Adventurers Guild Adventurer's Guild - Receptionist's Desk

"We're back. Got quite a bit of information, but unfortunately we couldn't beat it down. Might become a small problem."

Spoiler: Quest Detail

Task: Behemoth Investigation [Taken by @Haxagen]
Requester: Catherine, Receptionist
Quest Rank: D-rank
Rewards: 18 Large Copper Coins
Description: A while back there's a report mentioning one particularly powerful darkness elemental waking up in Nyllia, right at the center of the battle between the Abyss and the Tower. There have been no further news since then, but it was last sighted being ganged up by the light elementals.

I'm interested in said behemoth, specifically the bones that seems to be its base. Find out what happens to it and whether it's destroyed and report back.

Spoiler: Ice and Wolf

“So, beast investigation. An elemental at that. Interesting...” - M

Mika tried not to let it show on her face, but she failed miserably.

“Sensei, you don’t look too enthusiastic about it, and you sound so dead, too. The undead in the caves talked with more vigour than you just did.” - E

“...Dammit, Elaine. There wasn’t a need to go that far.” - M

“Hehe, kidding, kidding. Sensei always looks good, no matter the place and time.” - E

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere. Now, we should go before I seriously start regretting why I’m coming along.” - M

“Sensei, your lips aren’t being very honest.” - M

* * *

The normally silent wolfkin was uncharacteristically talkative during the two day trip there.

“No, that’s not where we’re going, Elaine. You went to the left instead of the right at the last turn.” - M

“The map says that the route should continue north. Why are you going east?” - M

“Do not jump in the well. There’s no treasure at the bottom.” - M

“Why aren’t you reading your own map?! It says to take a left turn once you go pass Fort Alduin, not take a U-turn and head back towards Nagrand!” - M

And so the list went on. The lupine had to correct the wayward girl at least twice every hour, and if not for the fact that she’d been there for a stint previously, it was highly likely that the duo would have ended up in Doylors, not Nyllia.

“Noooo! The map said that we had to go right before going down!” - M

* * *

It took some time, but the not-so-dastardly duo arrived at their destination, the central region of Nyllia. From there, it wasn’t long before they started snooping around, asking and hoping that enough elementals spoke the common tongue, but they didn’t have such luck. Finally, the duo gave up and decided to take a break.

Mika seemed to be paying quite a bit of attention to an elemental hovering near them.

“---. - ----- -- ----?” - M

The elemental paused noticeably, before it responded.

“---? -- --- --- -----.”

“Wait, Sensei, you can talk to elementals?” - E

The wolfkin winced.

“...Just a bit. I know enough to hold a conversation, but the speech of elementals tend to be misleading to non-elementals. As it usually tends to be with any species that I’m not related to. Anyway, to cut a long story short, he says we should avoid the battlefield. Not a very tourist-friendly place, he notes.” - M

“Well, we need to find that uncommon dark elemental, so we can’t exactly leave any place out of our search zone…” - E

Mika sighed.

“---- -- --- ----- --. --- - - -------?” - M

“- --- --- ------- -- - ----.”

“------- -...--?!” - M

“--- -- ---! ---- -- - - >.<”

“---! --- --...-----...” - M

Watching as the elemental hastily departed, Elaine couldn’t help asking her sensei a question.

“So did he not have any idea about it after all?” - E

“...No. He knew what I was referring to. I can see when someone understands something, you see. The details might be minute, but all it takes if for a single move, and it’s equivalent to a light bulb appearing over their head. Anyway, I can deduce that the black elemental we’re seeking still exists. Most likely on the battlegrounds, too.” - M

“Let’s hop to find it, then!” - E

“Yeah, yeah…” - M

* * *

They found it thirty minutes later, lying down in the centre of some crater and slumbering.

“Alright, the details were right. It looks uglier up close, now that I’ve seen it. A whole collection of bones...I pity the poor souls that lost their lives to this thing.” - M

*Bonk*

“Hmmm, we should find out if it has any kind of weaknesses, but how do we do that without waking it up…” - M

*Bonk*

“Hey, Elaine, don’t just stand there, come and give me an ide...a? What in the name of saints are you doing?!” - M

Said girl was scooping pebbles off the floor, and flinging them at the sleeping behemoth.

“Relax, the previous party said it won’t wake until you do something harmful to it. For example, they apparently pulled a blade out of it.” - E

*Bonk* *Bonk*

The little pebbles kept flying, hitting the slumbering elemental which didn’t respond, and Mika was about to relax when one of the pebbles nailed the napping elemental in the left eye.

“ROOOOOOOAR!”

“What in the---Take cover!” - M

Mika quickly tackled Elaine, sending them both skidding across the floor, sliding behind a jutting outcrop of rock just as a thunderous boom echoed through the plains, before a massive hammer of light smashed right into the elemental’s face.

“Unfiltered light is bad civilization. Let’s hurry and get out of here; I’ve a feeling that our huge friend will be receiving some visitors real soon.” - M

Half pulling, half dragging Elaine behind her, the lupine started for the exit, just as her words were proven true and a new opponent entered the fray; Elaine noticed the stray beams of light.

“Be careful!” - E

A beam of heat carved through where Mika’s head had been a second ago; Elaine had tripped her and probably saved her life.

“...Thanks.” - M

The pair maneuvered over to another rocky outcrop further away, and Mika paused, setting Elaine down.

“Wait, we’re not getting out of here?” - E

“Of course not. We’re quite hidden and far enough from that thing, now we watch. Can’t go back with empty hands, after all.” - M

* * *

“Dammit, Elaine!” - E

About three minutes ago, the dark elemental, which had been fighting on even ground with the light elemental that subsequently appeared, suddenly faltered. Seizing the chance, the light elemental slammed it into the wall, and drove several light blades into it. The dark elemental then dissipated like a popped balloon.

Then, as the light elemental turned around, ready to leave…SNAP. Bye bye legs. The crippled light elemental was then set upon and brutally dismembered by a certain regenerating dark elemental. Elaine rushed out to help, but it was too late, and the dark elemental then turned to face her.

Naturally, what happened next did not need to be said.

The girl had her rapier out and was weaving in and out gracefully in a dance of blades, but she definitely had no chance of winning---not against the elemental, which simply reformed itself after it was struck. It wouldn’t tire easily, but Elaine would.

*Crack*

As Mika watched on, Elaine missed a parry, and her pearly white rapier snapped into two, the blade flying off and disappearing into the gloom. The elemental loomed over Elaine, raising a massive fist.

“...Grrr, I’ve got no choice! Stormweave!” - M

Clapping her palms together, the lupine slammed her hands onto the floor, sending a huge surge of lightning into the ground. Then, she ran forward, scooping up Elaine.

“Sensei, get back! It’ll squish you too!” - E

“Hah! Unlike you, I didn’t blindly run forward without planning! Now watch what happens when I cast this spell...Lightning Rod!” - M

A small, simple pattern appeared on the elemental’s chest, glowing briefly amid all the darkness. The elemental paused, regarding it’s new tattoo.

*Bzzt*

“Close your eyes and ears. Don’t try to watch the initial strike, or your eyes will go blind.” - M

Mika advised, as her ears folded and tucked themselves neatly into her hair. Obediently, Elaine cupped her ears and did the same.

*BZZZZT...BOOM!*

There was the din of something massive exploding, and when Elaine risked a look, the elemental was gone, wisps of darkness floating around where it originally stood. Confused, she glanced back at Mika, who looked very grim.

“Let's go. We’re leaving.” - M

* * *

It wasn’t until they were sufficiently far away that the deeply thinking one opened her mouth to speak.

“That move just now. That was Devour.” - M

“Devour?” - E

In the dim light, Mika’s face seemed ethereal as she scowled.

“Let’s just say that the user is almost impossible to kill by physical means. Well, at least from what I’ve observed, it’s an inferior version of the one I know, not that it makes this any less dangerous. Thankfully, my magic could still drive it back, and your technique also fazed it somewhat.” - M

“Then, couldn’t we bring it down somehow, before it gets even bigger?” - E

Mika didn’t contemplate for more than a second.

“...No. It’s impossible; we can only hurry back and report it to the guild first, so that preparations can start. You saw the skull and bones, didn’t you? For something like that, we’ll have to isolate its physical form completely from it’s elemental form, and strike down both within short order, else it’ll simply rise again thanks to it’s darkness affinity. No, an exorcist is required, and neither of us are very well suited. Besides, the task was to observe, not obliterate.” - M

“But…” - E

Elaine caught herself reluctantly. She wanted to do more, but her sensei had a point. It was better to bring back information first.

“It feels weird to just leave without solving the issue…” - E

“Pffft.” - M

A short but nevertheless amused laugh.

“Let it go, young one. Life is precious because it ends, but don’t end it too soon. There’s always another chance to get even...A lesson which took me so long to learn. Also, we’re not returning empty-handed; the thing seems to cherish it’s eyes for some reason. Now, let us get back to the guild. I’ll be leading the way this time.” - M

@Lenaia

 

"Ah, sorry girls, yer working with me t'day," the dwarven granny grinned, and sipped some alcohol, "Ya know they usually dun let us drink, but I need that for me bones, so they let me do it. Ya know what that means? Means that life is precious for the Guild, we'r jus' practical 'bout it," the granny then gazed sternly into each of the adventurers' eyes, "Ye did good runnin' away. Good job also gettin' th'info. I'll give ye full marks. Cath might just give ye the fight yer lookin' for. I dun recommend it, tho', but it's yer funeral. Get some more people, if yer gonna try it. 18 large coin, and 16 points fer yer party. Gimme yer card, and we'r done here," The granny dropped a small bag, and extended her wrinkled palm.

 

Spoiler: Reports

"I can't tell if they're smart or stupid."

A gourd examined the quest forms, duly noting that the mountains are mostly infested with undeads - courtesy of the Cave of the Dead - or any undesirable beasts. While it would be difficult for an army to pursue, it's not a good place to live at either.

"I'll just scout it out first..."

*****

For the following nights, a gourd-shaped shadow flitted through the sky armed with magical sights. Starting from the Cave and from there west, he eventually found the trace of the thieves band - namely, a magical concealment formation laid on a completely normal mountain wall. He took a break for the day, preparing his weapons and himself before he ventured in at the next night.

It was hiding a cavern entrance, and also equipped with a slight mental prod to turn people and animals away. It wouldn't work on someone who know exactly what's in there, like the normal residents or the gourd himself.

"Now how to deal with this..."

With the Undersight active, the hidden magical formations were plain as day. An alarm was set up to activate on trespasser, probably keyed on to some "key" which he did not have.

Shrugging, the gourd turned around and grabbed the first zombie he found. The clumsy creature tried to turn around and bite him but it was largely ineffective and thus ignored. He brought it to the cavern and activated Shadowflip again, silently thankful that the place's lightless to avoid attention. Concealing light source was difficult after all.

The Brand killed most of his presence but some remained, that he'd trigger proximity alarms like this one. Solution? Smudge it by layering a sledgehammer of a blow on it.

Nothing visible happened as he shoved the zombir across the threshold, himself sticking on its back like an oversized leech. But to his eyes, the magical formation quietly sent a pulse further into the cave. The gourd immediately unlatched and strolled to the ceiling, following the confused zombie thst lost its target and now wandered aimlessly forward.

Not long after several people came out from the depth, all quiet and serious at first but groaned after they spotted the zombie.

"Again? It's hard to keep wary on boogeymen when it's a random zombie or skeleton every time."

"Boss' order, we kicked the hornet's nest with that last job. Let's just dispose of it and return. It's cold."

The gourd watched in silence as the biggest guy simply grabbed the zombie and twisted its head for half a circle. Then he held out his hand, there's an unadorned iron ring in the middle finger, and walked across the alarm. He returned after chucking the now dead undead to the bushes outside.

"Enchanted key-ring, eh? The other two does not have any."

The gourd shadowed the four people, noting that they're all feline in nature. The big guy's probably a tiger. There were another threshold, but the ring temporarily shut it off in which the gourd walked pass from the ceiling alongside the resident beastmen. Never in their life they'd expect someone to stay undetected so close by.

"Found it."

The hideout itself wasn't that big, had about twenty people? All catty. They occupied a large-ish cavern, there's an udnerground stream cutting through the middle and a bonfire set up under some sort of crack that acted as natural ventilation shaft. There were some permanent buildings there, seemed a bit over-capacity from the few tents raised around the cave.

One of the building was loaded with magical wards, especially along the entrances. That's his goal, probably.

The light didn't reach the entire cavern, leaving plenty of cover for Shadowflip to show its value. The gourd patiently waited until most light had died before going onto a blind spot behind the important-looking building, recasting Undersight to ascertain the warding scheme.

"Arcane Armament."

He simply enchanted a dagger and cut a hole through an unwarded wall.

Exploring the small-ish building, it seemed to be a workshop for both magical and mundane trinkets from the various schematics scattered all over the place. He strode around, exploring it before finally ending up in the largest and messiest room in there. There'a a single cat working onto something under the light of a near-dead candle.

From the upper corner behind her, the gourd watched.

She's poring over a small chest about a foot long, carefully prodding it at times and jotting notes at others. The gourd waited patiently as the candle burned, the cat getting more and more sluggish before unceremoniously falling asleep on her desk.

The gourd think for a while, before grabbing a random empty parchment from the nearest stack. He made a small incision on his hand and let the blood spread, before leaving a bloody palm-print on the paper.

He relieved the chest off the deck, leaving the parchment in its place. Then he plunged the dagger up to its hilt atop of it, before dispelling the enchantment and leaving it stuck there. That done, the gourd left the building and picked off a dagger from the nearest storage and left.

He met the group of four again, two of them asleep. Without a flourish he paralyzed them both with poisoned knife, prying off the ring out of the tiger's finger. Using it to leave the cave, he kept it as spoil on this current venture.

