious as to why a noble would chose to move from the capital. ¡°It seems he was sent here to learn accounting. Don¡¯t think there¡¯s a better place than Trisdia. It is the main trading city of the Northern Kingdom.¡± Natalie replied. ¡°But I heard some rather disturbing rumors.¡± ¡°Eh? What kind of rumors?¡± ¡°I heard that he hates childrens. One time he was walking the streets of the capital, and a kid ran into him by accident, and he glare at the kid as if he was an insect. The child and mother was terrified and stayed kneel down until he walked away and disappeared into the distance.¡± ¡°Wow. he sounds terrible. I hope he never shows up at the orphanage.¡± Al stare at the coming carriages being escorted by a large guard of soldiers.


    The carriage was nearing the restaurant that Al and Natalie were at. From that distance, Al could see that there were three individuals in front of the lead carriage. The one in the center was in full plate of armor and carried a large golden shield. Her golden hair reached down to her waist even though it was tied up in a high ponytail. To her right was what Al assumed to be a caster of some kind due to her long grey robes and her mage hate that hides away her face. The last of the three was wearing full black clothing and lightly armored. Her two swords strapped nicely on her back. She wore a masked that hid her face showing only her eyes.


    ¡°No way¡­ Are they the three maidens of Marellda?!¡± Natalie shouted as she got up from her seat and pointed at them. ¡°Oh my divines! It is! The Shield Maiden, The Sword Maiden, and the Staff Maiden. All three of them!¡± ¡°The three maidens?¡± Al asked. ¡°How could you not have heard about them?! They are famous and consider heroes!¡± She shouts at Al. Al didn¡¯t pay much attention to other adventurers or their stories. ¡°They are direct descendants of the great hero king, King Rickon the First, and are relatives of the current king.¡± Al was then suddenly interested in the three maidens, as he was a fan of the hero king.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    King Rickon was the person who had reestablished the Northern Kingdom after it was nearly destroyed by the demon army who ran amok the land thousands of years ago. He was the one who gathered and then lead the remaining humans to fight and defeat the demon army with the aids of the elves, dwarves, and beastman. Al¡¯s father would often told him stories of the hero king when he was a child, so he grew up looking up to him.


    ¡°I should really pay more attention to the news about the royal families and nobles.¡± Al said quietly to himself. Before Al had notice, a large crowd had formed around the road, cheering at the passing maidens. ¡°I guess the noble is a lot more important that I thought since he is being escorted by such famous people.¡± Al then glance over to the three maidens again and notice that the Shield Maiden had stepped away from the front of the carriages, and off to the side and was glaring at Al. She had a hateful look and seemed ready to cut Al down without hesitation. Al then had a chilled rolled down his spine.


    The Shield Maiden then got ready to draw her sword, but was stopped by the Sword Maiden who tapped her on the shoulder. The Shield Maiden then gave Al another hateful look before stomping off to the front of the carriages. The Sword Maiden gave Al a quick look, and then followed the Shield Maiden to the front. ¡°I wonder what happened?¡± Natalie asked with a confused look. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not sure¡­¡± Al replied, but he can tell what it was about. I guess they are heroes for a reason. They must have sense the presence of Death on me.


    ¡°It¡¯s almost time for me to go to work.¡± Natalie said after the last of the carriages and soldiers left. ¡°Let me walk you to work then.¡± Al replied as he got up. ¡°Ok.¡± The two walked to the Withering Tree. Natalie went on and on about the three maidens. She was a huge fan from how excited she was about seeing them. She only stopped talking to them when they reached the store. ¡°Today was fun.¡± Natalie said. ¡°I had a great time with you today.¡± ¡°I did too.¡± Al replied. ¡°When is our next one?¡± She asked with a smile. ¡°The next time we both have time.¡± ¡°Ok. Just invite me next time.¡± She then looked as if she was waiting for something. Al notice what she wanted and hesitated. He leans in for a kiss, but got too nervous so he settle on kissing her on the cheeks instead. She blushed and then ran inside.


    After Al calmed down, he he decided to take a walk. As he reached the front of the temple, he felt his sword pulsing. He glance down at the sword, and then turn towards the temple. Death is calling for me. I was planning to go visit him later, but since he called me, I have to answer. Al walks into the temple, but the moment he got in, he was surrounded by shadow. He then stare at Death before he knew it.


    ¡°Al, I want you to avoid those three at all cost.¡± Death spoke quickly before Al was even able to do anything. ¡°Is there a reason?¡± ¡°They are fanatic followers of Marrellda and descendents of the ¡°Hero King¡±. Their oldest enemy since long ago is me and my followers. And thus, you are their enemy. They will kill you if they get the chance.¡± Al now realise how much a threat they are to him. ¡°Can I win in a fight one on one?¡± ¡°As you are now, you will die before you activate any of your runes. You must get stronger so that when the time comes for you to fight them, you can kill them by yourself.¡± This statement landed hard on Al. Killing one of them would brand him an enemy to everyone, but there may come a day when that happens.


    ¡°Well, for now I have souls for you.¡± Al draws his runeblade. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of them this time.¡± The runeblade glowed and hundreds of light flew out of it and towards Death. ¡°There is a lot this time. They are all mostly spiders and wasps. Nothing big this time?¡± Death asked. ¡°No, not this time. I couldn¡¯t kill the Arachne I encounter. It fled before I was able to finish it off.¡± ¡°Oh, you fought the Arachne and survive? Interesting.¡± Death said, feigning ignorance of the fight. ¡°I will grant you some new skills. They are the same runes as your runeblade, but you are able to cast it upon other people or yourself without using your runeblade. Keep in mind that only one person can have one rune at a time.¡±


    Skills Learned:


    Rune of Power


    Rune of Speed


    Rune of Ignore Pain


    Rune of Recovery


    ¡°Now then. I want you to stay in your little inn until you are fully recover. You can go out for some minor tasks, but you must not remain outside for long. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Good. Now go.¡± The next thing Al knows, he was standing inside the temple again. He quickly left and went back to the inn.

 Chapter 18: Why he is a Captain

    A month has passed since Al¡¯s first date with Natalie. He spent the last month mostly inside of the Inn, leaving only to go buy some nesscisity or to pay a quick visit to the orphanage. The few times he went outside he heard about the war and how it seems a large scale battle was in place. The Northern Kingdom¡¯s King, King Richard, was planning to march southwest to siege the Western Kingdom¡¯s castle of Turrim, a strategic location between the two kingdom. Rumors were that the King was going to lead an army of over 100,000 strong and was going to also send the Three Maidens.


