So, today I found out that I despise bowing before someone.
All of us who would be embarking on the quest had gathered at the royal palace, where we were taken to meet the ruler of this nation, King Decorro Rustlands. He looked to be in his mid-forties, with thick, maroonish-brown hair and a close-cropped beard.
It was just a typical, 'do your best for our country' type speech to inspire us or whatever, but while we were in his presence, we had to bow down before him.
Since coming to this world, I had learnt to keep my blunt comments in check thanks to my time working part-time jobs, but I couldn't lie, bowing before someone felt absolutely humiliating. It was something I'd never done in my old world, and doing it for the first time in my lives today felt utterly degrading, though I couldn't quite put it into words and explain why.
Yes, I know that's petty as hell, but I can't help it, okay?
Anyway, we were back outside the castle now, getting ready to leave.
A total of fifteen people would be a part of this Quest.
And to make the journey, we had been provided with a reinforced carriage that would transport the royal representatives, which included three people, the Crown Prince Ocroed Rustlands, and two trusted advisors, Rist Sivoda and Erhtaph Ragiu. Yeah, Ragiu as in Misen's father.
Heh, thanks to that fact, it was no wonder that Misen acted like he had no choice in this matter.
In addition to that carriage, there were also three large carts, one would be carrying the gifts that we were to take to Goldway, and the other two were for us to store our belongings and rest in. Though the carts were quite big, two carts were still a bit too cramped for twelve people to share, so we had also brought along a few tents for when we set up camp at night.
Oh, and by twelve, I mean the ten student Adventurers and the two instructors. The chosen instructors were Paark Trocuelo and Lidui Uensh. The latter of whom looked pretty unhappy to be here.
No surprise there.
Oh right, and there were also the drivers and horses for the carriage and carts.
The road to Goldway was a fairly long one, we would head in the direction of the Goblin caves, and then go past that area, which was a long, rocky, winding stretch surrounded by tall cliffs and caves. And the closer we get to Goldway, the more powerful monsters we'll be running into.
We wouldn't be running into too many animals or plants in this stretch, minus a few lizards, rats or snakes perhaps, so we had to carry quite a bit of canned food.
Water wasn't a problem since we had a couple of Water Magic users, we just had to carry a couple of barrels, and when they ran out, we just refill them using their magic.
And we had also each been given a set of Spell Scrolls and small, clear marbles called Mana Orbs. These orbs were really useful, as they could store a enormous amount of Mana in them.
You could regularly pour your Mana into them, creating an external reserve, and if you ever ran out of Mana at a bad time, you could then extract the Mana you had stored in the orb and replenish your internal supply within a few seconds.
However, since each person's Mana has a unique signature, much like DNA or fingerprints, once you pour your Mana into an orb, you'll be the only person who can extract and take in the Mana from that particular orb.
We had each received five Spell Scrolls, including ones for healing, barrier, speed boost, strength boost and stamina recovery. The last three all came with detrimental side effects upon use though. I didn't plan on using any of them, I didn't want to get too reliant of too many tools. Of course, I'll keep them on me just in case.
And we had each been given three Mana Orbs. I had poured a third of my Mana into one of them already, and planned to repeat that when my Mana replenished itself.
We were by the gate now, about to leave at any minute.
"I'm starting to feel a bit nervous now, it's finally starting to sink in just how big this all is. And I'm returning to Goldway after five years, I think I'll be able to handle it just fine, but I won't know for sure until we get there," Sighed Persia, looking a bit jittery.
"Well, that's just natural. Besides, you're not wandering alone this time," I replied reassuringly.
"You two are as flirty as ever, I see," Chimed in Vi, popping up between us.
"H-huh, wh-what are you talking a-about? Quit k-kidding around, Vi," Responded Persia, with a nervous laugh.
"Ugh, this is the worst."
I heard Misen muttering to himself irritably, clearly still unhappy about being selected for this mission. As the gates began to open, Ekai approached me.