Spoiler: Notes

-Sealed chest recovered
-Warning left to the thieves
-Got an unadorned iron ring. The enchantment faded within a few days.

@Quaesitor

 

"Oh, you actually didn't kill them. That's somewhat surprising, to be honest, but not a bad thing. Let's just hope they won't cause more trouble in the future. Here is your reward: 75 Large Copper Coins, and 16 guild points."

 

Spoiler: Quest Detail

Inside the tavern on the corner table, a wolfkin young man with unkempt black hair looks confused while enjoying his meal. The meals on his table are pretty simple, a warm soup, bread and a glass of water. He is still not used with the food that townfolks eat. It was completely different from the foods he familiar with.

This is...Why is this food so...Soft? I don't even need to chew it for long and I already can swallow it! Furthermore dipping this thing into the soup make it even softer and warm! Awesome!!
For Fillian, this is the first time he eats something like bread. On his home, his parent always feeds him with hardened meat in order to train him. Furthermore, they never allowed him to eat the food other than the one they prepare.

After he has done with his meal, Fillian head out to the appointed place to do his quest. His quest is to spar with a group of mercenaries in order for them to train before taking their next job. For Fillian this is really a nice quest because he always wanted to test his skill against an opponent other than the one from his Tribe. After some time, Fillian finally arrived at the destination. The appointed place is a camp outside the city not far from the river. A burly bearded tall middle-aged man greeted me right at the entrance.

"What are you doing here kid? This place is not a playground you know"
said the man with a playful tone. Did this person just treat me like a kid!?
"Good morning, my name is Fillian Direson. I've come from Adventure Guild to become your sparring partner," I said while showing him my badge and quest sheet.
"Ah, so this is about that! I see I see, Come on in then I'll show you around!
oh right before that my name is Rosice, Vice leader of this mercenary group. Nice to meet you!" Did he just said Vice leader!? wait since when did he shake my arm, I didn't even realize he touched me.
"What are you waiting for, Let's go!" he said while grabbing my arm and take me inside.

The camp is pretty big with several tents inside it. Rosice taking me to the spacious area with some training target and dummy inside it. I can see mercenaries shooting their arrow and magic at the dummy and some others who sparring with a wooden sword. I see so this is a training area.

"As you can see, this is the training area. This is the place where you will spar with our member later. Now then" Clapping his hand and gather the attention of the other mercenaries, he asks me to introduce myself. Wait, isn't this too sudden! aren't you going to show me around!? agggh this makes me nervous.
"My-my name is Fillian Direson, I've come from Adventure guild to fulfill your request and be sparring partner. I'll be in your care for today" I said while bowing myself, I did it right Right??
"OOOOY ROSICE! why are you taking a child here HUH!?"
"Is that a Dogkin? What a cute puppy hahaha~"
"Are you sure he is the who will be our sparring partner? isn't he too......small?" Laughter and loud chatter can be heard from the back. Why am I here again... I know I'm small and probably doesn't look much like wolfkin too but, hearing the other pointing that out is a little...

Probably notice me who getting disheartened. Rosice patted my head and said.
"Gyahaha~ don't be sad. Well, how about you spar with me first then? they will surely change their mind after know see what you can do"
"Huh....ah okay!" After ending the introduction, we moved to empty space while having the other watch us.

"Here should be enough right?, Take your weapon and come at me, also no need to hold back, you don't need to worry about injuries, we have a pretty strong healer with us after all," He said while taking a big wooden sword and readied his stance. now I see him again but isn't he a little bit too muscular? my instinct also told me he's strong. I wonder if I can do this...
Borrowing a wooden dagger from one of the members, I signaled to him that I'm ready. Soon after I get a signal from him that we can start
Putting strength on my leg, I dash toward him to shorten our distance and lunge at him but, just right before my attack reaches him, he deflected my attack and send me flying. I immediately fix my posture before I landed. But...What the hell with that kick! if I didn't redirect it and harden the muscle on my stomach I probably already fainted!!

Before I could collect my thought, he jumped at me with an overhead slash, with a little time to think, I jumped to the right side and rolled to further gain distance and readied my stance again. The strength behind his attack is so strong that it created a cloud of dust after he landed. Inside the cloud of dust, he dashes toward here aiming to thrust me with his sword. FAST!!
how can he move so fast with body and weapon like that!! Even if it made from wood isn't it supposed to be heavy? moreover, that sword must have been quite sturdy because common wood probably already destroyed with the strength of his swing.

Stop, Stop thinking too much fill, you're a wolfkin member of the proud Direwulf Tribe, You can do this!
Without thinking too much i used my knife to strike his sword in order to deflect while also using the momentum to jump to his left side, then i grabbed his arm and stabbed his shoulder with all my strength.

Krack, the sound of wood breaking can be heard.
Eh...what happens...the knife has broken right before it pierces his skin...Eh?
Noticed an opening Rosice grabbed my body and throw me to the ground then he point his sword on my neck render me stuck on the ground.
"Well looks like I win" he said with a refreshing smile on his face.
"I...lost" Still confused I can only mutter that word. Soon after tears start to shed from my eyes and I use my arm to cover my face "Goddamnit..." i know this is only sparring but why....why it feels so frustrating....
Sitting cross-legged Rosice patted my head.
"Lift your face Fillian Direson and listen to the audience"
Following his word, I swept my tear dry with my arm and face the audience. a loud cheer starts to enter my ear.

"Good job kiddo! you're much more better than i thought"
"You've done well!"
"Spar with me next time!"

"See, no need to be sad, everyone approved you"
"Eh...but why? none of my attacks affect you right"
"Gyahahaha~ what are you talking about? your last attack is quite splendid and moreover looks" showing his arm, there is blood dripping from claw-like mark.
"eh AH! it was from back then when i grabbed your arm! sorry, I didn't mean too"
"Don't worry about it~, I did say to not hold back right moreover a wound like this will healed up fast" soon after his wound slowly closed up. "See~?"
"Eh.....EHHHHHHHH" Isn't that too fast! how the hell he does that!?

Letting out his usual laugh, he reached up to his pocket, take a strange bottle and shove it inside my mouth

"*Cough* *Cough* *Cough* Bitter! What the hell did you put into my mouth damn it, Eh wait....my fatigue gone!"
"It's a stamina potion, We still haven't done sparring you know~" Said Rosice with a wicked smile on his face
"Eh?"
"Moreover the others haven't got their turn you know~"The other mercenaries also start to show an evil smile on their faces
"Eh, ah wait, i-i can't do this anymore, a-anymore of this and i'll dead...no...nooooooooooo~"

A desperate wolf howl can be heard from mercenaries camp that day.
In the end, i have to accompany them until they're sastified. On the night they would take me to the bonfire and start to tell me their adventure. Turn out they're pretty nice and outgoing people once you know them. I learn a lot of thing today. Also the abilities Rosice show me today, the one where he hardened his skin and faster his regeneration is called Ki...I want to learn something like that to someday.

@Quaesitor
((Phew this is the first time for me doing something like this, while it takes a lot of time, it was fun! XD
My apologies if there is mistake here and there. Thank you so much *bow head*))

 

A visibly refreshed and happy Rei entered the Guild hall while humming an unknown tune.
It seems something good happened to her on this quest.
Behind her was a small animal figure which was covered in a cloak, was trotting on all fours.
She slowly approached the counter and handed over to Garett the completion proof from the client and a paper slip with the number of hearts that were delivered.
"Hey Garret. I finished my quest.
By the way, what do I need to do in order to register this little guy as my tamed monster?"

Spoiler: Report

After taking the quest Rei visited the client, Ghar.
Barely translating his muffled words as he was crying and raging at the same time, she was able to get a picture of where to find the pack of Wargs.
Before heading out to the forest bear the plains outside of Nagrand she stopped by a general store a bought a large rope.
She had a feeling she would need to use it after she saw the notice about extra materials.

Outside the forest, Rei began to search for the presence of a group of large beings.
The range wasn't too big yet, so she could only scan so far.
Not detecting anything that could be what she was looking for, she continued on to the next zone.
Such a process has repeated itself until nightfall.
During the day she detected a large group however when she checked it out, it turned out to be a normal herd of wild boars.
Rei lit herself a bonfire with the dried wood she collected and made by herself, and prepared for sleep in her leather blanket.

The next morning, Rei woke up together with the sun and performed her daily morning routine.
After she was done, she made herself breakfast using a bird she caught last night.
Afterward, she extinguished the bonfire and erased all signs of her camp.
She picked up from where she left off and began to scan the next zones one after another for the Warg pack.

Around late noon, Rei finally found the Pack of large wolf-like creatures napping around a larger specimen.
It was most likely the alpha, their leader.
There were a total of 15 members including the alpha.
"First I have to get rid of the small fries"
Rei hid her presence, blending into the forest.
Using simple materials at her disposal like tree vines and such, she created several traps on each possible escape route.
It wasn't her style, but only a fool fights several opponents without separating them first.
"Divide and conquer, I don't know who exactly said those words but he was most likely a brilliant strategist...... No, he wasn't a fan of AC Tesla, stop asking me that. I don't even know what that is!"

Rei regained her focus on the mission before her and threw several small stones in her hand, each with power rivaling that of an arrow released from a bow.
Most stones just made a loud sound as they hit the ground near the sleeping Wargs, but a few of them were unlucky enough to be hit right in the head, their limb, or their torso.
Those hit by the head were lucky enough to die on the spot.
Those hit on the torso internally bled to death.
Those hit in their limbs remained alive but couldn't escape or pose any danger.

The wargs who weren't hit by the hail of stones released by Rei fled towards all directions - right into the traps.
Some died on the spot, while some remained trapped without the ability to move.
Those who had avoided falling into a trap due to luck or superior abilities were hunted down by Rei as she appeared right beside them when they let their guard down after dodging or escaping a trap, and snapped their necks with one smooth and quick motions - killing them instantly.

After taking care of those who escaped or were likely to do so, Rei returned to the clearance where they were napping.
There the large Alpha leader of the pack was staring in her direction, growling.
It wasn't hit by one of the stones but it didn't run away either.
"Pride of the king? I can respect that.
Well then your majesty, please excuse my rudeness but...
Could you offer me your heart?"

As she said those menacing words Rei turned her hand into a claw shape form and used defense armament to harden it,
After the duel with Gourd, she realized she could utilize it in ways other than purely defense or counters.
Accelerating her thoughts with lightning enhancement, she saw as the muscles tensed up on the leader's body.
It was ready to lunge at her.
She predicted it's next move, and stopped forward under its torso.
The Alpha leader changed the course of its attack at surprising speed.

The next moment a large splash of blood covered the leafy ground of the forest clearing.
The winner was decided in a single clash.
In Rei's claw hand was the still pumping heart of the beast, gradually slowing down until it went silent.
Behind her, the large body of the Alpha dropped down lifeless as a huge amount of blood began to spill from the open cavity in its chest.
Rei turned around and paid her respect to her worthy opponent.
As she returned to the clearing with the waterproof bag provided by the client, she began to cut out the hearts of the dead wargs, and finish off those who were still alive.
Soon all the hearts were in the bag, all 15 of them.
She finished setting all the Wargs for bloodletting by hanging them off the thick vines of a tree and creating pits underneath them for collecting the pouring blood.

However, as she was getting ready to eat her lunch some distance away from the stench of blood, she heard low animal cries.
They were coming from behind where the Large Alpha was sleeping.
When she moved closer Rei discovered a young Warg, crying out to its parent.
She threw a glance towards the Alpha and connected the dots.
"So she was a mother..."
Rei stared at the young Warg for a few moments before raising her hand in order to kill it as painlessly as possible.
But her hand refused to move.

'Why? Why can't I bring myself to kill it? I had no problems killing its mother! In fact, I had no problems killing ones like this before as Raikou.
No, I am not Raikou anymore.
That's right, I am Rei.
And I don't want to kill this little guy'

Her hand which was ready to strike slowly lowered itself and the black color faded away, signaling the deactivation of her ki art.
She continued to observe the small Warg as it cried, it's small round eyes awakening something that was sleeping inside her.
Something that she didn't even know existed there, but if you thought about was natural it would.
Her maternal instinct.
Rei took out some dried meat from her poach and fed it to the small warg, which obediently chewed and swallowed it without biting her hand.
For some reason it was capable of understanding Rei had no intention to harm it.
Rei smiled as she thought the small monster cub was adorable.
After feeding a couple more dried meat rations to the cub, she slowly patted its head and back into sleep.

As the small monster snored, Rei began to dismantle the biggest and least damaged Warg in the group - the alpha female.
Slowly taking her time, she tried to make sure to keep the body in the best shape she could.
Luckily she has hunted before, and knew some basics skills for skinning and dismantling wild animals she learned from a drinking friend of hers who was a hunter.
By the way, it was also the said friend who taught her how to make simple traps with what the forest has to offer.
'I wonder what he is doing now......probably still taking naps on trees and bringing in whole bears when he feels like.
Or maybe he retired and settled down......Nah, Grahm would always complain about how he would never allow himself to get married and would remain a bachelor forever. Most likely he adopted someone who would be his successor'

By the time the dismantling was over it was almost evening, it took more time than Rei expected since she was so careful not to damage the Alpha female's body.
She still messed up here an there thought.
Rei used the rope to bind together the dismantled body and grabbed the rope by the knot.
She also used the extra rope to tie the bag of hearts to her back and lifted the now awake cub with her free hand.
Of course, in her natural state, Rei couldn't possibly pick up all three at once but she used flame enhancement for extra power while redirecting the flames to her legs and sides in order to avoid hurting the cub or damaging her loot.
Within half an hour Rei was outside the forest and heading towards the city gates.

It took a bit of trouble to persuade the gate guards to allow her to bring in the Warg cub but she somehow succeeded.
The puppy eyes technique she learned from Aria came in handy.
On the way to the merchant guild, she dropped the cub in her room and lulled it to sleep again after feeding it some fruits.
She locked the door to prevent anyone from going in and to prevent the cub from going out.
She was afraid someone would hurt him when she wasn't there to watch.