    With his arm nearly fully recover, and hearing that the Three Maidens were leaving Trisdia, Al decide he would be able to resume his job as an adventurer. He would not be able to fight strong monsters, but he would still be able to take on small monsters like goblins and do gathering quests. He got ready and left the inn to head over to the Guild Hall. Once inside the Guild Hall, he walked over to the quest board and started searching for a quest he could do. While searching someone tapped him on the shoulder. ¡°Al?¡±


    Al turns to see a familiar face he hasn¡¯t seen since his promotion test. ¡°It is you. How you been?¡± Darretta said with a smile. ¡°Hey. I¡¯ve been good. Spent some time off to recover from some injuries.¡± Al replied. Darretta then showed a really proud expression while revealing a Iron badge pinned onto her vest, waiting for Al¡¯s response. ¡°Oh, wow. When did this happen?¡± Al asked, knowing she was waiting for him to ask about it. ¡°Oh this? It happened last week. I passed Kreyg¡¯s test and earned the promotion.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great. Congratulations.¡± ¡°So what about you? Have you been promoted too?¡± ¡°No not yet. I haven¡¯t asked for another promotion test yet since I¡¯m still recovering. At the moment I can only do simple quests.¡± ¡°Oh really? Then do you want to join me in doing some quests?¡±


    ¡°What quest are you doing? Just so you know, I won¡¯t be able to help you do fights.¡± Al told Darretta. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll do the fights, I just need you to boost me.¡± she explains. ¡°I¡¯m on a quest to search for some bandits and kill or capture them. Seems they have been robbing merchants on the Eastern road.¡± Hearing about the bandits on the Eastern road reminds Al about running into a group of bandits there before and was rescue by Carne. ¡°Don¡¯t the guards usually handle bandits?¡± Al ask. ¡°What do you mean? You haven¡¯t heard? The King is planning a large scale siege, and the majority of the guards here are getting ready to march. There aren¡¯t enough guards to handle the bandits, so it had been pushed to us adventurers.¡±


    ¡°The guards are leaving? How many of them?¡± Al asked. ¡°I think only about a hundred of them are staying. The rest are suppose to march later today.¡± Darretta answered. ¡°They were waiting for the three maidens to get ready.¡± ¡°The three maidens are still here?!¡± Al asked in a surprised shout. ¡°Well, yeah. Seems like the Shield Maiden was looking for something, but can¡¯t find it so she finally gave up on it and agreed to march.¡± She was searching for me. Good thing I listen to Death and mostly stayed at the Inn.


    ¡°I can join you, but, again I will mostly stay back and provide support.¡± Al told Darretta. ¡°That¡¯s fine with me. You can just watch as I heroically kill the bandits.¡± Darretta replied. ¡°When are we heading out? I will need to go prepare some items for myself.¡± ¡°We can go tomorrow morning and take a look through the forest for the bandits.¡± ¡°Ok. That sounds good. I¡¯ll use today to go prepare for the quest.¡± ¡°Ok. You do that. I will wait for you tomorrow at the East Gate.¡± Darretta waved bye and ran out the guild hall.


    I should visit Gendrol at his forge first. He¡¯s closer, but he¡¯s near the South gate where the soldiers are gathering. Although I won¡¯t be doing much fighting, I would still like him to give my weapons a quick look for damage. I highly doubt I would run into them, especially the Shield Maiden. Al decided he would take the chance of running into the Three Maidens and headed towards Gendrol¡¯s forge. When he got there, he saw a soldier talking to Gendrol in front of his forge.


    Al walks towards the soldier and Gendrol. Gendrol turns and sees Al. ¡°Heya lad!.¡± Gendrol greeted. ¡°Where have you been? I haven¡¯t seen you in awhile.¡± ¡°Good morning Gendrol. I was just recovering from my injuries.¡± ¡°What? Al. you were injured? Does Natalie know?¡± The solder asked. Upon closer inspection, turns out the soldier was Kolen. He wasn¡¯t wearing his usual guard armor, instead wearing a soldier¡¯s armor, making him unrecognizable to Al. ¡°Ah, yeah. I got injured in my last quest so I spent some time to recover. Natalie already knows.¡± ¡°Ah ok. Be careful out there. There¡¯s been a lot of bandits in the area and they would not hesitate to attack an injured person.¡±


    ¡°So, what are you doing Kolen?¡± Al asked. ¡°I was order to get some more weapons and armor for the battle against the Western Kingdom, so I came by here to buy some.¡± Kolen answered. ¡°Now? I thought you guys were marching today? And you are also going?¡± ¡°It is a bit last minute. And yeah, all captains and above are leaving for the battle. The governor is also leaving for the battle.¡± ¡°What? Who¡¯s going to govern the city if he leaves?¡± Gendrol asked. ¡°The noble that moved in from the capitol awhile back. Seems he was really sent here to govern in place of the current governor.¡± Kolen answered. ¡°Anyways, I should get going. Sir Gendrol, please send what you can to the South Gate as soon as you can. We are marching at midday.¡± ¡°Aye lad. I¡¯ll have some of my assistant send them over soon. Thank you for your purchase.¡± Al and Gendrol waved bye to Kolen as he was leaving. ¡°I finally found you!¡±


    Al turns around and sees the Shield Maiden with her sword already drawn. Before he could react she charges at him and thrust her sword at Al. In an instant, Kolen had pushed Al aside and knocked her sword to the side with his spear. ¡°What is the meaning of this Shield Maiden?¡± Kolen asked. ¡°Get out of my way soldier! I will destroy all evil I see in front of me!¡± The Shield Maiden then takes a quick side step towards Al and thrust her sword once again. Al jumps back to dodge the attack. She gets ready to attack Al again when Kolen extends his spear to block her. ¡°Why do you get in my way?!¡± she hollered at Kolen. ¡°It is my duty to protect the citizens living here. Even if it is you Shield Maiden, I will do my best to protect them.¡± ¡°Then I will kill you first!¡±


    The Shield Maiden then switches target from Al to Kolen. ¡°Sweeping Swallow!¡± She thrusted multiple quick strikes at Kolen. He dodges most of them and deflect the last few. She was clearly getting anger by being stopped by a random soldier and even more angered by the fact she can¡¯t land a blow on him. Her attacks sped up faster and they were getting more wild, hitting their surroundings. She destroyed a few of Gendrol¡¯s counter and barrels he had put out in front, scattering his weapons he had out on displayed. ¡°Hey! What are you doing you maniac?!¡± Gendrol shouted, but he was ignored.