"I would like to once again apologize for that disgraceful showing at the bar the other day. We were all terrible customers," He apologized, with his usual monotone voice.
Was he still worried about that, it happened forever ago...
"Oh, uh...don't worry about that. Besides, you weren't a problem at all," I replied awkwardly.
"I appreciate your graciousness. I look forward to embarking on this Quest with you, let us all do our best."
"Oh, uh...yeah. Let's do our best."
"Uh...did something happen between you two?" Inquired Persia curiously.
"It's a long story."
For someone who was the strongest at the Academy, and one of the strongest in the entire country, he was a pretty nice guy. He wasn't very expressive, and might be a bit too serious, but he didn't seem to have any arrogance or narcissism about him.
A stark contract from the guy ranked directly below him.
I was snapped out of my thoughts as the gates opened and the carts and carriage began moving. We had employed a pretty simple, yet effective formation.
One of the carts was in front, the carriage was behind it, followed by the cart that was carrying the gifts, and the third cart brought up the rear.
We had agreed to work in shifts. By splitting the twelve of us into two groups of six and rotating those two groups at two hour shifts, we would prevent anyone from getting overly exhausted.
Six people would stay inside the carts and rest, while the other six would stay perched outside, on top of the roofs of the carts and keep an eye out for enemy attacks.
One person would be in front, two each on the left and right sides, and one at the back.
The group of six that would be taking the first shift was as follows.
Instructor Paark Trocuelo was on top of the front-most cart, scanning the area right ahead of us. Next, on the carriage, I was perched on the left side, and to my right was Fuo Wesroh, the fourth-ranked at the Academy. Then, the third in the row, the cart carrying the gifts, had the second-year student Bom Nexped on the left, and a glum-looking Misen on the right. As for the rear-most cart, Azyl sat atop it with his back to us, keeping an eye out for anything that might sneak up behind us.
I wasn't totally convinced that he wasn't asleep though.
I had been a bit disappointed that I wasn't in the same shift as Persia, but in hindsight, her presence might have distracted me, so maybe it was for the best.
As we exited the gates, I took a deep breath to compose myself, and switched my senses on. We were probably in no danger until we head deeper into the rocky area, but I had learnt to keep my guard up even when things seemed safe.
We made it past the area where Persia and I spar without any problems, before heading deeper into the rocky road. It was a pretty bumpy ride, there wasn't a proper road or path, so we were making our way across an uneven, rocky ground. As we headed farther in, a few Goblins poked their heads out, but quickly hid themselves again.
"That's strange," Muttered Fuo, looking confused.
Hm? What was?
"For sure, these Goblins aren't acting normal. Usually, when they come across a group of humans like this, they would attack without hesitation. I suppose there is one possibility. When monsters are killed and they respawn, it is believed that their memories are not affected by that process. Monsters will only show fear like this when they run into a human that has killed them many, many times. They may not be very intelligent, but they do still remember. And when a single face is associated with multiple deaths, even the ordinarily vicious monsters will show fear," Explained Instructor Trocuelo.
Wait, hold on a second...
Was this my doing? I mean...I had killed a LOT of Goblins since coming to this world.
"Hm, that's interesting, so someone here is a familiar face to these Goblins, huh? I wonder who it could be?" Came a snarky voice from behind me.
After sulking all this time, he finally perks up when it's at my expense, huh?
I then noticed a Goblin that looked like it was getting ready to charge emerge from a rocky crevice.
"Who knows? It doesn't matter either way, Goblins aren't a real threat," I replied nonchalantly, swiftly drawing a throwing knife from my arm-guard and flinging it at the Goblin before it could move, striking it right between the eyes, as it fell back and disappeared into dust.
There, that should help discourage the rest from approaching us.
"Your aim is impressive," Commended Fuo.
"Oh, uh...thanks."
I should stay alert, these Goblins may not be attacking us, but as we go deeper in, it's pretty likely that we'll encounter Goblins that I haven't killed before, meaning that they won't be afraid.