Rei then headed towards the merchant guild, where sold the dismantled Warg alpha for 10 large copper coins.
Any of the other Wargs would have brought her 8 or maybe even only 5 coins but the sheer size and lack of wounds except the hole in its chest raised its value.
As she watched the large body being carried inside their warehouse, Rei silently took an oath to the Alpha female she would take care of the cub until her dying breath.
Maybe it was just her imagination, but Rei as she was turning towards the entrance she could have sworn she heard an approving growl coming from behind her.
Her head snapped back towards the warehouse but the body of the Alpha was no longer in sight, and nobody else seemed to have heard it.
A small smile reached Rei's face and a single tear ran down her cheek.
"I am sorry, and thank you" she whispered before exiting the guild and heading towards the client.

"Here they are, 14 Warg hearts.
There weren't any others inside the forest"

"I see, thank you for your hard work.
Here is your completion proof, and this slip of paper.
I just wrote on it the number of hearts I received and my signature.
Any of the receptionists should be able to recognize my handwriting"

Rei silently received the items from Ghar, bowed down, and made her way to the guild, while stopping by the inn to pick up her new partner.
If one would enter the Nagrand graveyard the next morning, they would notice a freshly built tombstone with a motif of the forest, and wolfbane flowers growing over the grave.

Spoiler: Notes

- Defeated the pack of wargs (15 hearts) using traps and tactics.
- Obtained 1 set of very large Warg meat, skin+fur.
- Sold the materials to the Merchant Guild for 10 Large copper coins.
- Delivered 14 Warg hearts to the client.
- Obtained a new pet/tamed monster - Warg cub (still unnamed).
- Buried the heart of the cub's mother (the alpha female) in a handmade grave in Nagrand's graveyard.

@Quaesitor

 

"It seems like you fulfilled the quest without problems. Good job! Here is your reward: 8 Large Copper Coins, and 4 Guild Points."

"It seems like you faced no problems, good. So here is your reward, 1 Large Copper Coins for each heart delivered, meaning 14 Large Copper Coins, and 4 Guild Points. As for adding it as your pet..."

Garret thinks about it for a second. "Well, to be honest, I don't know if there is some sort of special thing to register it."

 

Arriving at the receptionist's desk, Zoan went to search for the old receptionist but couldn't find her at glance. He instead found someone wearing a comfortable-looking clothing and went to give his report to him.

Spoiler: Report

"Welcome to my house! You are the adventurer who has accepted the quest, yes?" said an enthusiast man in his early twenties. Despite wearing a big black robe that screams 'cool but suspicious' and having the upper half of his face hidden by his hood, Zoan and Mallory could clearly see the bright smile from the magus.

The adventurer and the magician have found themselves standing in front of what appears to be a house in the mountains. This location was found after the woman asked the old receptionist about the location of the requester, and it took them approximately two hours to finally find and arrive at the location.

The house's walls are made of stone, its roof appear to have a peculiar design with its wave-patterned tiles, and there were some round shaped windows at the front. However, the most remarkable thing about this house was... not only was it invisible until the two had approached it, but it was also not attached to the mountain.

...

'It is literally not attached to the mountain. The house is floating!'

With his mouth agape, Zoan had to rub his eyes before he actually understood the state of the building before him. Mallory on the other hand was not as bewildered as her employer, and took less time to regain her composure before greeting the magus back with a graceful bow.

"Greetings, Lord Magus. I am not the adventurer whom you have addressed to, but I am rather here to aid my employer in accomplishing the quest that you have given." The Magus had addressed his greetings towards Mallory, and thus she wanted to clear up any misunderstandings.

"Whatever! You are the one who will be doing the quest, right? Then state your affinity and the spells you are going to use," the Magus yelled ignoring the nomad. The young magician followed the Magus' orders without any resistance.
"My magic affinity is the dark attribute, and my spells main revolve around the weakening of my enemy's physical body and mind. I am also able to perform combat magic, although those use blood as a prerequisite."

"Fascinating! Does your combat magic exactly require your blood to activate?" the Magus asked, to which Mallory had calmly shook her head.
"Even better! Then it is decided! We shall exercise your magic on some local animal and beasts!" As he said so, he took the hands of the woman and increases his walking pace towards the forest. Zoan finally snapped out of his thoughts when he saw his employee getting taken by the Magus and followed them.

--- --- ---

Dozens of minutes later, the three was standing next to a small pile of corpses from freshly killed wild animals. With Zoan's high stamina, he had brought the magician her practice dummies with ease, so she kept cursing the animals to weaken them with her spell to have the Magus study them. Thereafter Mallory had demonstrated her blood magic as well, killing the animals in the process. Various animals were used during the presentation, ranging from agile small rabbits and fast leaping deer to ferocious wolves and poisonous snakes.

"These animals were sacrificed for the greater good," or so the Magus said. He then summoned a fireball with a snap of his fingers, ready to burn the corpses as to not attract any monsters. It was then that Zoan took a step forward in front of the Magus.
"Wait! It would be such a waste if we don't consume them. Could you please allow us to eat the meat from the corpses?" asked the nomad. The Magus looked surprised from the turn of events, and let the flame dissipate.
"Well, it is you who hunted them, so I don't mind."

It did not take even sixty seconds however, before they got stopped by the Magus.

It had been a sight to behold for his eyes; the nomad grabbed the hind leg of a deer and tore it apart with pure brute force before briefly skinning it and giving it to his companion. Then he tore another hind leg, skinned it again just like he did before and devoured it as if his life was on the line, whereas the witch took a small bites of the slightly disproportionate surface of the muscles.
The barbaric lack of manner from Zoan made sense, given his odd primitive image that he has been giving off since the beginning. Mallory on the other hand, made the Magus cringe from the juxtaposition of a female magician who are commonly known to be well-mannered and the savage way of 'dining' the repugnant chunk of a leg that should not even be addressed as food...

In the end, he made a campfire to properly cook the meat and brought some cookware from his house to make the food palatable, though the result still had not satisfied him in the end. According to him, it lacked the proper spice and ingredients.

--- --- ---

"Now then, please fail the spells that you just did," the Magus ordered. Mallory nodded, and directed her hand at a tree next to her. With the thought of 'haste is the key to failure', she then began to chant with a speed comparably faster than she did before. She did not care much about the result, and the consequence is that while it took less mana for her to do activate her spell, nothing had changed to the tree at all. She has practiced upon a tree before, and the result should be that the bark darkens to pitch black.
The same applied to her combat magic; she could manipulate the blood from the animals to form a wall made of blood. She chanted the spell, a minuscule amount of mana got released and went towards the pile of corpses, but nothing happened to them.

For some reason, the Magus was smiling happily about it and confirmed that the quest was cleared before entering his house without saying anything else. With confused thoughts, the two then went back to the Adventurer's Guild.

@Naraku

 

The first thing Gaap did was not reading the report, of course not, he simply looked at the quest sheet and silently cursed at the requester, ten copper coins? Yeah, small or large, if you request something, do it properly at least, oh well, it is easy to solve anyway... a sigh escaped his mouth before reading the report, hopefully, it will be a good one.

After reading, the receptionist felt perplexed, he did not know how to react to this report, first.
"Damned rich.", when speaking about the mage, a floating and invisble house? How expensive was it? As well as... how much of a waste is it... he shook his head and then proceeded to speak.

"Well... I suppose you did a good work? I wonder what even he got from the failed spells... though, in his early twenties... unless he is from some rich ancestral or whatever family or is hiding his age through some magical means, I don't see how he could have such a house. Tsk.", he could not help but click on his tongue.

"Anyway, here is your reward, split it how you want to with your partner, ten large coins and four guild points as well. You have done your work properly despite the fact that it is an odd request, continue like this."

 

Spoiler: Report

Spoiler: part 1

Grendel pored over the quest information once again while making his way to the Nagrand’s cemetery. The quest he decided to take this time is one that he’s quite familiar with: crow problems. Only this time, it’s the spirit ones. Specifically, the spirit from the crows he killed previously.

‘*sigh*. They really are quite the troublemakers, aren’t they? I guess it was quite an oversight on my part, too. Might as well finish what I started’

Arriving at the cemetery, Grendel knocked on the hut he presumed to be the gravekeeper’s office.

Shortly, a young man came out and greeted him with a weak smile

“Hello there. What can I help you with? Are you planning to hold a funeral?”

“Actually, no. I’m here about the crows-”

“*sigh* Another complaint, is it? If so, then as I have told all of your friends and neighbors, we, the cemetery staff, are perfectly aware of it, and although we currently have no appropriate solution at the moment, we have submitted a request to the guild, thus we kindly ask you to wait until someone comes along and deal with them.”

Grendel was taken aback by the perfectly flowing response from the now displeased man, albeit on a wrong matter, as if he has rehearsed that over and over again.

‘Whoa. There have been so many complaints about them? And didn’t the request also said something about the gravekeepers also being a target? Guess that explains his dark circles and haggard look. Terribly sorry ‘bout that, Mr. gravekeeper’

Seeing the slight frown on Grendel, the man thought they were done with the matter and started returning to the hut before Grendel hurriedly called out to him, “Wait! I certainly came here in regard to the crows, but I’m not filing a complaint. My nam’s Grendel, and as a matter of fact, I’m the adventurer who took your quest!”

As he heard Grendel’s words, the gravekeeper stopped on his tracks, turned back, and started shaking Grendel’s hand while smiling from ear to ear.

“You are? Thank you! Thank you so much, Mr. Grendel! Finally! What can I help you with, then? I’ll do everything I can to help banishing those crows! Oh, and I’m Bailey, the current head gravekeeper, at your service!”

“Uh, it’s too early to thank me, you know,” Grendel smiled wryly, “I haven’t even started anything yet. Anyway, the quest said you could provide me with a weapon? I don’t have the ability to purify them by myself, unfortunately.”

“Yes! As mentioned, we can provide you with one, a halberd. I assume you can wield it, yes?” Receiving Grendel’s nod as a reply, the gravekeeper smiled at him once again, “Very well, please wait for a moment, I’ll go fetch it for you,” before heading back inside the hut.

Soon after, he exited the hut again, this time along while half-dragging a white halberd. “Here’s the halberd. It’s the exclusive weapon of the gravekeepers, but we have made an exception this time since nobody can use it,” he said while panting, as he handed the halberd to Grendel.

Upon receiving the halberd, Grendel inspected it for a moment. It was 220 cm tall, with a rather large head, and a medium-length spike on both ends of the shaft. Judging from the weight, it was made from steel.

Taking a few steps back, Grendel tried swinging it around a few times before turning back to Bailey, “It said that the halberd was blessed, how long does it last?”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. It is actually a magic weapon, albeit the blessing effect is not that powerful.”

“Wait, what? It’s actually a bona fide magic weapon?” Hearing the shocking info from Bailey, suddenly the halberd in his hand felt as it was far more brittle than glass. “You sure it’s alright to lend it to me? Actually, why would you have a magic weapon that you guys can’t use?”

Hearing Grendel’s question, Bailey chuckled, “Well, actually, it was an official weapon provided by the mayor a few years ago, but it was intended for the then head gravekeeper. Unfortunately, when he stepped down from the position, there was nobody else that can use the halberd. We haven’t had any new recruit that’s capable of using it, too. Anyone with the capability would rather choose to enlist as a guard or adventurer, after all.”

“Huh. Guess that’s that. But still, this is a nice weapon. Too bad it’s unused. Anyway, moving on to the crows. Do you have any information about them?”

“Yes. They only appeared at night, and they seemed to come from the west side of the town. The first complaints reported the same thing: a bright light in the middle of the forest, and the terribly grating cawing noises. Lately, they have started coming into town, disturbing people from various parts of town, including our cemetery. I don’t have a good grasp on their number, but I think the most people has seen is around twenty crows.”

Two dozen crows from the west of town? That certainly matched his memory. Strapping the halberd to his back, he spoke to Bailey before turning back, “I see. Thank you for the information, Bailey. I think a have an idea where they could be. I’ll be back tomorrow then, hopefully with good news.”

“Yes! I wish you luck, Mr. Grendel!”

Spoiler: Bonus

Just as he was leaving, Grendel suddenly noticed something, and turned back and asked Bailey, “By the way, what happens if the halberd is broken or lost?”

“Oh, I’m afraid it’s not up to me to decide, as it’s basically the town’s property. Although I personally prefer it to be of use in someone’s hand, that might not be the case with the town’s officers. If the halberd is somehow rendered unusable, the most likely scenario is that you’ll have to pay a compensation to the town.”

Hearing the discouraging reply, Grendel started feeling uneasy. “Compensation?”

“Yes, equal to the price of the halberd, I’d imagine.”

“Out of curiosity, how much would it be?” Grendel asked fearfully.

“I’m not too knowledgeable about it, but it should be in the range of a few gold coins”

“……. Gold coins?”

“Gold coins.”

“….”

“….”

‘F*ck’

Spoiler: part 2

At dusk, Grendel now finds himself back in the forest, making as little sound as he sneaked towards the riverside he found previously while carrying the lent halberd. As the night starts to settle in, his surrounding follows suit and gradually became darker, eventually forcing Grendel to stop as he can no longer see anything. Just as he mulled over whether he should give up his cover and light his lantern, suddenly a strange bright light came into view. Judging it came from the direction of the riverside, Grendel quickly made his way there, keeping up his stealth while offering thanks to the light.

Upon reaching the riverside, Grendel found the source of the light: a large murder of spirit crows, some of them perching up on the trees, while the others are flying around, all cawing to each other. Their numbers are so large, they managed to light up the whole area with the bluish white light which came from their body.

‘Damn. This must be what the townsmen see. I guess it’s a good thing this area is not anywhere near a road. But still, there sure is a lot of them. There must be at least fifty of them now. Where do they come from?’