    The Shield Maiden has had enough of the soldier. She takes a leap back and raised her shield. ¡°Have you decided to stop this madness?¡± Kolen asked, lowering his spear. Her shield started flashing. Al had a really bad feeling from this. ¡°Kolen watch out!¡± he shouted. Kolen turns to look at Al in confusion. ¡°What?¡± Kolen asked. And in the next instant, a large beam blasted towards Kolen from the Shield Maiden¡¯s shield. Using his spear, Kolen picked up a nearby large shield that was knocked over near him from the Shield Maiden¡¯s earlier rampage. He used the shield to try and block the beam, but the impact was too strong that it sent him flying.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Kolen flipped while he was sent flying and landed on his feet, but the impact was strong enough that even though he had landed, he skidded across the stone floor a few feet before coming to a stop. He looks up to see that the Shield Maiden had switch target back to Al. She lunged at Al, ready to pierce his heart from the back with her sword. Kolen didn¡¯t hesitate and threw his spear in between the two and blocked her path. She stopped and jumped back just right before the spear landed. ¡°Shield Maiden! Just because you are beautiful, it doesn¡¯t mean you attack random people in the street! Please stop!¡± Kolen shouted as he run towards them. ¡°S-Shut up! I know I am not as pretty as my two sister! Don¡¯t try and stop me using flattery!¡± she shouted back, but had also seemingly had stopped trying to attack Al, giving Kolen time to reach them.


    ¡°Please, mighty beautiful Shield Maiden, please stop trying to harm the citizens under my protection. Such atrocities shouldn¡¯t be committed by pretty ladies like you.¡± Kolen said as Al just look at him with a rather sour and disgusted face. The hell is this fool saying in the middle of battle. The Shield Maiden turns her face away. ¡°Fine. As a sign of respect to a strong fighter that was able to deflect my attacks, I will stop here.¡± she says while her face still turned away. ¡°But know this. Next time I see him outside of the city, I will kill him.¡± She turns away and walked off towards the South Gate.


    ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t believe that your stupid flattery worked¡­¡± Al mumbled. ¡°What do you mean? A handsome man like myself can get even the most psychotic woman to calm down.¡± Kolen replied. ¡°What do you mean handsome? You always cover your face with your helmet. I don¡¯t even remember how you look. The only reason I know it¡¯s you is because of your aura of stupidity.¡± ¡°What? Why are you so mean to me even though I just saved you?¡± Kolen said as he pretend to start crying into his hands. ¡°I would¡¯ve been fine by myself.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to tell my sister you were mean to me!¡± Kolen shouted as he runs off after the Shield Maiden towards the South Gate. ¡°W-wait! Don¡¯t say anything to Natalie you idiot!¡± But Kolen was already too far.


    ¡°Well¡­ that was interesting to watch.¡± Gendrol said as he approach Al. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about your displays.¡± Al said apologetically. ¡°Don¡¯t mind it lad. It wasn¡¯t your fault. But I am surprised a common soldier was able to hold the Shield Maiden off like that.¡± ¡°Well, that was Kolen. Although he is a stupid flirt, he is still a captain of the guards.¡± ¡°What, really? He is a captain? Didn¡¯t realize I was speaking to a noble.¡± ¡°Kolen isn¡¯t a noble. He¡¯s a commoner like us. In fact, he¡¯s from the same village as me.¡± ¡°Eh? Really? Wow¡­ A commoner captain? Interesting. Guess he was skillful enough the higher ups had no choice but to promote him to a captain. He looks fairly young too.¡± ¡°He is. He¡¯s only a few years older than me. And he is really strong¡­ if only he hadn¡¯t been drafted back then¡­ then maybe¡­ no¡­ nevermind¡­¡± Gendrol could sense that Al was thinking about his village. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much about it lad.¡± ¡°I know. There was nothing that could¡¯ve been done. Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t blame him for not being there during the raid on my village.¡±


    ¡°Well then lad, did you need something from me? Seeing that you are here for the first time in awhile.¡± Gendrol asked as he started to pick up his items that are scattered about on the ground. Al helps him pick up the items and placed them on the undamaged counter. ¡°Yeah, I am about to go on a quest and came to see if you had fix my weapon and chestplate yet.¡± ¡°Oh those? Yeah they are done and are just sitting in the back. Hold on for a sec.¡± Gendrol walks into the back and soon came back out. ¡°Here lad. Good as new. I also worked a little extra on the dagger. Seemed it was covered in some kind of acid for a while, and it had weaken the blade, so I reforged it. The breastplate itself didn¡¯t take as long.¡± ¡°Thank you Gendrol. How much will it cost?¡± ¡°Since it was just some small repairs, 2 gold coins sounds about right.¡± Al reaches into his coin bag, and pulls out 3 gold coins. ¡°The extra coin is an apology about your store front. I didn¡¯t do it, but I was the reason it happened.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it too much lad. These happens once in awhile.¡± Gendrol hands Al back the extra coin.


    ¡°By the way lad. Have you tried out the leg guard I gave you yet?¡± Gendrol asked. ¡°Only a little. It seems like it could protect my legs, but it hinders movement. I¡¯ve only used it inside the inn, and haven¡¯t taken it into battle yet.¡± Al replied. ¡°Ah ok. Well, do me a favor and take it with you on this quest you are about to go on. Let me know if I need to change anything about it later when you come back. If you do this for me, then you can keep it.¡± ¡°Yeah. Sure. It sounds good to me.¡± Al waved bye to Gendrol and then left Gendrol¡¯s forge.


    Al had bought some potions and other items he needed from Evistin and decided to go visit the orphanage to let Natalie know that he was going to go on a quest the following day. He reaches the orphanage and peeks in again. ¡°You know¡­ You really ought to stop doing that. It makes you look a creep and a pervert.¡± Al turns and sees Ammalinde again holding bags in both hands. ¡°Ah¡­ sorry¡­ let me help you with that.¡± Al extends his hand out to her. Seeing that both his arms are fine now, Ammalinde hands both the bag to Al, and walks in. ¡°Just place it in the same spot as last time. I need to go check on the kids.¡±


    Al walks inside the kitchen and place the bags on the counter. He goes up the stairs and knocks on Carne¡¯s door to see if he was inside. ¡°Dad¡¯s not here.¡± Ammalinde said as she walked out of one of the room. ¡°He won¡¯t be back for a few days. He left for Sentros to visit my aunt. Something about picking up more kids.¡± ¡°Has there been another attack?¡± ¡°No. not this time. Seems the war was getting worst. The last battle killed a lot of soldiers on both sides. It left a few of the soldiers kids as orphans.¡± She said as she reached the stairs. ¡°It¡¯s probably why the King wants to land a crushing blow to the Western Kingdom and then sue for peace.¡± ¡°That¡­ I hope that works. This war is dragging out for too long.¡± Ammalinde nodded and walked down.


    Al walks back outside. ¡°Al?¡± A small voice called out. Al looked to the side of the building and sees Evie poking her head out of the corner. ¡°Hi Evie.¡± Al waves her over. She runs over and hugs Al. ¡°Welcome back.¡± She said in a quiet voice. ¡°Evie, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Al asked, concerned that she was not her usual cheerful self. ¡°Evie is scarred. There¡¯s a strange man who keeps coming by and peeking in at us when we play since grampa left. Ammanalinde can¡¯t find him when we tell her.¡± Al got angry when he heard this. ¡°Has he come by today?¡± ¡°No. Evie hasn¡¯t seen him today. But he comes everyday when its play time in the yard.¡± I will kill the bastard that scares the kids. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Evie. I¡¯m here. I will catch him.¡± ¡°Thank you Al. I knew I can count on you!¡± Evie hugs Al harder, and now seems a little more cheerful.