"It really is astounding to see so many Goblins just watching us while cowering instead of attacking. I wonder who could have instilled such fear in them," Stated Misen with a fake look of wonder on his face.
He was still doing that?
Okay, I wasn't about to let him take out his frustrations on me, especially if he ended up revealing my habit of sneaking out.
"Hey, you've sure perked up, haven't you? You were so quiet and gloomy earlier, but it looks like I misunderstood. Guess it must have just been nervous excitement after all, you're so excited about this mission that you got butterflies in your stomach. Or am I wrong? Maybe you would have preferred to have been excluded from this Quest...nah, that's impossible! Right?"
"H-heh...yeah, that's right," He replied through gritted teeth.
Now shut up, and stay quiet.
The next hour or so passed by pretty smoothly, we were attacked by a few groups of Goblins, but dispatched them without any trouble. It had been some time now, nearly two hours had passed since we left the Rustlands, and we hadn't encountered anything besides Goblins yet.
"It's almost time to change shifts. Get ready to switch-," Began Instructor Trocuelo, before cutting off.
I turned my head in his direction, and noticed something standing a few meters ahead of us. A monster...a type I hadn't seen before.
"Stop moving!" He instructed the drivers, bringing the carriage and carts to a halt.
I looked around, and noticed more monsters emerging around us. What are they? They kinda looked like Goblins, but they were a lot bigger, and appeared to be quite muscular as well.
"Hobgoblins. Strange, we shouldn't be running into these things for at least another three or four hours. Are they expanding their territory? Keep your guards up, they're smarter than regular Goblins, and though they are a bit slow, they're many, many times stronger," Warned Instructor Trocuelo.
I quickly scanned the surroundings. There looked to be around thirty Hobgoblins around us, with ten of them to the left, the side that I was positioned. As they began to charge, I leapt off the cart and shot forward.
"Hey, I'll take them on, you cover me and be prepared to take out any that slip past me," I called to Bom, who was posted at the left side along with me.
"U-uh, right!"
As I neared one of the Hobgoblins, it threw a wild punch at me. There was a lot of power behind that fist, it wouldn't be pretty if that struck me. But it was way too slow.
I slipped under the punch and drove my sword through the monster's heart. I then quickly pulled it out, spun past the monster, and charged at the ones behind it.
Now might be a good time to try out my new attack.
I sheathed my short-sword and began charging up lightning inside my wrist, while using Stream to extend the length of my dagger. I activated Lightning Boost at x2 and shot across six of them in an instant, slashing their throats.
Alright, three more to go.
Looks like my lightning blast is ready to fire. And the last three Hobgoblins were all neatly lined up, charging towards me. I cut off my right hand just above the wrist using my dagger, and fired the charged up lightning straight at them. In the blink of an eye, all three of them had large, gaping holes in their torsos, before disappearing into dust.
I'll think I'll call that one...Lightning Incineration Canon, Hands-Free Version.
Yes, I was still naming my attacks, leave me alone.
It's not like I was saying them out loud, that would be too embarrassing since no one in this world seems to do that.
Then again, I suppose yelling out the name of your attack would take away the element of surprise. It worked in anime, but in a real fight it could be a hindrance.
Well anyway, that takes care of that. I turned around after reattaching my hand, to see that the others had taken care of the rest of the Hobgoblins. The right side was littered with ice arrows. The front had a few scorch marks from lightning. And the rear was clear too. Huh, I might have just missed an opportunity to see a bit of Azyl's abilities. I had also been curious about Instructor Trocuelo's abilities, since he was an A-Ranked Adventurer, but I had totally forgotten since I had gotten distracted by the fact that I was fighting a new type of monster.
"Ughh, what's all the racket? I'm trying to sleep here!" An irritated head poked out of the front-most cart, rubbing her drowsy eyes.
"Instructor Uensh...well, good timing. It's time to change shifts anyway," Responded Instructor Trocuelo.
"Oh, right...I'm on this stupid Quest. Wait, you're lying, there's no way it's already been two hours!"