Suddenly, the crows’ cawing grew fiercer, as if something agitated them. Thinking his cover was blown, Grendel swiftly put his hand on the halberd’s handle, readying himself for a fight. Just as he’s going to jump out, he saw the real cause of the crows’ agitation: another spirit crow, coming towards them. Relaxing his hand a little bit, he continued to observe them.

This new spirit crow continues to approach the riverside despite the somewhat hostile response from his brethren and landed on an empty branch-which is coincidentally right above Grendel, before letting up a deafening caw and started talking, much to Grendel’s surprise.

“CAW! Shut up!! You’re all so damn noisy every time! When will you dumb chickens start respecting your leader, huh? Now where’s that damn Scar! SCAR! Come down here, you numbskull!”

‘A talking crow? This one must be a high-ranked undead! But how? It’s not even a month since they died!’

While Grendel is confused over the origins of this talking crow, a different crow flew and landed right beside the talking crow. Seeing the two of them side by side, Grendel managed to make out their difference: the new crow, which seemed to be called ‘scar’ is one size smaller than the talking crow, and it also has an apparent scar across its’ chest. Scar’s body also glowed bluish white like the other crows, while the talking crow has a slightly darker glow.

“Caw! Caw!”

‘So it can’t talk, huh. Thank goodness there’s only one high-ranking. But still, this doesn’t bode well.’ Deciding to stay put, Grendel continued to eavesdrop on the crows.

“I told you to discipline them, did I not? Why are they still as dumb as headless chickens?”

“Caw! Caw!”

“Huuuhh!? Like I care whether they like me or not! Have you forgot that any disrespect toward this great Loosebeak is the same as disrespect towards our master?”

“Caw!”

‘So this one is called Loosebeak? And there’s also a master? Interesting.’ Just as his name suggests, not long after it finishes delivering complaint towards Scar, it started rambling on about the greatness of this ‘master’. While the other crows are immediately fed up with his preaching, Grendel listens closely, finding it to be very informative.

It would seem this ‘master’ is a lich, who is based somewhere near the ancient lake. Apparently, the recent increase of crows in Nagrand is also caused by him, as these now-spirit crows apparently originated from the lich’s current base, fleeing here after being driven out by the undead. He also went on about how after he was killed, the lich ‘graciously’ revived him and made him a lieutenant of sorts, and how Scar has fallen from the ‘proud leader of the murder’ into a ‘pathetically trapped’ and ‘effortlessly killed’ crow.

‘Wait, so this ‘scar’ is the one I stabbed to bait the others that time? No wonder they went nuts after I killed him!’

Sometime later, Loosebeak still continued his preaching, this time on how his merit will be recognized and such. Deciding there’s no more information he can gather, Grendel prepared himself to attack. He started gathering mana in his hand and set his sight on Loosebeak.

‘The distance… about four meters, huh. Good. Hopefully I can finish him in one… wait. Does normal magic even work against spirit?’ As he started having doubts, he withdrew his mana and start thinking about how he would strike Loosebeak.

‘Hmmm. Directly hitting him with the halberd? No, He’ll see it coming. Do I throw it? Nah, I’ll give myself away before even throwing it. *sigh* If only I can throw only the blessing without the halberd to him… Hm?’

Suddenly tumbled upon a strange idea, Grendel decides to try it out. He drew the blessed halberd and gripped it. He then started gathering mana in his hand once again, but this time he let some of it flow to the halberd, just as how he normally applies thunderclad to his weapon. The idea is that if a normal lightning might not work, then what about a lightning infused with light element blessing? With this as his basis, Grendel tried to shoot a lightning as how a standard mage would-by using a ‘staff’-in this case, the halberd, as a medium, to amplify his lightning with the blessing. After a few second, Grendel aimed the halberd to Loosebeak and shot a lightning.

“<Strike>!”
With a loud sound, a pale lightning shot out from the halberd towards the unsuspecting Loosebeak.

“And then, I would-What!?”

Taken by surprise by the sudden lightning, the preaching Loosebeak was hit cleanly and started falling to the ground. The loud sound also surprised all the crows, and they started cawing once again while some took off to the sky.

‘Yes! It worked!’ Grendel rejoiced internally while dashing off towards Loosebeak to make sure he finished him off for good. Unfortunately, as Grendel swung the halberd towards him, Loosebeak managed to twist his body to avoid the death blow.

‘Damn! The lightning didn’t manage to stun him for good?’

After being half-thrown from the halberd’s hit, Loosebeak hit the ground a few times before standing up, now with a large part of his body being somewhat distorted and started disintegrating, no doubt because of the hit from the halberd. Seeing the state he’s in, Loosebeak stared at Grendel in anger,

“CAW! WHO THE HECK ARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU HARM ME! DON’T YOU KNOW WHO AM I?”

As the crows are all completely aware of his presence now, Grendel answered while activating thunderclad and keeping watch of the crows. “Yes, I’m perfectly aware. Loosebeak, the servant of a lich whose underling killed you while driving off the rest of your murder to flee. Currently here to ensure your new underlings carried out the orders of the lich, whatever it is. You did spend quite some time dictating it all, you know.”

Even while answering, Grendel kept an eye towards the crows. Many of them are eyeing Grendel angrily and some of them, which he presumed to be the ones he killed, stayed back and cawed sheepishly.

“Wha-How long were you eavesdropping? Insolent brute! Oi, you dumb chickens! What are you waiting for? Get him!”

Upon hearing the order, Grendel prepared himself for the coming attack, but no matter how long he waited, none of the crows moved, except for one¾Scar. Flapping his wings, he landed once again next to Loosebeak, who is now dumbfounded and started shouting around in panic.

“What is this? What are you guys doing? Why are none of you attacking him, you chickens!? What is this, Scar? You’re disobeying order now? You’re trying to go against master now, huh? Is that it? You cursed ungrateful lowly beast!”

Looking at the hysteric crow next to him, Scar only watched him silently as Loosebeak spews one insult after another, before attacking him suddenly and... ate him.

Spoiler: part 3

Dumbfounded, Grendel can only watch silently as Scar suddenly grew into a size similar to Loosebeak and turned to face him.

“Although it is indeed a strange thing, I suppose I should thank you, black-horn, for helping me killing that cursed traitor.”

“Uh, okay? You’re welcome?” Still unsure of what’s happening, Grendel can only reply half-heartedly.

Seeing him still dumbfounded, Scar chuckled, “I see you’re still confused. Do you want an explanation, or would you prefer we skip to the fighting?”

Looking again at the numerous crows surrounding him, Grendel shook his head while deactivating his thunderclad and put down his weapon, “I’d prefer we finish this with a talk, please. I’m not sure I can win against all of you, anyway,” and sat down.

“Very well. I suppose you have heard much from Loosebeak, yes?” Receiving a nod from Grendel, Scar continued, “As he has said, I used to be the leader of my murder until, well, you killed me, and that bastard was a member of the murder. After my death, the lich revived us using Loosebeak as a proxy, making him the new leader, and tasked us to disturb the town for whatever reasons he doesn’t tell us. Fortunately, through eating him, the link we have towards the lich disappeared, and I can regain my position as the leader of the murder. Is there anything you’d like to ask?”

“Are you sure you’re not connected to the lich anymore? I mean you ate Loosebeak, di you not? Wouldn’t the connection persist through you now, instead?”

“A fair point, but the answer is no. It’s also thanks to you, or your first strike, to be exact. That strike is the one that managed to sever the lich’s mana connection to us. That is also why Loosebeak managed to survive it.”

“I see. So what happens to you now? Would you guys willing to go somewhere else and not bother the town again?” Grendel asked again.

Hearing his question, this time Scar stared in what Grendel assumed to be amazement, before answering, “You’re not intending to contract us?”

“What? It’s possible to do that? I thought only liches and mages with darkness element can make any contract with undeads and spirits?” Hearing an unexpected question, Grendel hunched forward and stared at the crow.

“… Do you perhaps unaware of it? You do have quite the affinity towards darkness element, you know? That’s also why you managed to get a surprise attack on Loosebeak. Normally, people without a certain level of darkness element affinity would be unable to get this close to so many spirits, you know?”


Hearing the unexpected revelation, Grendel fell into deep thought. ‘Eh? Waitwaitwait. How can I have a darkness element? Didn’t oyaji said I only have affinity towards thunder? Or does he not aware of it either? Besides, oyaji most certainly can only use thunder magic, so where would I get… ah.’

A moment later, Grendel lifted is head, “Then, would it be fine if I make a contract with you? Wouldn’t you guys hate me since I’m the one who killed you?”

Hearing his question, this time Scar burst out laughing, “Hahaha! Aren’t you a kind one!” Seeing Grendel making a confused face, he continued, “It doesn’t matter, black-horn, at least to me. That’s just how it goes. We make trouble to humans, sooner or later someone’s gonna come along and put us out of our misery. It just happens to be you. But very well. If you’re intent on making a contract with us, we shall not refuse either.”

After that, Scar called over another crow, who seemed to know how the lich contracted Loosebeak. Apparently, the contracting ritual was done by placing the familiar-to-be inside a magic circle and activating it by sending his mana to the circle. Thankfully, as the lich only chose Loosebeak to be his familiar after he revived the other crows, they managed to piece together the circle’s design from various crows’ memory, albeit with diificulty. Thank gods they have a good memory.

Sometime later, Grendel managed to draw a rough magic circle using his blood (for the lack of any drawing material in the area).

“Are you sure about this? I don’t know a sliver of dark elemental magic, and there's so many ways this could go wrong and irreversible, you know.” Grendel warned the crow once again.

“Hah! Is that someone who came to fight fifty dead crows would say?” Scar replied sarcastically with a snicker as he stands inside the circle.

“Fair point. Let’s get started, then.”

As Grendel prepared to activate the magic circle, Scar let out a loud caw, and all the crows suddenly jumped and dived towards him, before being absorbed into his body.

“Whoa. What’s that? Did you devour them, too?”

“It’s different. This time, I… merged with them. So while we’re now counted as one entity, we still are fifty different crows. It’s a skill I got when I devoured Loosebeak. Quite a useful skill, I’d say. It’s befitting for a leader, too. I thought this would save you the time of contracting us one by one. So, shall we start?”

Thanking him for being efficient, Grendel proceeded to pour his mana to the circle, and as soon as he did, the circle started glowing, before suddenly letting off a blinding amount of light. After Grendel’s sight came back, he spotted a dark silver crow, now standing in the middle of the circle.

“Scar? Is that you?”

To his relief, the crow replied back, “Yes, and as I forgot to say much, much earlier, please don’t call me by that name, black-horn. It’s something Loosebeak came up with as a mockery, and it is not a pleasant nickname at all. You might as well come up with a new name for me, as the lich did for Loosebeak.”

After pondering for a second, Grendel answered “Very well. What about Uzuki?”

“Uzuki? That’s quite the strange the name. Does it has any meaning?”

“I took it from the eastern alphabet that my father taught me. It consists of the words ‘crow’ and ‘moon’.”

“The moon crow, eh? That’s not half bad. Nice to meet you, my new master, Grendel.”

“Likewise, my new familiar, Uzuki”

Spoiler: Notes

• Managed to fix the crow problem, again.
• A lich is apparently involved this time
  
• Obtained a familiar: Uzuki, the silver crow spirit

@Lenaia
((little heads up: it's a small wall of text))

 

"Lich problem in my turf? Must be a new idiot. I'll take his spine for wall ornament later." The construct mused at the report. "Anyway! The client didn't expected that many of them and so he only put up thirteen large coppers for reward. I suggest you bring it up to the person if you're dissatisfied? And four guild points of course. Have a nice day!"

"Is it mocking me? Does Catherine have to slap an uppity crow?"

The construct can be heard mumbling before going idle.

 

"It's fine, I don't think I should trouble them any further. Thank you."

((alos thanks for pointing out the typo. I don't quite get what you're trying to say IC though?))

 

Arawn approached the receptionist's desk with a large sack in tow.

Spoiler: Stupidly Large Rats and Strangely Spacious Sewers

Rats were undoubtedly nasty, filth-spreading vermin. Rats the size of dogs were also a major danger to the people of Nagrand. In order to assist in exterminating them, Arawn traveled to the cellar of one particularly displeased resident. The man had locked up his cellar in an attempt to trap the rats inside, though with how well-stocked it was, the rats wouldn't starve any time soon.


Arawn unlocked the large, iron padlock using the key the home’s owner had given him. He peered into the dark cellar and wrinkled his nose in disgust. There was a smell emanating from the cellar, and it was by no means pleasant. Arawn stepped onto the stairs and began his descent, armed with his blade and a lamp.


As he snuck down the stairs as quietly as possible, Arawn heard the squeaking and chattering of rats, as well as the scraping of claws against stone. He peered around the side of the stairs and spotted four large rats. Well, large was an understatement. Arawn had already heard that these rats were the size of dogs, but seeing them was another matter.


The grotesquely large rats were gathered around a large crate, which had been shredded into pieces by their claws and teeth. It appeared to be a crate of food, as the rats were eagerly devouring its contents.


Arawn set down the lamp and gripped the hilt of his dagger before launching himself across the ground with large strides. The rats reacted quickly to the sudden noise, ears twitching as they spun to face Arawn, but not quickly enough.


Arawn brought his dagger down upon the largest of the bunch, cutting through much of its thick neck in a single blow. Blood sprayed in the air as the rat flailed wildly and fell back, trying to escape Arawn. Instead, he gave it no room to escape and followed up with a second blow, this time nearly severing its head completely.


He dropped to the ground and rolled away from the dead rat’s corpse, another soon passing through the space his torso had occupied only a moment before. Arawn leaped up to his feet and slashed at the third rat. It took a shallow wound to the side and withdrew with a shrill cry.