    Al had decided to remain at the orphanage. At least until after playtime. He stood in front of the gate since that was where Evie said that man peeks in from. He had told Evie to point at the man when she sees him. The kids were all playing around like normal until Evie stopped playing and pointed at the gate. Al saw and reacted quickly. He had casted Rune of Agility on himself earlier so he quickly reached the other side of the gate and spotted a man who had climbed over the wall and was peeking inside. Al runs and grabs him and throws him on the ground.


    ¡°Ow! What are you doing you lunatic?!¡± The man shouted. The man was well dressed and quite young. He had blonde wavy hair and it was tied into a ponytail. Al could tell instantly that the man was a noble. ¡°Who are you? What are you doing here?¡± Al asked. The man got up and brushed himself off. ¡°How rude! Shouldn¡¯t one introduce himself first before asking for someone¡¯s name?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need manners for someone who can pose a danger for the kids here at the orphanage.¡± Just as Al finish that sentence, a bunch of sword was then pointed at his neck. He was surrounded by guards. ¡°Hmph. I am Jedin Ebonblade. The acting governor of this city.¡±

 Chapter 19: Baron Jedin Ebonblade

    Inside the orphanage, Al was sitting in the living room with Jedin. Jedin had his guards stand outside the doors to both the orphanage and the room. Ammalinde walks into the room and offers tea to them both.


    ¡°Here you go.¡± She said as she offers the cup of tea to Jedin. ¡°Thank you.¡± Jedin replied and places the cup on the table. His eyes followed her as she walked out the room. ¡°Is there something you needed from here, my lord?¡± Al asked, but Jedin¡¯s attention was focus on Ammalinde. ¡°My lord?¡± Al asked again. ¡°Oh, pardon me. Did you said something?¡± Jedin replied, snapping his attention back to Al.


    ¡°I was asking if you needed something from here, my lord.¡± Al asked again, politely, not wishing to anger the acting governor. ¡°Oh no. Not really¡­¡± Jedin replied quietly. ¡°May I ask why you have been seen peeking into the orphanage these past few days?¡± Al asked, still trying to be polite. ¡°Am I not allowed to walk around my own city?¡± Jedin asked in an aggressive tone.  A little fearful of his tone, Al tried his best not to anger the governor anymore.


    ¡°No, my lord. You are always welcome here. It¡¯s just that the kids here are terrified when they seem an unknown man peeking inside.¡± Al said in a semi-apologetic tone. ¡°I see. My apologies to the young ones. I need mean to frighten them. I merely wanted to check in on them without them knowing.¡± Jedin replied, also in an apologetic tone. ¡°Is there a reason why you do not wish them to know that the governor was visiting?¡± Al asked. Jedin remained quiet to the question for a moment.


    ¡°I presume you have heard the rumors about me that has been spreading around town as of late?¡± Jedin asked, not looking at Al. ¡°The rumor about you hating children?¡± Al asked. ¡°Yes. Which is the reason why you are on guard about me being here at the orphanage.¡± Jedin stated, now staring at Al. Al had a hard time meeting him in the eye. ¡°Yes. I have heard about the rumor. But I am on guard not because of it, but because of the fact that someone had been peeking in on it the past few days.¡± Al replied.


    ¡°I will have you know that those rumors are not true.¡± Jedin said and then paused. ¡°Well, not completely true.¡± Al stare at Jedin with widen eyes, shocked about the statement. ¡°What do you mean by that my lord?¡± Al asked, still shocked. ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ hate children exactly. In fact, I love kids. It¡¯s just that¡­ I am also¡­ scared of them.¡± Jedin admitted. Al was even more shocked about this statement that the previous. Jedin notice the dumbfounded look on Al¡¯s face.


    ¡°I¡­ When I was¡­ younger¡­ I was bullied by other noble kids. It has left me with a fear of kids since. But I know not all kids are like that, but I am still a little scare of them. So when they come near me or touch me, I tend to freeze up.¡± Jedin stated quietly. ¡°Are¡­ are you for real¡­ my lord?¡± Al asked. The room fell silent as Al waited for a response. Jedin quietly nodded. ¡°Wow¡­ Blessed Divines¡­ That¡­ just¡­ wow¡­¡± Al responded.


    ¡°So¡­ is that the reason why you came by today, my lord? To try and get used to kids?¡± Al asked. ¡°No. Not really. I¡­ actually came to check on the orphanage.¡± Jedin responded. ¡°For?¡± Al then asked. ¡°I was thinking that I should expand the orphanage. Maybe hired some more help for the orphanage should they need it. I have been trying to come in to talk with the owner, but each time I came by¡­ there are kids playing out front.¡± Jedin stated. ¡°Is there a reason you wanted to expand the orphanage?¡± Al asked, trying his best to contain his laughter.  ¡°I heard there have been an influx of orphans. And with this coming large scale battle coming, there might be even more. So I wanted to be ready in case.¡± Jedin stated. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°I see. I am sorry to say this but the owner is currently out of town now. You will have to come back another day when he comes back.¡± Al stated. ¡°Really? I have to break through the army of kids again?¡± Jedin said quietly. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m sorry. I am not actually a part of the orphanage, just an adventurer helping out every now and then.¡± Al stated. ¡°I¡­ will try to come back another time to discuss this with the owner.¡± Jedin said, with a slight look of fear. Seemingly worried about having to walk by the kids again. Al contain his laughter again, still unable to believe that a grown man is terrified of childrens, but still cares for them to this degree.


    ¡°I will let them know about this visit of yours. If possible, maybe Carne, that¡¯s the name of the owner, could come visit you instead to discuss this.¡± Al stated. ¡°Really?!¡± Jedin said happily. ¡°If that is possible. Please let him know. I look forward to his visit. Tell him to visit me at my mansion, in the center of town please.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord. I will let him know.¡± Al replied.


    The two got up and walked out the building. The guards followed them to the gate while the kids that was currently playing outside saw Jedin. ¡°Al. Did you catch the bad man?¡± Evie asked from the distance hiding behind the other kids. ¡°Oh, Evie. Come here. Let me introduce you.¡± Al said as he waved her over. ¡°No! Evie doesn¡¯t want to go near the bad man.¡± Evie shouted. ¡°Pft.¡± Al let out a small laughter. ¡°He¡¯s¡­ not a bad man Evie. Come over here. You don¡¯t believe in big brother Al?¡± Al called out to her again. She hesitantly walked over.


    ¡°H-hello.¡± Jedin stumbled on his word. ¡°Evie, this is Baron Jedin Ebonblade. He is our acting governor.¡± Al stated to Evie. ¡°He¡¯s not a bad man?¡± Evie asked, while staring at Jedin, clearly still not trusting him. ¡°He¡¯s not a bad man. Go on, introduce yourself Evie.¡± Al told Evie. She looked at Al, and then back to Jedin. ¡°Hi. Evie is called Evie.¡± She stated, and then bowed and ran off back to the other kids.


    ¡°Please forgive her my lord. She is a little shy around strangers. Especially people who she thinks are bad.¡± Al stated. ¡°Do¡­ Do I look like a bad person?¡± Jedin asked, clearly having lost all his pride from earlier. ¡°She is the one who spotted you when you were peeking in these last few days. She has a good reason to think you are a bad person.¡± Al stated. ¡°I see. Please let her know I am sorry for scaring her and the other kids.¡± Jedin stated. He and his guard then continued to walk out the gate and away from the orphanage. ¡°Yes. My lord.¡± Al said quietly to himself and bowed towards them as they leave.


    ¡°Is the bad man gone now?¡± Evie asked, peeking out the gate. Al turns to look at her and smile. ¡°Yes, he¡¯s gone now Evie.¡± Al replied. ¡°He¡¯s not a bad man. In fact, he came to see how you little kids are doing.¡± he added. ¡°Really?¡± Evie asked. ¡°Yes. He wants to make your house bigger so that you can have more friends.¡± Al stated. ¡°Really? Wow. Maybe he¡¯s not a bad man.¡± Evie stated quietly. Al smiled, and then lead her back inside to the orphanage. After playing around with them a little longer, Al said bye to the kids, and left the orphanage.


    Al visited a few shops to buy potions and other items he would need for his quest the following day. Once he was done, he went back to his room at the inn and double check his gear. The following morning he walks to the East Gate to meet Darretta. She was already there and waved him over. ¡°Morning Al. You ready to head out?¡± Darretta asked excitedly. Al nodded and they walked out the gate.

 Chapter 20: Bandit Hunt

    Al and Darretta walked on the the Eastern path towards the forest where the bandits were spotted. They pass by the path where Al encounter the group of bandits and was saved by Carne. Al stops to look around, and notice that the bodies of the bandits have been cleaned up.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Darretta turn to ask.


    ¡°Nothing. I encounter a group of bandits here some time ago.¡± Al replied. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I thought their bodies would still be here.¡±


    ¡°Really? I wonder if it they are the bandits we are looking for.¡± Darretta pondered.


    ¡°I doubt it. The quest said there are suppose to be at least five to seven of them. I only encounter three of them at the time.¡± Al responded. ¡°And the ones I encounter were killed. So I doubt they are the same ones.¡±


    ¡°Oh wow. You killed all three of them?¡± Darretta asked.


    ¡°Hmm, no I didn¡¯t. I was injured at the time.¡± Al replied. ¡°I was saved by a friend that was passing by at the time.¡±


    ¡°Wow that¡¯s some amazing luck.¡± Darretta exclaimed. She looked around and notice two large boulders leaning on the trees. She runs over to take a look. She spots some dried blood on the tree and at the base of the tree.


    ¡°Who¡­ who was this friend of yours?¡± Darretta asked, stunned about the boulders, and how powerful the person who did it could be.


    ¡°His name is Carne. He runs the orphanage in Trisdia.¡± Al replied, puzzled by Darretta¡¯s interest in him.


    ¡°Is that so? I should go visit him someday.¡± Darretta replied. She gets ups and walks over to Al. ¡°Let¡¯s get going. We still have to find the bandits.¡±


    Al nodded, and the two continued on the path. After getting past the forest without encountering the bandits. The two turned around, and contemplated about going through the forest again.


    ¡°Maybe we would be better off going off the path, and actually going into the forest to search for their hideout instead of just hoping they pop out to try and rob us.¡± Al said, pointing into the trees.


    ¡°It could take us days to find them like that.¡± Darreta replied back.


    ¡°True, but it could also take days before we encounter them on the road. Especially if they know that the last group of bandits that tried to rob people got killed. They might be more cautious now.¡± Al replied.


    Darretta thought for a bit, and then reluctantly agreed. The two walked into the woods. After hours of searching around and not finding anything, the two decided to take a break. They made a campfire to cook themselves a quick meal.


    ¡°After this, let¡¯s search the other side of the forest.¡± Darretta said, putting down her plate.


    ¡°Sounds good. I think we searched this entire side already I think.¡± Al replied. He gets up and kicks dirt into the campfire.


    ¡°Please wait a bit. I¡¯m¡­ going to the woods for a bit.¡± Darretta said as she quickly gets up and runs into the woods.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Al stood there puzzled. But didn¡¯t ask any questions. He waited for a bit, then he heard rustling from a nearby bush, coming from the same direction of where she ran off too. He looks over and calls out.


    ¡°You ready?¡± Al called out.


    A man steps out from the bush. He wore a hood that and wore leather armor, with a bow with its strings strapped around his chest. He turns up to look at Al, and showed a surprised look.


    ¡°You!¡± He shouted.


    Al then recognized the man as the archer from his encounter with bandits a while back. Al reaches for his dagger on his waist and pulls it out. The bandit also drew his bow. He quickly shot an arrow at Al, who dodges it and rushes the bandit. The Bandit rolls backwards towards the ground and grabbed a handful of dirt, and throws it at Al. It blinded Al for a moment, and the bandit rushes in and kicks Al, knocking him back and down on the ground.


    Al recovers from his momentary blindness to see the bandit had drawn another arrow aimed at his head. Before the bandit was able to shoot, Al rolled away and gets back up on his feet. The two stare at each other for a moment to try and find an opening in each other.


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you! I¡¯ll kill you and that old man!¡± The bandit shouted again. ¡°I¡¯ll avenge my lover and my brother-in-law.¡±


    Al hesitated for a moment. Seizing the opportunity from Al¡¯s hesitation, he shot another arrow at Al. Al dodges the attack once more, but the bandit quickly fire more arrows at him. Al hides behind a nearby tree to avoid the incoming arrows.


    He¡¯s keeping his distance from me, making it hard for me to attack him. Al thought to himself. I might have to use the runeblade for the Runes.


    Al peeks out from the tree and another arrow came his way. He ducks behind the tree again.


    How far did Darretta go?! Al started planning his next move. If I wasn¡¯t injured, I would probably be able to take him with just the dagger. No choice now.


    Al sheaths his dagger, and draws his runeblade. He activates the runes on his runeblade. He rushes out and the bandit shot another arrow at Al. Al deflects the arrow with his runeblade and continued to rush the bandit. The bandit jumps back away from Al and tries to draw another arrow, but then notice he had ran out.


    Al notice that the bandit had ran out of arrows and thought he could end the fight right there. He leaps forward and strikes down on him. The bandit throws his bow away and draws a short sword, and used it to try and block Al¡¯s attack. But the impact from Al¡¯s attack was strong enough the pushed the short sword down and carved deep into the bandit¡¯s shoulder.