Before Arawn could slay this one as well, the fourth rat knocked into him from the side. The duo fell to the ground, struggled violently. Arawn slammed a leg into the rat’s gullet with a curse, knocking it off of him. The fourth rat tumbled backward into the second one, which had come around to make another charge.


While the second and fourth rats struggled to free themselves from each other, Arawn quickly split the fourth rat’s underbelly with his blade. Blood and organs spilled across the floor from the long cut, the rat’s dying hiss cut short by another slice across the throat from Arawn.


The clattering of claws against the ground warned Arawn of the third rat’s charge at his exposed back. He spun as he dodged to the right, slashing outwards simultaneously. Arawn scored another light gash along the rat’s flank and it tumbled to the ground when it slipped on the bloodied floor.


It rose back to its hands and feet as the fourth rat freed itself from the carcass of its brethren. The two rats, one injured and one not, padded warily across the stone floor of the cellar. The rats split apart and circled around to opposite side of Arawn.


The creatures hissed threateningly and launched themselves at Arawn from either side in an almost synchronized attack. Arawn rolled forward across the ground and under the rats. The rats smashed into each other and fell to the ground in a bundle of dark fur and long claws.


Arawn was upon the stunned pair of rats in an instant, slashing, cutting, and chopping with his dagger at any furry flesh he could reach. When he stepped away from the now-dead rats, they looked less like rats and more like torn rags that had been soaked in blood. A lot of blood.


He retrieved his lamp from where he’d left it and inspected the cellar more closely. Ignoring the blood and animal corpses, the cellar was a complete mess. The rats had gone to town on the contents of the underground room, no object left untouched. Expensive-looking packages and bottles lay strewn across the ground in various states of damage. No item looked to be recoverable.


He sighed in disappointment and moved back towards the rat corpses. Using his knife, Arawn decapitated the bodies and stuffed the heads into a sack he’d brought along. Slinging the sack over his shoulder, Arawn picked up his lamp once more and moved towards a large grate in the ground. He seized it with both hands and heaved with all of his strength. After several more tries, he managed to move the grate out of the entrance to the sewers and placed it to the side.


He gathered his items and clambered into the cramped entrance. He followed the dark, sloped tunnel until it opened into a larger tunnel. Noticing the smell strongly here, Arawn thanked the gods for the cloth he’d wrapped around his nose and mouth before entering the tunnel. The sewer was dark as well, the only light coming from Arawn’s lamp.


The sewer consisted of a small river of fecal matter and other filth flanked by a platform on each side. Arawn slightly regretted having taken this quest and steeled himself for his disgusting foray into the sewers.

_________________


Arawn had continued to journey through the sewers, slaying any rats he happened to come across. Most of the rats were smaller than the ones in the cellar, but there were still a few who were similarly sized. He avoided any groups of five or more rats, unwilling to face that many at a time. Not alone, at least. He’d likely take some injuries, and in this filthy place, who knows what sort of disease he might catch.


By the end of his adventure, Arawn had managed to kill nine more rats, bringing his grand total up to thirteen rats. The sack of heads quickly became very heavy and very revolting. When Arawn reached the surface once more, he had never been gladder to smell the air- fresh, clean air- of Nagrand.

@Quaesitor

 

"Ah, you're back. Let me look at the report..." After reading through the report, Garret nods. "Good job! 13 rats are 101 small copper coins, or 10 large copper coins and 1 small copper coin. Take that, and also the 4 Guild Points for completing the quest."

 

A girl arrived in the guild with a shining blob like (?) creature riding atop her head. She placed the blob along with the paper on the desk.

Spoiler: Report

This time the quest was in Nagrand itself! Lucky me! I don’t have to waste my precious copper coins on travel!

I roamed the streets looking for the slimes. But I got distracted by the delicious smell of fish...Seems like this quest has its own difficulties. Just as the delicious sardines were inviting me, my ears picked up a strange sound. It was oddly quiet. Just like I had been sucked into a trance, I walked towards the sound. There, near the church grounds I saw the shining creature. It was the slime! I turned into my cat form to curb my mana as I approached it. The slime slowly slid into a hole in the ground. I followed the slime. What lay inside the hole was unlike anything else I’d ever seen. A huge mass of shining blobs was bowing towards a statue. The statue seemed two be of two people in a compromising position...what’s more, the two were men!? Oddly, though it did not disgust me. Rather, it made me feel nostalgic. It reminded me of my master’s apprentice and the hero’s escapades. Ah, how I miss those two... The hero always fed me sardines when he visited.


I approached the statue. Inscribed on the walls were letters of an ancient language. All I could decipher was a ‘T’, a ‘x’ and a ‘W’. I wonder what it means. As soon as I touched the inscription. I felt hundreds of eyes on me. They seemed to sparkle. Before I knew it, hundreds of the blobs accousted me. The blobs singing grew louder as they seemed to be almost chanting the words ‘Bee-ell’ almost fanatically. They dragged me into a storeroom, which seemed to be brimming with books with yellowing pages. I was desparate. I needed to escape. Just I was at the ends of my wits, I remembered I still had my magic stick with me. I transformed into my human and held the magic stick in my hand. As soon as the stick appeared, the slimes froze. One of the slimes, who seemed larger than the others seemed to be saying something. I couldn’t understand what it said though. The slime and it’s minions dragged me towards a tattered map in the room. It was a map of Nagrand. They seemed to be pointing towards...the adventurer’s guild? I wonder why... Well, since they’re ready to come with me to the adventurer’s guild, might as well. They’re harmless anyway, right? I decided to take one of them to the adventurer’s guild for now.


As I was leaving, I saw another strange inscription on the wall. It said dan...mei? Well, I don’t understand what it means, perhaps I should report it to the guild?

Spoiler: Notes

Xionlige passively learnt the ancient language from her master’s spells.

The slimes have 0 attack power.

Her guild badge was entangled with her stick.

@Lenaia

((Hope this one’s okay? It’s pretty short))

 

"....."

The construct was, for once, speechless.

"...weeeell, job's done. Nine large copper and four guild points for you!"

Then it poked a catgirl nearby.

"Aria, I think this is your expertise!"
@AliceShiki

 

Spoiler: Quest

Following the information from the quest paper, I went to Baron Kuin's mansion. The moment I arrived, one of the guards watching over the gate called out.

"Halt! State your identity and your business here!"

Showing my guild tag, I answered, "Venefica, an adventurer, I accepted a request by sir Rodderick."

After the guard verified my identity, he gave me a weird look before telling to wait where I was and entering the mansion.

Several minutes later, the guard walked out together with a sickly looking man.

"I see, so you're the one who accepted my request?" As the sickly man spoke, he carefully eyed me.

"Yes, I am Venefica." I replied with a slight bow.

"Hm... looking at you, I'm not sure whether you're fit for this job. But it's just for a few days, so it should be alright." As he muttered, Rodderick led me inside the mansion premise accompanied by the guard from before.

Not long after, we arrived before a small building at the side of the premise.

"This is the guard's station. You'll be staying here for the next few days until I recover. Don't worry though, there are few people here and many of the rooms are empty, most of the guards return to their own home after their shift ended."

As we entered the building, the guard who was accompanying Rodderick entered of the rooms and later walked out with a set of clothing in his hands.

"Here are a set of our guard uniform, you'll have to wear this for the next few days while you work. Try wearing it first." As Rodderick explained, the guard passed the uniform to me and ushered me to enter the room he had just left.

The uniform was simple and I easily managed to put them on. But once I finished, I finally met with a problem.

"It seems... this uniform is too large for me..." I said, walking out of the room while waving around the over sized sleeves covering my hands.

When they both saw me, I noticed how the corner of their lips twitched before they turned their head to look at one another.

"Don't we have any smaller size?" Rodderick asked.

"No sir, she's wearing our smallest one..." The guard replied.

"If it is fine with you, I am fine with wearing this." I interrupted them while folding my sleeves, attempting to make it shorter.

"Well... if it's alright with you, then there's no problem. Hans here will tell you what to do, I'm going to take a rest." As he said that, Rodderick turned to leave.

Looking at him, I could hardly recognize him as being sick. While I was thinking such, I noticed the guard, Hans, approaching.

"As the deputy said, I'm Hans. Honestly, you don't have to do much. The deputy captain's job usually consists of checking the goods that came in, act as message relays, and sometimes meet with other nobles that visits or we need to visit. You'll most likely only need to check on goods since the other tasks are too important and sometimes confidential."

He then went ahead and taught me what I should be doing, which is mostly about what to do during goods inspections. After that, he brought me to where the goods were brought in and introduced me to do other personnels on the job who took my intrusion easily. Apparently all I had to do was mostly supervise them and send in reports which was really not much. In that way, a few days passed uneventfully until Hans suddenly came to visit.

"...Come again?" I asked, looking at him in confusion.

"As I said, we need you to help attend to a visiting noble for today." Hans replied with a rueful smile.

"But I thought my job does not involve nobles?"

"That... well, the deputy captain's illness suddenly flared, so he can't leave the bed and the captain is busy with something else. The other guards aren't cut out for the job, they might annoy the noble instead. But you look like you can handle nobles well, so I thought you might be able to do it instead. So can you please do it?" He continued with a slight begging tone.

"Naturally I would as the job states that I am to act as the replacement of sir Rodderick."

"That's good to hear. Come on, I'll take you to the noble, I'll tell you what you need to know on our way there." As he said that, Hans led me towards the guest room inside the mansion.

We then arrived before the door of the guest room. After tidying himself, Hans carefully knocked on the door.

"Baron Veli, sir, sorry to keep you waiting. Your escort has arrived."

"Do enter then." Came the reply.

Hans then opened the door and inside the well-furnished room sat a man sitting there elegantly whilst staring towards us.

"This is Venefica, she's a new hire who's working with us for the next few days to take over some of the deputy captain's job." Hans introduced.

"Greetings, sir Veli." I said with a slight bow.

"Hm, no wonder I failed to recognize your face. Well, since that Rodderick hired you, you should be reliable enough." The baron then stood up and approached me, "Come, accompany me around, I've already visited this mansion more than a few times that I might just be more familiar with this place than you." He then laughed and walked out of the room.

From behind, Hans nudged me and whispered, "Follow him around, and try to bear with him, he's kind of weird for a noble." With that, Hans also departed the room, leaving through another route.

Without much of a choice, I went and followed the baron away. Based on what Hans told me before we arrived, I only had to accompany the baron until Baron Kuin is finished with his business.

As we walked around the mansion, Baron Veli kept on introducing me to the various locations around the mansion, weirdly acting as if he is the owner of the place. If I had not known the actual face of Baron Kuin, I might have really thought that Baron Veli is actually Baron Kuin.

But as I stayed beside the baron longer and longer, I started to feel colder and colder, as if the temperature in the air went down. After some time, I even noticed myself starting to shiver.

Weirdly, when I involuntarily distanced myself from the baron, I started to feel warmer. It was then that I noticed something off about the baron.

"Is something wrong?" The baron suddenly asked.

Not knowing whether he was referring to my shivering or the suspicion in my stare, I answered, "Not at all, why do you ask?"

"Well, I just thought that you were acting weirdly. But if there is nothing wrong, that is good." He then continued to introduce the surrounding location.

Once I made sure that he paid not much attention, I started to gather mana into my eyes, activating my Mana Eyes.

The moment I did, I saw the surroundings of the baron turning black. The sight of it caused a shiver to run down my spine as it could only indicate one thing, dead mana.

Making sure that the baron did not notice anything, I deactivated Mana Eyes and recomposed myself. Then, acting as if I noticed nothing, I continued to accompany the baron until Baron Kuin came to take him away.

A few days then passed like nothing and Rodderick recovered.

As I handed back the uniform I have been wearing the last few days, Hans joked, "If we need a replacement again, maybe we'll request for you again."

But I shook my head and said several empty words before finally returning to the guild to make my report.

"I have returned with my report."
@Naraku

 

"Huh, something definitively seems to be off with that Baron... you wrote that you felt cold? And when you distanced yourself, you felt warmth returning... was there a specific trait, a physical one anyone can notice that?", Gaap asked as he thought that the Baron may have touched some unethical stuff, or maybe it's just his race. One of the two... but since Venefica didn't mention anything about that, he supposed there was nothing special about his appearance. Better be safe than worry though.

"Anyway... you have done a good job, here is your reward, you get four guild points along with ten large copper coins. Hope you continue the good work."

 

Task: Homeless Martial Artist [Taken by @Unreachable Hope]
Requester: Homeless Master Bowman
Quest Rank: D-Rank
Rewards: 22 Large Copper Coins
Description: The time has come to face my old friend and rival for the last time. We have spread our teachings to many disciples, and have fought often over many rewards. We have obtained and squandered all in the name of perfecting our art. As a final challenge, we have bet the last bottle of 100 year old wine that has been passed between us over many years. This final bet requires us both to give somebody our final technique and have the successor win in a fair spar against the other. While my rival has obtained a disciple of his own to master that technique of his, I am afraid to say my bow technique has yet to find a wielder. I will accept any adventurer of moderate skill and high motivation to learn with me for a week and hopefully prove the superiority of Bow Mastery. Come!

___________________________________

Looking around, Cinis noticed that the receptionist, Gwendelyn, who approved his quest was not here. Het let out a sigh, however, then, he noticed Aria, a perfect timing or so he thought.
"Hello Aria, how have you been?", at the same time, he automatically handed his report to her, saying what he thought about this.

"There were no troubles, some personal issues, but I am managing, I might peacfully solve this issue.", it seemed that he was sincere... his sincerity has some problems then. Because... sorry, but peaceful? Anyone would doubt it.

Spoiler: Arrows & Letters

“To have practiced that much time… they must have been pretty bored.”, after leaving the guild, that was the first thing Cinis thought. All their lives? Didn't they have something else to do? And use someone else to prove which ‘mastery’ is better between the two? Foolish.