    The bandit cried out in pain. Al then pushed down on the runeblade harder and then pulls it back towards him, slicing deeper into the bandit. In a desperate attempt to at least hit Al before dying, the bandit swings his short sword at Al, to which Al easily dodges, and then knocks the short sword off the bandit.


    ¡°Any final words?¡± Al asked.


    The bandit only glared at Al menacingly. Al lifted his runeblade and hesitated. It¡¯ll be his first time killing another human being. At least his first time since the raid on his village. He swings his runeblade and beheaded the bandit. He stood there for a moment.


    ¡°I hope that you can reunite with your lover in the afterlife¡­¡± Al offered a prayer.


    He was a bandit, but was still a human being. It left a bad taste in Al, but was able to overcome it, with the thought ¡°He was a evil man.¡±


    I better go find Darretta soon, before more bandits show up. Al thought to himself.


    Al was about to sheath his runeblade when he noticed that it was no longer glowing a faint light blue color. Instead glowed a dark purple. The color changed surprised him. He started at the runeblade for a moment.


    Damn. I guess killing a human has triggered the hidden rune more than killing non-humans.


    Al sheaths the runeblade and walks into the woods to try and find Darretta. He walks around while shouting Darretta¡¯s name.


    ¡°Al?! Over here!¡± A voice called out.


    Al walks over to where the voice called out from. He found Darretta, but she was surrounded a few corpse scattered around her. She turns to face him and sheaths her swords.


    ¡°Where have you been?¡± She asked with a smile.

 Chapter 21: Bandit hunt 2

    Darreta rus through the bushes and came into a small open area in the woods. She look around for signs of other people and once it seems like no one was around, she starts to take care of business. Just as she finish and was read to return back to Al, she heard rustling from the other side of the open space.


    "Who''s there?" Darreta shouted.


    A group of four people came out. They were a suspicious group. All of them had hoods that hides their faces. One of them spoke


    "What''s a girl doing out in the woods by herself?" Bandit A said, smirking to himself.


    "Don''t you know it''s dangerous out here in the woods?" Bandit B added. "There''s lots of bandits around here Missy, how about you come with us and we''ll keep you safe."


    "No thanks." Darreta replied. "And I''m not alone."


    Darreta puts her hand on her swords, getting ready for a fight, since she had a bad feeling about the group. Bandit A glared at Darreta for a moment before turning to look at one of the others. He pointed towards the direction of where Al was, and one of the Bandit took off running in the direction.


    "Hey, wait!" Darreta shouted, taking a step towards the running bandit.


    But in a flash, Bandit A was in front of her blocking her path. He slashed out with a hidden dagger at Darreta. She came to a halt, and leans back, barely managing to dodge the sudden attack. She kept back to gain some distance between them.


    "Pretty quick for a bandit." Darreta taunted.


    "Don''t mistake us for common bandits missy." Bandit A replied.


    Darreta eyes the person in front of her closely. Bandit A stood up straight in a fairly dignified way. He had little to no openings in his stance, even though he look as if he stood full of openings. She glances over to the remaining two bandits, and they stood in pretty much the same stance.


    "I see. Deserters" Darreta commented.


    "We prefer the term, Free mens." Bandit A replied. "Not that it matters. You''ll die here."


    "You think a group of deserters like you pose a threat? You all lost the favors of the Divine after such a cowardly act." Darretta replied back, drawing her sword, confident she can win even against these three opponents. However, she was concerned about Al, since he hasn''t fully recover, and wasn''t really a fighter in the first place. And his opponent, although lacking the favors of the divines, was still a trained soldier.


    "You look like you are concerned about the others who were with you." Bandit A called out. "But you should be concerned about yourself."


    Darretta then noticed that the other two were gone. She quickly glanced around the area, but there were too many trees and bushes around. She then shifted her attention back to the first bandit. He was now charging at her. Darretta drew only one of her sword, feeling that the both were not needed at this moment, and took a low guard stance. She had the weapon reach advantage.


    Bandit A was within Darretta''s reach, so she quickly swing her sword sideways at him. He uses his dagger to guide the sword above and over his head, and then to the other side of his body, leaving Darretta open for a quick swipe from his dagger. She ducks her head to dodge the attack, spun and attack with a downward strike in one swift motion. Again, the bandit uses his dagger to guide the sword off to the side. He then gave a quick kick, knocking her back a few feet.Stolen story; please report.


    Darretta quickly got into a kneeling stance with her sword ready in a guard in front of her. She then heard rustling sounds from bot her sides. The other two bandit jumped out to attack her while she was still in a kneeling stance. Feeling pressured, she then drew her other sword. Her right sword struck downward, while her left struck upward. The bandit on her left was too slow in reacting and was cut down, but the one on the right was quick enough to parried the attack with his short sword, but was knocked back into he bush from the impact.


    "One down." Darretta taunted. "Who''s next?"


    Darreta gets back on her feet, with her swords in front of her in an aggressive stance.


    "Why have you stopped?" Darreta taunted. "Scared now that one of you go killed so easily?"


    "Don''t get cocky missy." Bandit A replied.


    The bandit''s eye glared her down, and his tone had shifted from a nonchalant tone into an aggressive one. Darreta feels a strong bloodless and killing intent from him now. He charges forth, faster than before. He thrust his dagger forward at Darretta, and she dodges to the side, trying to counterattack, but the bandit had stop midway of his attack, spun and did a high kick aiming at her head. Darretta was forced to duck from the sudden change in attack. But the bandit continued a relentless attack, switching between dagger swings and kicks in an unpredictable patterned, giving her very little time to react.


    Every now and then Bandit A would jump back, and the bandit that was hidden would jump out to attack Darretta. She would barely be able to deflect the sneak attack, but before she could counter, the bandit would jump back into the woods, and bandit A would re-engaged her with his relentless attack. This would eventually wear Darretta down, and her reaction slowed down.


    Bandit A''s attack started to land on the wore down Darretta, making light cuts here and there. He jumped back to let the hidden bandit make another sneak attck while he focus his next attck, planning to finish the fight now. The hidden bandit jumped out again, and manages to stab Darretta''s side. She grabs his hand before he was able to do anything else.


    "Finally caught you!" Darretta exclaimed. She quickly cut him down before he was able to move. The hidden bandit slumped down to the ground. She glace back to bandit A and smile. "Two down. Only one left."


    "Don''t put me on the same level as those two. Although they were soldiers, they are nothing more than ordinary citizens with some fighting experience now that they no longer have the blessings of the Divines." Bandit A replied, seemingly as if he still had the upper hand against her.


    "Aren''t you the same then?" Darretta asked.


    "Me? No..." Bandit A replied again. I was a captain, with years of fighting experience on the border between the Northern and Western Kingdom. If you surrender now, I may yet let you and your companions live."


    "I could say the same to you." Darretta answered back. "Although they are already dead, at least you can still be alive... while you rot in Trissdia prison."


    Bandit A smiled. He did not reply back to Darretta, instead charging in once again. Darretta brace herself, but Bandit A threw his dagger at her. She knocked it down, and faced towards him again. Instead of going for her, he opted for the nearby dead bandit. He picked up the short sword of the dead bandit.


    Bandit A started a new relentless attack, although a little slower, it now has greater range and efficiency than before. Darretta, who was wore down, and now injured, was having a hard time keeping up. There was little to no opening in Bandit A''s attack. She had no time to start her skills for a counter attck.


    Darretta could not help but think about how powerful the bandit was back when he was still in the army. Back when he still had the blessings of the divines. She was struggling to even defend herself from his relentless attacks. She then recall what happened earlier with the other bandit. Maybe if she takes a hit, she would be able to counter in that moment.


    Bandit A eventually got through Darretta''s defense, and thrust his sword into her left shoulder. At that moment, Darretta counterattack with a downward strike from her right hand. Bandit A raised his left him to try and block the attack. Her sword managed to cut into the bandit''s left shoulder as well, but didn''t go in too deeply due to the bandit''s hand blocking the sword. But that had also caused the bandit to suffer a deep cut on his hand as well.


    Bandit A jumps back away from Darretta, covering his wound with his uninjured hand. Darretta looked at him mockingly. This angered Bandit A, but now that he is injured as well, he wasn''t too sure if he could still win. The two eyed each other but not moving. Just then, they both heard shouting coming from the woods.


    "Darretta!!" The voice called.


    Darretta looked towards the direction of the shouting and called back.


    "Al? Over here." Darretta yelled back. She turns to look at the bandit again, but he was gone. Al popped out of the woods.


    "What took you so long?" Darreta said with a smile, and sheath her swords.

 Chapter 22

    Al runs up to Darretta, worried that she was injured by the bandits that attacked her.


    "Hey, are you alright?" Al asked.


    "Yes, I''m quite alright. Just a light wound." Darretta replied as she walked over to the dead bandits to search for anything valuable.


    "How is that a light wound?!" Al shouted as he now notice Darretta''s bleeding shoulder. "Here, let me take a look."


    "It''s ok. Don''t worry about it. Besides, we have healing potions." Darretta replied nonchalantly as she continued her looting.


    Al grabs her and lift her up to her feet. "Don''t worry?! Healing potions only numbs the pain, it doesn''t magically heal it. Let me take a look." He then proceeded to rip the shoulder of Darretta''s shirt to better see the wound. "Now, how is this a light wound. I''ll bandage you up, then we are returning to town to seek a healer."


    Darretta pouted before replying this time. "Return to town? There''s only one left, and he''s on the run. Can''t you just cast Minor Heal on me and we continued on?"


    Al shakes his head no. "I can cast Minor Heal, but it''ll do little to no good on a wound like this. And we have yet to find the bandit camp in this wood, so I doubt we can find it before nightfall. And who knows how many more of them are around. It''s safer to return to town for now. Besides, with you injured and me still recovering, I doubt we can win against any more bandits." Darretta looks at Al as if to say something but he returns the look with a firm no. She gave up and relented.


    "Fine, but let''s at least loot the dead bodies here." Darretta said as she then continued her looting. Al didn''t reply and instead walked over to the other dead bandit to loot. Once the pair finished, they made their way back to town. Along the way, She told Al about the bandits, and how they were deserters.


    "A captain turned bandit?" Al exclaimed. "What in the world happened for him to do so?"


    "As if I would know." Darretta replied. "And I don''t care. All I know is I nearly killed him until you showed up and distracted me, giving him the chance to flee."


    "I''m... Sorry?" Al replied, unsure of what to say.


    "Don''t worry about it. I was just teasing you. It was a rather hard fight. It could''ve gone either way." Darretta replied with a smile.


    "But if he deserted, he should''ve lost favor with the Divines." Al said quietly. "Makes me wonder how strong he was when he was still in the army."


    "I nearly had him, so he wasn''t all that." Darretta proclaim proudly. "Oh look, I can see the gate now." She runs ahead towards the gate entrance. "Last one there treats for food!"


    Al just stood there surprised as he watch her run ahead. A few seconds past before he chase after Darretta. After Al paid for Darretta''s meal at the guild hall, the two split up, Darretta left for the temple to treat her wounds, while Al stayed to make his report. As he waited in line to make his report, someone tapped his shoulder. He turns to see a group of familiar faces. The Protection Agency.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Hey buddy, how you been?" Astra said smiling.


    "Hey everyone. When did you guys come back?" Al asked.


    "We got back yesterday, but we didn''t see you." Luna replied. "Did you go somewhere?"


    "I was out hunting bandits with another adventurer. We had to camp outside yesterday." Al replied. "Did you guys need me for something? What of the demon sightings?"


    "Oh we were going to ask if you wanted to join us in destroying a bandit camp. The sightings were false alarms, so they told us we could leave." Luna replied.


    "A bandit camp?" Al asked. "Is it on the Eastern Path?"


    "Yes. Do you know about it Al?" Astra asked.


    "I was just there for my bandit hunt." Al replied.


    "How many did you killed?" Poku asked.


    "Three, one escaped." Al replied. "They were deserters of the army. At least that''s what Darretta, the other adventure with me told me."


    "How many did you spot in the camp Poku?" Ahmu asked.


    "50 on a quick count." Poku replied.


    Al looked at them in surprised. "50? Can we take on that many deserters with just us?"


    "They are deserters who lost the blessings of the divines. I doubt they would pose much threat." Poku replied.


    "No, Al is right." Astra spoke up. "We may need to proceed with cautions. Even though they lost the protections of the divines, they are still trained soldiers. With numbers and tactics, they could give even a gold rank party a hard time."


    Just as they started brainstorming a plan for the bandits, Maria at the receptionist desk called out to them. "Next!" Al walks over and made his report, adding that there may be more bandits and he and the Protection Agency are going to go deal with them.


    "Well, if that is the case, I will extend the quest and merge it into the bandit camp destruction quest." Maria explained. "I will run it with a supervisor." Just as she said this Kreyg appeared behind her.


    "I will give approval for this." Kreyg says as he tapped Maria on the shoulder. "Al I wish to speak with you. Can you spare a moment?"


    Al nodded, and Kreyg motions him to a table. They both sat down, and Kreyg started.


    "So, seeing as how this Bandit Camp Destruction quest have quite the large number, I will have to put it up as an Silver rank quest. However I will allow you to do this quest as your promotion to Iron test."


    "Really?" Al replied excitedly.


    "Yes. However, because it is a silver quest, I will have to be there to insure your safety." Kreyg replied. "I will mostly be watching but will interfere if it seems too much for you and the rest of the Protection Agency. However, should I interfere, it does not mean you have failed. As long as you perform splendidly, you can still get your promotion."