“Whatever. Let's just get done with it.” , afterward, the half-elf first went to buy a bow since he did not have one unless the crossbow counted. Which is probably not the case, uncaring toward his equipment, he just bought a random bow, mediocre with no special characteristics, just usable for around twenty large copper coins. Then, he wondered where should he go, because, the requester is actually homeless, is he even known? Do people even know that he exists? If him and his rival fought for years, then, where would they be able to fight properly without any hindrance? Outside the city for sure, but the question still stands. After a sigh, he approached the merchant who sold him the bow and asked on a rather perplexed tone.
"Do you know where is the so-called 'Homeless Master Bowman'?", the merchant seemed to hesitate, he rubbed his chin, he looked at the ceiling and - after Cinis showed a Large Copper Coin - told him on a cheerful tone that :

"That guy is usually living near the river in the south.", while one coin was not much, he basically gained it with simple basic knowledge, for free, so it was pretty mucha good deal for the merchant, and not for Cinis who could know this if he only listened to gossips, nevertheless, money was meant to be used, wisely, but it needs to be used. Then, once he got to know that, the half-elf felt relieved, while he might have been scammed, as long as he did not use more than twenty-two Large Copper Coins, he would only have got benefits, plus an improved mastery on his bow. This kind of opportunity is usually very rare, who would teach you something they practiced their whole life for free? Its worth was much more than the money he could use, according to him, even if he used one silver, it would be worth it.

Taking Odio that was resting outside, before actually riding him, Cinis first patted his mane and spontaneously scratched his ear, as if he had no choices but to do so. However, when he got on Odio, he immediately descended as he remembered one thing, he didn't think to buy arrows, it was rather important, he could not use bolts for a bow after all. That would be too much of a waste, he also should not forget - even if it is impossible for him to forget something unless in specific circumstances - that he also did not have many bolts, only five according to his supposedly flawless memory. Quickly, he came back to the same merchant a third time in less than a dozen of minutes to buy two dozens of arrows for two large copper coin. So, he is sure that he will not exhaust his stock any time soon.
Later on, finally, after taking way too much time on preparations, even if actually it was quick, Cinis began to ride toward the south, perhaps he would find that bowman, perhaps not, how should he proceed was the question that came to his mind?

First solution would be the quickest but less effective, simply calling him out near the river, nothing impressive.
Second solution would be simply trying to track him, to chase him, as if he was a prey, the half-elf thought it would be the most effective and give a good first impression of himself except if... the bowman is a weakling, acting strong, making as if he was a powerful anonymous bowman, very unlikely but possible since him and his rival will not fight, they will simply send 'disciples of one week' instead of themselves. In his opinion, they should not rely on exterior help, that is cowardly.
And the third solution would be... waiting for the bowman to appear, like a hunter waiting for his prey, nevertheless, while that is very simply, he might waste time.

Immediately, he decided that the second solution was the best one. In the worst case? The bowman dies.
... really unlikely, there were more chances of him getting killed, but... oh well, he could maybe try to deceive the guild and pay someone to impersonate him if it happens

Spoiler: A message

Midway, the first obstacle appeared. Do you remember that guy? Who gave him a letter from his father? Yes, him, he was in front of him. Confident and smug, deeply, he already desired to rip that face, however, that wish was buried as fast as possible when these repulsing lips opened and nasty words exited it :
"So, what is your reply? Back to slavery or death?", back to slavery? Officially speaking, he never was a slave, he was just someone under the shadow of death, represented by his father ready to draw the sword and slit his throat at any mishap or misconduct he might accomplish. It was basically, "obey or die.".
Otherwise, he had a sort of restricted freedom, so it was still pretty fine according to him, perhaps not according to most.

A sigh, biting his lips, closing his eyes, thinking, he was reluctant. Of course, he did not know what to do, he took out the letter and showed it to him.
"Do you have a pencil or something? I will reply through the letter, it will be for him and only him, if you open it, I will kill you.", clicking on his tongue, that traitor knew he did not have the choice, from the moment he showed himself, he knew that his life will unfortunately depends on that bastard with impure blood, he might have some weapons on him, but did he have anything that could block a bolt or deceive his outrageous aim and mastery over his weapons? No. He did not.
"Cursed cunt, I have a feather, nothing else, no ink as w-", then below his right nipple, a sharp pain erupted, his voice was going to escape and echo in the forest, it never happened as Cinis charged and strangled him, choking his scream, jailing the sounds inside this cage of bones.

"That's fine, your blood will be the substitute.", his eyes, injected with blood, furiously stared at him, as if knives were pointed at him, ready to pierce him any time, hate. Hate. Hate. That was the only word he could read on his face, with his free hand he stirred the arrow that was lodged into his right lung, reducing his air to nothing, provoking an internal bleeding.

"Don't worry too much, your blood is exactly where it should be, inside you, so you are still safe and sound.", on a ironical tone, he declared his hand, claiming that he was fine, it was just to make him even more furious. Slowly but surely, color left his body, cold replaced warmth, silence replaced the noises of his vital liquid circulating in his veins, of his heartbeat, silently, the throat almost crushed, he passed away. Taking the feather he had, he plunged the tip into his right lung after removing the arrow from it, he waited that the droplets stop falling before writing one sentence on the back of the letter.

"I wish to negotiate,
Send another dog if you agree, with a letter of course.

Your beloved young master.", then, he signed.
Cinis Pretium Lorem.

Someone might pass by and mess up with the letter, the wind might bring it with it, the blood might still flow down the latter and erase what he wrote, but in the end, even if they read it, would they even accept? Of course not, would they even ask his father for his opinion? Of course not, would he gain time however? Of course, they would need to think about how to trick him, who to send, who could survive, who could beat him while nobody notices and so on, these things take times, a lot of time, he knows this too well.

Then, he thought about his book while looking at the corpse, what would happen to his soul? Right after he killed him, where would it go? What would happen to him? Would he descend to hell or ascend to heaven as many fools say without thinking much?

Instead of continuing his trip, he took his book and read it aloud as he slowly got on back on Odio.

"Sonerg L. One. - Some thinking about the soul."
Sonerg L. One, who could he be? He wondered a few seconds, there was no biography or anything those lines, he sighed and thought that if he goes to the library, he could search something about that author? Maybe.

Spoiler: Book - Some thinking about soul

"What is the soul? is usually a question that nobody will reply, or even try, because it is impossible to prove anything, as well as it is considered as useless, after all, what would that change to have that knowledge? No, excuse me, not knowledge, but these hypothesis."
Nothing, he supposed. Perhaps it could serve as a way to interpret magic? He was unsure, as if he had any knowledge about it anyway.

"Then, if we can't define about the soul, shall we define the contrary of it? The soul is supposedly ethereal? So, everything that is physical is unrelated to the soul, appearance, strength, agility and so on do not count."
Ethereal, contrary of the physical world, then, the soul is an idea, a concept, it could be your emotions, your mind, your way of thinking, your manners... something that makes you unique, since, physically speaking, two people can be completely the same, but their attitudes can not be the same, right?
Anyway, let's just start, what could be considered as the soul? Just be aware, my words will not be organized or anything along these lines, they will follow my lines of thinking whether you like it or not, whether you understand it or not, I just wish to expose my thoughts and share them."

Mind? Spirit? Physical byproduct? What could be considered as the soul?

"During a time, people thought that animals did not have a soul, or so they thought in my home. Disgusting, but let's not digress.
Why would they think that they do not have a soul is a better question, first, what is the difference between humanoid creatures and animals? The fact that animals do not think, sure, they have emotions, memories and so on, but they do not think. A carnivorous animal could be starving next to a pile of apples, but he would never eat the apples, despite remembering that some animals could eat it, but not him. I tried this experiment with a wolf, guess what? He indeed died, starving, next to apples that he could have eat to satisfy his needs.
That is true, their stomachs might not be fit to eat these kind of things, but that is just like humans, according to one of my friend, eating hot plates is inhumane, that originally, we were eating these raw and cold, just like barbarians and some tribes we can find anywhere. It can be convincing because - aren't these savages just previous version of us? If we look at their history, their society, isn't it evolving just like ours?
It is the case.
Meanwhile, the wolf would be the same no matter what happens.
Then, what is different between us and animals? The ability to think but... also freedom, we don't have to respect nature, we can just be artificial, live completely outside nature's expectations, in building, eating hot plates during our whole lives.

How is it related to the soul anyway? Would the soul be related to the capacity to think and freedom? Not only.
Let's just speak about something else, when do the soul appear? Isn't a baby just like an animal? Some people say that taking care of children is like taking care of domesticated dogs. Is it wrong? Both depend on you, both need your care, both would die without you, both need to be educated, both need... and so on.
Then, does it mean that people have souls once they get educated by their progenitors? Is it the culmination of education? Or a byproduct of education? By education, I do not mean the school, simply the parents teaching, putting rules, forbidding matters to their children is education. Education, to me, lasts your whole life, you will always learn something, make out your own rules, your own morals, your own ethics... you will never get out of education as long as you are alive. Your personality, your manners and such things are results of your education.
Freedom, education and thinking form our souls. Is that enough? Is there any proof?
To both questions, of course not, these are only correlations. Outside our physical shells, we have much more than only these three terms in our souls."

"Then, if we admit that children are soulless till they are educated, then, how the soul is formed? Because, it needs to have an origin, what would register the information provided by the children's educations? Their five senses and memory, then, the soul may be said to take its origin from his body, from their memory.
Once again, what could be considered to be the human soul? The embodiment of all memories linked together with the ability to think, to improvise, to improve along with the five senses with no restrictions except the physical ones.
Back to the animals, do they have a soul in the end? Yes, of course. Albeit an incomplete one.

In short and rather simply, I would call the soul everything unnecessary to the functions of our bodies."

"Well, at least, that's easy to understand... I guess I will continue later.", how did he find that first part nevertheless? He did not know, though, he found it intriguing about why they would ask themselves these questions, to train their thinking process maybe? He still wished to guess what was his purpose to say this, was it significant or important in any matters? If yes, regarding what? Because, he had no clues, he did not know how it would be useful.
Perhaps, they could use to show off their rhetorical prowess? Who knows, for sure, he did not know. To him, for now, it just seemed pointless.

Anyway, after reading this little part, Cinis continued on his way to the river but before approaching it too closely, he descended from Odio, caressed his mane as usual and light tapped his bottom.
"Shoo shoo, you can go.", now, it was time to track the bowman, the night was rising as the day was falling, bow, crossbow, daggers, sica... he should get perhaps a longer weapon one day, all of these are either ranged or short weapons, he shrugged and silently approached the river.

Even if it was dark, he could more or less see, this elven gift was really useful. Observing the shore, he noticed the traces of a firecamp along with two broken arrows, he touched the ground and noticed that a few footprints, however, only near the firecamp, there are no footprints that indicate coming or leaving it, in other words, these are just here to literally say "I am here", why else would he not erase these, then?
First, it must mean that he is in the bowman's sight, he took out his bow, pulled the arrow on the string, everything else was then put in his back except a few arrows he was holding in his other hand grasping the bow handle.
Then, what to do? Get out of his sight, leave him behind. At this moment, Cinis suddenly sprinted, only the initial momentum made noise, afterwards, they could only hear the water flowing. Nothing else.

Both of them were hidden, 'where is him' was a mutual question they both had when thinking about the master and disciple, Cinis, in all honesty, was not in the mind to wait, he had to go forward, and thus, he obviously made some noises. At this moment, an arrow was launched and flew toward the half-elf, jumping a few feet above the ground from the tree, he reviewed his memory and realized that the Master Bowman was actually... in the river, only his hands were outside, along with his body, did he... even hear him?
After all, your hearing is troubled when underwater, but, he still could...
That was terrifying, his extra-sensible hearing awakened a certain fear in him, Cinis let out an arrow just plunge in the water, his goal never was to compete, only to see where he was.

Clearly hearing and seeing the water entering the river, it was a few steps away, unless he had a bad aim, it seemed that it was made on purpose.

"Cinis Lorem, D-Rank Adventurer.", he muttered, slowly approaching the shore while trying to keep a certain distance of safety.

An old man left the river and showed himself, a long black beard of at least one foot, same as for his long hair reaching the half of his back, he was wearing a mask, yes, a mask covering the upper half of his face, from his nose to his forehead.
The rest was already hidden by his massive and inhumane beard, despite everything, he seemed to be rather small, below five feet.

"Not challenging enough. But better than average, good enough. Master Bowman to instruct ya."
And that's how the master bowman and the adventurer met, near the river's shore after exchanging an arrow, one lost in the sky, one lost in the flow.

"Pleased to meet you."
"The same goes for me."
Exchanging courtesies beforehand, an awkward silence suddenly interrupt their meeting. As if they did not know what to say.
The homeless master bowman coughed and immediately began.

"Alright, let's just begin, no need to extend the introductions.", it seemed that he was the kind of overworking himself and people around him, it's night, and they will begin now? At least, they do not waste time.

***

Clearly, what was the final technique of the bow mastery? He told him that he won't explain until two days passed, they needed first to spend time together around a firecamp, have some basics training that Cinis perfectly accomplished only on the second day, on the first, he was a bit clumsy, not precise enough, not quick enough, not skilled enough, not prepared enough...
Because it irritated him, all these words, at night, instead of sleeping, he decided to simply review his day, think about his errors and tried to correct them, of course, the cheap bow he brought with him presented some flaws, he just had to discover them, no, he just had to adapt himself to these flaws. For example, if the arrow always deviated to the right no matter the wind, he will just aim more at the left, such things that can be easily corrected.

If the power of the bow isn't strong enough though? Not much solutions, except getting closer as quickly as possible while respecting the time imposed on him.
Since all of his training were sort of time limited, if he didn't shoot X times under X seconds, if his arrow didn't lodge in the target after X seconds...

Basically, the first day, he trained for twenty hours, however, the second day, he trained not even half of it... due to his sleepiness, plus the fact that he knew how to deal with his bow. So long he did his job, everything seemed to be fine according to the master bowman.
On the third day, the master bowman began to explain what was his final technique regarding bow, except a multi shot, Cinis did not see how you could have a particularly different technique in bow mastery, afterwards, he was not really well-versed in it.

"From what I have seen, you are more into crossbow for sure, it can be seen with your posture... you will have to change that but we will see later.
As for now, I will speak about my final technique, so listen well, I will only say it once."
He coughed once before continuing his speech.

“That’s pretty simple, you just have to hold your arrows in the hand pulling the strings, but also something else which consists of distracting the enemy with some… let’s say usually impractical moves. I will show you an example later, and you will have to train until the spar comes, okay?”, he thought that the master bowman was finished, however, it was not the case. He left some last words.

“Oh yeah, the enemy will use a shield. By the way, you will use my equipment to spar, yours is too shabby, don’t want to lose that bottle.”, so everything was for the bottle of one hundred year old? For a second, Cinis wondered one thing, how much would a bottle like this cost..? Thinking that wines always have been an expensive drink, older it is, better it is, more expensive it is…

Perhaps, one day, he should search a winery and makes fortune, he rubbed his chin and quickly dismissed this thought before getting back on training, it was not the most important, when he would wish to learn magic, it would be interesting, but as for now… it will have to wait.

***

And then, the fated day came, unexpectedly, they will fight around the river, where he first found the old man, the rival was actually on the other side of the river. While Cinis was still sleeping due to overworking himself to try learning and perfecting that absurd technique, the two rivals already met up, both of them smiled to each other.

"Ha! I will drink that bottle in front of ya! In one gulp!"
"That's disgusting, you need to savor that bottle."
Exchanging a few words of courtesy or how they liked to call it, the two comrades then sighed and shook their hands, leaving their last words before letting place to their respectives disciples.

"I will win, that guy there is a really a raw piece of diamond, talented down to the bone, so much that I wanted to crush his neck during his sleep."
"Haha, mine might not have that much talent, but she is the most persistence piece of shit I ever met! She will stomp on him and give you a gaping head wound.", the girl he was speaking about was behind him, as straight as a statue, she was just waiting and stared at her enemy who was lazily sleeping near the shore. A slight smirk appeared on her face.
The master bowman clicked on his tongue and attempted to kick Cinis and throw him in the river, nevertheless, when it was going to happen, the half-elf woke up and deviated the kick by pushing his feet's side with his palm, due to this slight shock, the old man almost fell.

“Alright, you lost one sip of that bottle.”, it meant that he was convinced that Cinis will win, but as well as he will share a drink of that marvelous bottle with him.
“Count on me, I will beat her out of shape.”, if he could as well compare its taste with the ones from the Northern Holy Empire of Men...

Spoiler: Spar

Each of the disciple were respectively on the same of the river to facilitate the fight, none of them spoke, they just stared at each other, waiting for the enemy to move until the half-elf began to provoke her on a sarcastic tone.

“Are you perhaps scared of an archer? I mean, look, an archer fighting in close combat, ain’t that easy? If you continue to wait, I will come and finish you in one shot.”, hearing him, the opponent sighed and rushed toward him, the first goal being to simply bash at him, nothing else, of course, he avoided by backstepping while readying his arrow.
Then, rotating, the young girl tried to kick the half-elf in vain, at this moment, she showed her back, he let out a sigh and thought that it will not work.

Who would be so careless when trained under someone who practiced his whole his life? That was obviously a trick to tempt him, instead, he aimed at her feet, he currently had four arrows. To avoid his arrow, the rival's disciple jumped toward him, seeing this, the adventurer rolled on the ground, and got back the arrow he just launched, the one that missed. It just plunged into the dirt and nothing else, in a perfect state, more or less that is.

This time, he shot again, once toward her, a second arrow toward the sky in a certain angle, the girl, as she was mid-air, she could only hear the arrow aimed at her. Quickly protecting herself, her eyes spontaneously stared at her enemy who, unexpectedly, rushed at her, with his palm, he tried to push her a bit. When she was ready to ripost in any manner, he sidestepped and shot at her leg.
Throwing her shield near her to block the arrow, she then tried to take away the bow from him, in any manner, be it punching or kicking, nevertheless, before she could proceed to do so, she rolled sideway while picking up her shield.

Another arrow was then launched at her, it only brushed the back of her feet, nothing significative, but, it was the first blood.

"Got you.", his mutter was clearly heard, she did not understand, but she seriously took these words, after realizing that her enemy was not so bad, she seemed to be a tad irritated and wished to break something out of anger. In a instant, she composed herself and proceeded to slowly advanced and break the arrow that brushed her. That will still be one projectile away. Once again, Cinis did not wait, no no no, he sprinted at her once again, he shot his last arrow toward the sky. Something was off, she did not understand, but he had no arrows anymore? Was it a trap? Did he actually wish her to get dragged into a physical fight? If yes, why? No, he still has quiver, however, he still rushing without taking any arrows. Something is wrong.

One arrow is missing, he had five arrows, however... three are broken, one was shot to the sky, where is the last one? What she did not know was the last one was also shot toward the sky. Cinis' goal was simply to gain time, to make her believe he had no arrows left to use, that he will not use his quicker because it takes too much time, then, the two arrows will fall back to the ground and - while she is distracted, not noticing the two arrows -, he will retrieve these and surprise her with an unexpected double shoot.
That was an impractical stategy that heavily relies on luck, worse case? He will just have to redo it with other or broken arrows, however, he thought that the current soil and weather would permit him to do so without any issue.

Something completely illogical will disturb her for sure, it was Cinis' main point on that strategy, a dumb strategy that only works once. And she musn't have fought with a lot of archers in close-combat, that itself is already irrational.

Since he was sprinting toward her, she thought that she should just defend, trying to see what he is up to, why is he so sure to win when he has no ammunition left, no way to win, according to her. At least, not with the bow, perhaps, he wished to win in a handy manner, as in with hand-to-hand techniques? That would not be too unreasonable, after all, when archers are in close combat, they should at least know this little bit. An issue was that she assumed that Cinis was an archer, that archery was his main forte while it was not.
A logical assumption.

Cinis attempted to kick her shield, he did not even try to go around, frankly, it is an awful idea, he might just break his bones. However, he still di- nevermind, when she was going to defend against his right leg, he slipped with the left one, and then kicked her legs instead. He slipped on purpose to disturb her and then to kick her knees? That's pretty odd but as long as it works.
The old men were both perplexed about the half-elf's moves, wondering why he was not using more arrows, like a bowman. Staggered, it was the perfect opportunity, quickly getting back on his feet, Cinis used his shoulder to bash and send her to the river.

Instead of taking any arrow in his quiver, he quickly slidded on the ground, retrieved one of the two arrows that were shot toward the sky, the other one was nowhere to be found, likely, it felt into the river a while ago.
Underwater, she could not see properly, she hurried to leave the river, before she could, an arrow brushed her arm, he missed, he could have dealt a serious wound. So he really had an arrow left? The time that he gets the rest from his quiver, she could leave, as long as she was quick enough...

However, how wrong she was, another arrow entered into the river before she could attempt to leave... that was the end. Unless... she was willing to take some severe damage to crush him.
Despite this, she left the river, planning to charge at him, as expected, it did not go well at all for her. The moment she left, an arrow pierced her leg, her only choice was to throw her shield which she did, that was an unexpected move, and a particularly bothersome one, why? Because the direction of the shield isn't straight.
He could not roll on the ground to avoid the shield, he could not jump to avoid, if he could not side-step. Backstepping? His only choice. If she had another weapon than a shield, for example, a sword or a throwing knife, his only way to avoid this situation would be to... catch the blade while backstepping.
Fortunately she had no-, no, she had the arrow plunged in her leg, and that was exactly what she did.

Ah, there was another solution, lying down on the ground, right, but then, she would be able to try a desperate strike when he is on the ground, dangerous but still feasible.
Since he felt playful, the adventurer let himself fall on the ground, but it was exactly at that moment, despite the wound, she jumped on him, her goal was to crush him.
This time, he rolled sideway on the soil, and launched another arrow while she fell just beside him, almost crushing his throat.
An arrow in her groin, but he did not finish, in a quick succession, he shot another one at her arm. It was too late, she could not win anymore.

"Giving up?", did she have another choice? He could have aimed for the face.
"..." she stayed silent and gritted her teeth, she lost.
Her initial assumption wronged her, an archer which main strength is hand-to-hand fights? Who would think that? That thought would cross nobody's brain. Obviously, she didn't think of that, which is what condemned her fate.

***

"Hahaha! What did I say!? Now the bottle is mine! Oh and four cups as well, I will share a little bit with ye.", the anonymous master bowman seemed to be quite happy, while Cinis felt observed, he decided to stay just a bit more to taste it. Grumbling, the rival brought everything needed, the four cups and the bottle, of course, the bowman was the one serving, precisely mesuring what he gave to each of them.
One quarter of a cup for each of the opponent, and half a cup for Cinis. Now that he thought of it, wasn't there a quest about wine on the quest board? Perhaps he could try out this one. Before drinking, he gave back to the master bowman every equipment he has borrowed for the spar.
Then, rather meekly, he muttered, feeling a certain melancholy.

"...Cheers."
""Cheers.""
"Cheeeeers!"

Taking his time, he sipped the wine, while it was unexpected not really strong, the wine's savor was a bit bitter though it still kept its freshness, unexpectedly. Silently, everyone finished their cup in some dozens of minute, everyone was taking their time, trying to keep its taste and quality as long as possible, secretly, Cinis wondered how homeless people could get their hands on such wines... he didn't think about it a long time as after finishing, he stood up, feeling exhausted of this emotion, this sensation of being observed was the worse when he was not moving, training, when he was passive.

"Well then, it was a nice week, thank you for these days and this training, I shall go. Are you satisfied?", he immediately asked to the anonymous bowman to be sure he has done his work properly after calling out to Odio who was rather nearby, during this week, it seemed that when Cinis was busy, the master bowman took care of him.
"Of course, of course, ye trained and won the spar for me, if that's not good! You can go!"

After hearing him, Cinis simply waved at his former opponent who seemed to be rather in a bad mood. Everything was fine, he will just go back to the guild and relax, while waiting for the letter or... the next assault, both works.

OOC: There you go! 5K words~
Mhmmmm, I feel like I messed up with the format as in... the stanzas, they seem more dense? Or maybe it just has been a while since I last wrote so I feel weirded out...
Also, this time, I tried writing on Notepad instead of Google Drive, strangely enough, unlike usual, I wasn't distracted by anything while writing... I guess, that's a good point?

Eeeeeh..? Why did the spoilers split in two..? Oh well...
Nevermind, succeed at solving, just needed to delete and re-copy/paste in BB Format, and it solved itself~
And no problems of color this time! \o/

@AliceShiki

OOC2: Got the wrong thread... my brain is a mess today...
Side note, a thread that was completely unrelated to AG...

 

Spoiler: Report

"Pleasured to be working with you, we're V. He's Valuren - I'm Veri."

Valuren gives his kindest smile to Fen.

He decided to fully trust Fen by revealing a small bit of his tattoo markings before covering it back up.

"Two personalities? Nice to meet you guys, I'm Fen and this one is Shia." Fen replies and lightly taps on the knife on his hip.

"You can say that, nice to meet you guys too, Fen, Shia."

Valuren extends his right hand for a handshake.

"That man is late, say, are you familiar with this city?" She added, "We don't know where are the possible slums area in Nagrand, we could plan out on where to check while we wait for the drunken man."

Fen receives a handshake.

"The slum we're going to visit is in the south from here. Did you know the last person who will be with us?"

Valuren shakes his head, adding a light shrug.

"He knew about Valuren, Valuren's father, to be accurate."

"Father? Your biological one?" He really confused why does the guy with the same age as a father that has adult son is still active as an adventure.

Valuren nodded to Fen's question. "We don't know about this person but we come from a different world, the knowledge of him knowing Valuren's father is a shock, to be fair."

Veri added, "Our father, I mean-... Valuren's father was never an adventurer, at least... to our understanding back in our world."

"Different world? I don't think I want to meddle around that kind of subject after all. Oh, it seems like he's here."

"Hello~ Did I keep you bunch waiting? You see, I had to attend somewhere related to curing my illness."

Maga, the most normal person in the party, finally arrive. Valuren tilts his head to the side, but still smiling to Maga.

As usual, Veri goes, "Illness? Are you sick, Mister...?"

"Well..." Maga made a gesture of squeezing his thumb and forefinger "...a little, but it seems it can affect my adventurer career if it doesn't get treated. *Sigh* Well, let's forget about that. are you both ready?"

Valuren nodded as he summoned his whip weapon wrapping his right forearm, there was a sign of light during the whip creation. He decided to answer Maga himself, "Hm."

"Um." Fen picks up his spear that lay against the wall and heads to the exit.

"Let's finish this before the sunset. I need some kind of appointment later today."

"*sighs* You two, a second."

Maga chided at the two who are pretty much showing off. He then pointed on his body.

"You see, I am not armed. Since you two are in a rush, can you lend me a weapon temporarily?"

He was dressed like a townsman on a picnic without even a single weapon.

Valuren takes out his wooden sword, before giving it to Maga. He scratched the back of his head, forcing a smile to the man.

"Nice job, Rirota's boy! Then let's depart."

__________

The trio heads out to the slum in the southern area of Nagrand. Until Fen stopped in front of the slum area.

"You two listen to me. Inside the slum, don't trust anyone even a kid and don't show any hesitation against the enemy. Okay?" Fen seriously stares into the alleys in front of him.

Valuren nodded, fully agreed on Fen's advice.

"Understood.", he also stares into the alleys, but with a calmer gaze. He thought to himself, whether this could be a good warm-up or a bloodbath. Veri told him to be careful, inside of his mind.

He turned back to Fen, awaiting the next instruction.

"Both of you don't act too stiff. let's employ fishing as a tactic, I'll act as a bait. What do you say?"