    "You mean you''ll be going with us?" Luna asked excitedly from behind Kreyg, surprising him. "Sorry for eavesdropping, but, you know, we have long ears for a reason." She said with a smile.


    "Yes, I will be coming with you." Kreyg smiled. "But seeing as there are a lot of enemies, I will ask that you take as many people as you can from your Protection Agency."


    "Oh that''s a great idea." Luna shouted. "We should ask Amma to join us if she can."


    "I don''t think Tarlach or Nagro will be available" Astra replied. "Seeing as they are too far away at the moment."


    "Can I invite the previous adventure that was with me?" Al asked. "I doubt she''ll be happy to hear that we are going off to finish the bandit she fought with earlier without her."


    "Sure." Luna exclaimed. "I would like to meet this other adventurer."


    "Ok, I will let her know." Al replied. He pulls out his guild card to send a message to Darretta.


    "Let''s all meet back here tomorrow to discuss more about this." Astra said. "For now lets all go get prepare for it."


    The group said bye to Al as they leave. Al thanks Kreyg once more before leaving as well.

 Chapter 23

    Al awoke the morning after discussing with the rest of the Protection Agency, feeling completely recovered. He swings his runeblade with his now healed left arm. "A little sore, but other than that, it is completely healed," Al commented to himself. He geared himself up and then made his way towards the guild hall. Once inside he found that Darretta was already inside sitting at a table and made his way over.


    "There you are!" Darretta shouted, surprising Al with the sudden outburst. "Hurry! Let''s get ready and head out! I''m itching to finish my fight with that guy!"


    "H-hold on!" Al managed to utter out before Darretta could drag him outside. "We still have to wait for the other members."


    "Ah, right." Darretta let out. "You mention something about others joining us."


    "Is that ok?" Al meekly let out.


    "Yeah! I don''t see a problem with that." Darretta answered. "Who are they anyway?"


    "We''re the Protection Agency." A voice spoke out from behind Darretta. She turns around to see a group of elves.


    "Hi there!" Luna greeted. "I''m Luna Fiera, the leader of the Protection Agency. Are you the adventurer that Al mentioned?"


    "Yes," Darretta answered. "I''m Darretta, an Iron rank Slayer." The rest of the Protection Agency introduced themselves to her. After a short introduction, She finally brought up what was on her mind. "I have unfinished business with one of the bandits, so he is mine if we encounter him."


    "By all means, he is yours," Astra answered. "I understand that feeling well."


    Al notices the sullen look on Astra''s face as he said it. He was about to ask if something was wrong when he saw Poku shake his head telling him not to pry. Al has never seen the rest of the Protection Agency look so glum before so he kept quiet on the subject. A moment of silence followed.


    "Well," Luna spoke up to break the silence. "If everyone is ready, how about we get going to the orphanage to find Ammalinde." The group nodded and left the guild hall for the orphanage.


    Once they reached the orphanage, they told Ammalinde what they were going to do and she said she will join them and went inside to get her gear. Carne walked out to the group once he saw them from his window.


    "Hello." Carne greeted.


    "Carne!" Luna said out excitedly. "How are you doing?"


    "I am doing good milady," Carne answered. "I just came out to see what everyone is doing out here."


    "We are about to go out on a bandit hunt!" Luna continued with her excitement. "You should join us!"This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Forgive me, milady," Carne answered. "I have to head out to Sentros to visit Ireene."


    "Oh... Ok." Luna''s face went from happy to sad in a blink of an eye. "Say hi to Ireene for me."


    Carne smiled and pat her head. "I will. I''m sure she misses you too." Luna reply in a smile.


    Ammalinde came out in full armor covering her head to toe in thick steel. Al was surprised and puzzled at her armor. "How.. are you able to move in that?" he asked.


    "I can move fine in this," Ammalinde replied as she lifts her face mask up. "It slows me down a little but it''s fine." She then turns to Carne. "I''m heading out dad. You think Natalie can handle the orphanage on her own?"


    Carne smiled as he replied. "She''ll be fine on her own. You stay safe out there."


    "I will, dad," Ammalinde replied as she approached the rest of the group. "Ok, I''m ready."


    The group then made their way towards the East Gate, discussing their battle plan.


    "Why am I on the front?!" Poku exclaimed. "Wouldn''t it make more sense to place Ammalinde in front considering how much armor she has?!"


    "We need you in front to spot any traps that they may have laid out," Astra replied coldly.


    "What if they ambushed us with arrows?" Poku shouted out worriedly.


    "I''m sure you can dodge most of them," Astra replied, again coldly.


    Poku hung his head in defeat, while the rest of the Protection Agency laugh. Upon reaching the East Gate, they spot Kreyg who was already waiting for them there.


    "Is everyone ready?" Kreyg asked the group.


    Everyone nodded and the left all went out the gate. As they walk towards the forest, the group made small chatter with Darretta to get to know her better. Mainly Astra and Poku were asking her question as she was also in the frontline with them. Finding out what each other strength and weakness was key to good synergy with each other.


    On the other hand, Al was mainly talking to Kreyg, as he loves hearing of past adventures taken by strong adventurers. Kreyg entertains Al with his stories. Many were of great adventure through dungeons and unexplored ruins. Some were of hardship that his party endure. He told a story of his first encounter with Hudsonus, and how with his great leadership led the group to victory against impossible odds.


    Al''s opinion of Hudsonus shot up after hearing of his feats. Some he couldn''t believe, while others he could see Hudsonus doing. Hudsonus leading a charge against bandits laughing away he could see. Hudsonus fighting and winning against a dragonewt with a broken sword he couldn''t. Before he realized it, the group had reached the forest.


    "Ok, Poku, take the front," Astra stated.


    Poku looked at Astra with a sorrowful look as if to ask "Really?"


    "We still need you to lead us to the bandit''s hideout. Only you know where it is." Ahmu said as she pats Poku in the back.


    Poku reluctantly leads the group off the path and into the woods. As they walked through the woods, there wasn''t any deadly traps, only simple ones that would alert the hideout of intruders. Poku then motions for everyone to get down low. The group slowly approach the bush that Poku was at while staying low. As they peaked out of the bush they small a small fortification of wooden walls with a gate and stationed guards.


    "Ok. From here we''ll have Ammalinde lead the charge, once both Ahmu and Luna take out the two guards." Astra whispered to the group. "Darretta and I will follow close behind. Al, Ahmu, and Luna will provide support from the gate and Poku will guard them against any coming enemies."


    The group nodded. Ahmu and Luna pull out their bow and was about to take aim when Al stopped them.


    "One second," Al stated. "Let me cast some enchantment on you guys first." He then cast Rune of Fortification on Ammalinde, Rune of Power on Astra, and Rune of Agility on Darretta. "As long as I don''t enchant anyone else, these enchantments should last us until the end of the battle. Ok. Ready now." Luna and Ahmu nodded and took aim, and shot the two guards, killing them in one hit. Ammalinde charges out with the group following behind.