Maga just can't keep still and instead propose method where he can use his clear lack of power compared to the two other members.

"Hahaha~ That plan might work but we're already standing in front of enemies' lair so they know our number now." He sighed then turns around and whisper to his companions.

"There is two factions that causes the trouble in the slum right now, one that starts the skirmish and one that was taking the control of the slum. Hence, we can take down the rebel then the problem will be solved and how did I get this information? Let's say I got some connection."

She could hear multiple chatters inside of the alleys, she whispered to him, "Valuren, they're weak-minded - but be careful." He nodded, keeping a calm expression.

Veri looked like she's crossing her arms, but no one can see that, Valuren turned to look at Fen, "How many, do we need to 'beat' up, Fen? Got any info on that?" She added, "The more the merrier, but lesser is easier to handle."

"*Sigh* kids nowadays sure are straightforward about wanting to beat someone up. Well, better leave it to people with skill on their trade. Do we just follow you, Fen boy? [So his name was Fen]"

Maga sighed in resignation as he swear to follow the two, he is aware that he makes a poor thinker given the nature of his old job.

"twenty-three, no beat up just put them to death. If we leave them alive, they will cause another problem. Any question before we go inside?" Fen asked.

“No objections here." Maga replied.

Maga readied his treasured alcohol. He won't just allow the youngsters to beat him in terms of power. Maga had a skill of creating a spark with his teeth. If he used that (combined with alcohol) he can achieve the same level of power as the two.

"Nothing in mind, for now."

Valuren turned to look at Maga gripping onto his alcohol. He frowned at the sights of it before turning back to gaze at the alleys. He muttered to himself, "Seven should be enough, before it went too far." He looked at his whip weapon, feeling the tightness it gets.

The party entered the slums area, then into the alleys, they could hear three, no, four people behind them, sneaking behind them - waiting for the chance to ambush the party. The trio continue to 'ignore' this, and moved deep into the alleys, with the quiet chatters around their surroundings.

"Fen was right. There are about twenty people in this alleyway." Veri whispered to Valuren, inside of his mind. "Disarm them before you 'punish' these lowlifes.", she added, Valuren continued to keep his guard steady while following behind Fen.

Maga followed in last defending the rear. He strapped one bottle of opened alcohol on his hips. The alcohol slowly pours making a trail of flammable gas.

Fen points the alley in the right, then taps few times on the spear and grip it tightly. He walks into the alley, he found a clear space suitable for fighting. He started to climb the wall for a group of bandit strolling on the roof.

"I'll leave those behind for you guys. see ya!"
__________

Some chatter and snickering can be heard from behind of them, just as planned. There were fourteen of armed bandits standing with their weapons out, making rude gestures, laughing. The rest of them are peeking over from the roof.

Valuren popped a blueberry inside of his mouth, before loosening the heavy-duty chain from his forearm.

He remembered this scene so clearly in his early days of fighting other unique people like him, all of them were arrogant-like and only a few of them turned from bad to good.

He steps forward, swings down his whip weapon, hitting the ground and leaving a crack on the floor while giving a gesture of 'Come and get it!' to the thugs.

One, by one, the thugs charged at the party. Valuren latched on the charging thug by the neck with the whip and swings him straight to a nearby wall, killing him instantly.

Valuren could easily disarm the swords and daggers from the other thugs but he decided to back away, letting his teammate deal with the closest ones. There are more thugs chasing after him.

A rusted bronze sword that was from an unfortunate first kill were on the ground near Valuren, he turned toward Maga and whips the sword to get it closer to him.

"Old man! A better gift!" Veri exclaimed, as Valuren smirked during the fight.

"Did Rirota taught you better manners, brat? Good grief~"

Maga catches the rusted bronze sword and runs toward his designated "rear" position. He pointed the end at the bandits he was facing.

"A fine looking present, but won't help me deal with this many."

Maga doesn't have the super sensability, nor the observation ability like his two party members do, but he can tell he has to deal with a group of bandits or he'll be missing out.

Maga ran forward. He clashed sword with a single bandit and kicked its stomach. Maga kept moving as though searching for a position where he could face them one on one.

"Say, old man Maga!"

Veri stopped abruptly after Valuren blocking a sword slash with his chained whip but continued talking loudly with a casual tone after Valuren finished with his second kill. By kicking away from the attacker and finishing him off with a brutal swinging from the whip.

"How did you know about Valuren's father? Where did you two first meet?"

However, this does not go well for the thugs, they felt like they were mocked by the talkative nature of Valuren's inner soul. Valuren had to dodge around in order to defend himself from the rampaging thugs. He releases a double wipe-spread swings, injuring most of the thugs by the painful stinging for his teammates to quickly pick a free kill.

His normal swinging nature slowly turning to a brutal sadistic one, as he enjoy every second listening to the painful screaming from the attackers. He giggled to himself, so no one could hear him except for Veri.

"Ha! Ha! Ha. haa~ Y-your father saved our, Marianas- with... wait... a sec."

The current situation of Maga was dangerous. A sword sliced past the sides of his face the instant Maga switched focus to Rirota's son's question. With the way he is being pressured by attacks, he cannot immediately switch focus to the fight. Also, In his confusion, he bashed his sword diagonally on the bandits head that the grip slipped from recoil. The bandit was killed, but Maga was put into a severe panic. Maga instinctual clutched his alcohol bottle and splashed it towards the enemy. He took the chance to backed away with the enemy being blinded.

Maga shook his head. He reach out to the wooden sword on his hip and doused the tip with another alcohol bottle. He brought the tip to his mouth and commented under his breath,

"*sigh* that aged me a few years. *bite*"

Maga's teeth made an obvious *click* sound. Sparks flew from his mouth towards the tip of the sword setting it on fire. Maga stabbed the sword to the ground. The flames traced his trap, the trail of alcohol he left when as was moving around.

No bandit witnessed the flame slowly getting closer that would spell their doom. The six bandits who were supposed to be screaming from their eyes being burned by alcohol, now is screaming from being cooked alive. Maga flicked his burnt wooden sword to erase the flame and faced Rirota's son.

"Anyway, should we really talk here?" he asked.

__________

Fen threw his body up in the air, landing in front of a group of armed men.

"Good afternoon scumbags."

The tattoos move to his legs then Fen leaps towards the center of the group and stabs his first prey in the neck with a spear.

Fen took a wooden club from the man and smashed into the person's head next to him. "Feels about right." He grins and the tattoos emit a red colour.

[Eight more…]

He unsheathed both knives on his belt and threw them, First, knife landed on the right leg making the bandit A falls. The second knife was covered by black tendrils before forming into the aura, it pierced through the bandit B's chest. He finished off the injured and retrieve the knife of the roof. Suddenly, he was surrounded by the swordsman and archer. The swordsman on his right jumped at him while the archer pulled the bowstring, he threw the knife he just retrieve and hits the archer's head while he's pulling the string.

Fen turns around after the archer is dead, he reaches out his hand towards descending sword. the sword was caught with Fen's palm with black tattoos coiling around, Cracks spread around the sword and shattered into small pieces and leaving the swordsman unarmed. The tattoos wrapped around Fen's hand and formed into claws. As he swings down his hand, the claws extended ripping the swordsman body.

"Uhh...This is nasty." Fen complained as the blood spilling on the ground. He turned his head facing the remaining thugs, they were trying to running while shivering. "Sorry, but I can't let you guys live."

__________

"Few coins, two more knives, a bottle of booze, a bow and arrows. *sighs* I shouldn't destroy that sword after all."

Fen examined their dead body after the fight, He put the loots he got from the bandits in the bag and climbs down the roof.

"I hope they got more stuff in the warehouse."
__________

"Are you guys finished" Fen climbed down from the roof with a bag in his hand. He took out of a bottle full of liquid and tossed it to the bearded man. "Hora, a present."

"*sigh* I'm done. Finish it up kids, I'll go watch from a corner somewhere."

Maga caught the bottle being thrown and sat on a crate by the corner. He stared at the dreaded bottle for seconds. He had cursed it awhile ago after he noticed that his alcohol-related-illness was and would cause even bigger problems.

"Haa~ I guess one bottle is fine."

Maga had to act cool, at least in front of the kids.

One of the thugs tried to book it, bad move. Valuren caught the running thug with his whip, before swinging him through the other four attackers, like a wrecking ball. He lassoed the thug toward him, before giving the man a rightful punch to the face.

"Punishment."

The punch completely shattered the poor thug's facial bones. Valuren decided to put him out of his misery, by strangling him with his heavy-duty chains, "Sorry." he whispered to the dying man.

He turned to look at Fen after releasing his grip of the thug on the ground. "We're done, didn't want Valuren to get too caught up on it. How's yours-..."

The pained groans can be heard from the remaining four of the attackers, Veri resumed with a neutral tone but asked a different question;

"Anyone wanna do the killing instead? Three is enough for Valuren to handle." before he started to hum maniacally - was a detail she wanted to add, but decided to not do so.

He then turned toward Maga with a concerned smile, 'that old man is actually strong, Dad must had taught him on that ability', he thought to himself. The whip weapon he's holding had vanished in a small light, Valuren is gripping to his right arm and hand, carefully treating the exhausted parts.

"Sword?" he asked him with a quiet tone about his wooden sword.

The black tattoo spread around Fen hands, he grabbed one of the injured bandits and pressed against the ground, then stab his neck with a knife. He did this with the other three bandits too before the tattoo disappear.

"Let's go. The leader might notice that there is no one goes back to report the situation." He took out a flint and steel then he started a fire on the dead bodies.

Valuren nodded in agreement after he grabbed two cracked but usable iron daggers after looting from the ground.

"Can't get a break, are we?"

Maga stood up in acknowledgement and went after the two.

"You can take a break when we reach the hideout. Since I plan to enter alone so you could follow me or standby outside." He slowed down to let a bearded man catches up with him and V.

"We will standby outside, gotta watch the old man's safety, be careful, Fen." She added, "Do shout if something went haywire."

"Ha! ha! ha! I'm not a coma patient yet, I can handle myself."

Maga laughed. His stamina is never 'that' abysmal. Even though Maga never had trained his body for 3 years, his sailor career required strength that it tightened his muscles. Even if liquor and no exercise could degrade his overall health, it still won't loosen his super tight muscle and hairy skin. Still, he won't hesitate to leave the work to others if he knows they are capable enough, so he gave a word of advice to Fen,

"Do be careful Fen boy, a slight carelessness can be fatal..."

Maga proceeded to look for another place to sit, thankfully, a bench was around. Rirota's son stood beside as though guarding the old man.

"Aren't you gonna sit, boy?"

Maga asked. He felt uncomfortable with his benefactor's son standing while he sits.

"Alright, I will be right back." Fen left the baggage he got with those two and headed to the deserted building.

Valuren politely shakes his head, pulling out some hand gestures in his home sign language to say 'thanks but no, thank you', he continued standing while peeking to his sides for any suspicious movements, after confirming no one else is around. He turned to Maga, gazing into his eyes.

He wanted to ask him earlier about his relationship with his dear father, but decided to not do so.

He let his inner soul, do the talking, "Tell us about it, back at the tavern."

Valuren then checked on the charred wooden sword, sighing about the 'loss'.
__________

“Don’t move kid! Else this guy will die.” The bulky man held the knife on the guy that had his head covered by a bag.

Fen threw another knife to the leader, he blocked the approaching knife with hostage body. The group leader’s face was grinning ear to ear. The adventure and bandit stared at each other eyes, no one moved until the leader released the hostage and pick up a large club on the floor.

“Hoh~ Interesting. You just killed an innocent man right there.”

“Innocent? Sorry, but I don’t believe that you could find innocent one in this place.” Fen shrugged.

“I really can’t fool you. That was one of my lackeys. Now you have to die from your own mess!”

The leader swang down the club several times on the floor, the wooden floor developed some cracks. He jumped toward the carefree adventure. He gripped the club with both hands and swung it at him as Fen is in his range, but he startled when the boy caught the club with his hands.

“Don’t get cocky!” The leader enraged, he took a few steps backward and then charge towards Fen.

[As expected. Everyone here is just a simple-minded]

The black tendrils covered around Fen’s arm and shape into the red gauntlet. He leapt into the air, floating above the charging man. Fen smacked his opponent’s head in mid-air, the man lost his balance and his head crashed with the wooden floor emitting a loud noise. After he took down his opponent, Fen’s vision became blurry and he fell down due to extensively usage of mana. He tried to get up several times, but finally, he gave up.

*sighs* “Those two will come here anyway so I guess I can take a nap.”

Bam!

A loud noise can be heard from the old building, Valuren heads into the building in a hurry after tossing the bag to Maga.

Inside, he finds three bodies, "Holy Hell strike me down." he muttered to himself as he rushes straight to his party member, Fen.

A sigh escaped from his mouth, a sigh of relief.

"Mission complete." another whisper out of his mouth.

"Valuren?" Fen woke up from his short nap. "Give me a minute, I still got a drawback from exhausting my mana."

After a while, Fen stood up and checked his conditions. He used a long club as a walking stick to support his body.

Valuren looked at Fen, wondering to himself if he should help support him as well. He also had a thought about Fen's strength in combat, he smiled while watching Fen's back.

Without any hesitations, Veri goes, "Fen, want us to carry you back to the guild? Well, after we finished grabbing what we can from this junk of a place." She added, "I believe the correct term for that is... looting, right?"

“Don’t worry, I will recover soon” Fen politely declined and headed to the exit. “I’ll call... Maga to get in here.” The trio went to the room in the back the building to grab what they can find and walked back to the guild.

Spoiler: Note

- Took down 25 men including the leader
- The loots from storeroom will be confirmed and reported later (SS)

Fen
- Sold the weapons to store for 50 LCC (Bow and knives)

Valuren
-Obtained waterskin pouch and two cracked iron daggers

@AliceShiki