As they began arguing, I heard the faint sound of rocks moving. Where was that coming from? I looked around frantically, before I located the source of the sound. It was coming from behind a tall, protruding rock.
"Hey, there's something over there-!" I began, before cutting off as a few Hobgoblins emerged, each carrying massive rocks in their arms. Shit, those were practically boulders.
Before anyone could respond, they flung the rocks up in a high arc. Not good...the trajectory would bring them crashing down onto the carts and destroying them!
Damn it, I don't have enough time to charge up a blast powerful enough to vaporize even one of those rocks, and there were about half a dozen of them falling towards the carts. I forced myself to remain calm, and by focusing all my mental energy, I rapidly analyzed the situation as fast as I could.
I couldn't stop those rocks.
Fuo's ice arrows wouldn't do much either, Misen's spear might be able to destroy one or two of them, but even with his full Lightning Boost he wouldn't be able to destroy all of them before they fall down. The instructors both looked alarmed, which probably meant that neither could stop it.
As for everyone inside the carts, there wasn't enough time for them to both exit the carts and stop the boulders.
"Everyone, get out, now!" Yelled Instructor Trocuelo.
Suddenly, the rocks stopped. In mid-air, no more than a couple of meters above the carts, they had stopped falling. There was something above us...
Wait a second, was that...water?
It was like a small swimming pool had just appeared right above us, and the rocks were being held inside it.
Water Magic?
I glanced as Fuo and Instructor Uensh, but their stunned expressions told me that neither of them were responsible for this. And the only other person here with Water Magic is...
"Are...you doing this, Azyl?"
The others had all exited the carts, and were staring above them in astonishment. Azyl then waved his hand across a bit, and the water floating above us moved till they were above the Hobgoblins. He then let his hand drop, and the large mass of water, along with the enormous rocks held inside it, crashed down on the monsters, destroying them in an instant.
...woah.
I...had figured that he must be pretty strong, but that was just...overpowered!
"Did he just...make Earth Magic redundant?" I remarked in bemusement.
"No kidding, it's a pretty safe bet that he has S-Rank abilities," Muttered Instructor Uensh with wide eyes, the astonishment making her forget about her bad mood.
As everyone began to talk and clammer, a look of regret appeared on Azyl's face. Wow, he was really not enjoying the spotlight. So much so that he actually looked like he was thinking 'I should have just let the rocks fall'.
"We don't have time to stay still! Second group, it's your shift now, get into position and then let's get moving. First group, get some rest inside the carts. And stay vigilant! We were nearly just taken out by Hobgoblins, and we'll be running into much, much more powerful monsters later on."
I was starting to wonder if two hour shifts were too short, I had barely used up any stamina at all.
"So, what was it like, keeping watch?" Inquired Persia, coming up next to me.
"Kinda boring, but it should get more fun as we get deeper in, and more powerful monsters start showing up. Stay alert, Cat Girl. We had an uncomfortably close shave back there, can't afford another slip-up like that. By the way, looks like your gloves got an upgrade."
Her metal claws were black now.
"Mhm, glad you noticed, there were some leftover scraps from the Black Steel ore that was used to make your blades, so I used those to add black, retractable claws onto my gloves. What do you think?"
"They look pretty badass. You can never wear too much black!"
"Agreed! By the way, was that seriously Azyl's Water Magic? He's really been holding out on all of us, huh."
"Yeah, I was definitely not expecting that. Wonder what exactly the full extent of his power is. Well, I'm gonna head in. You're in charge of the back-left section, right? Good luck."
"Not that I need it, but thanks."
As she jumped on top of the cart and took her position, I decided to head into one of the carts. The front and rear carts were fully occupied, which left the gift cart. I went in, and immediately realized why the other two carts had been occupied first.
It was really cramped in here, filled with crates and boxes. It was two people per cart for the group that was resting, and my cart roommate for this break was Azyl.
"Just so you know...I'd prefer if you didn't ask me about what just happened," He stated, yawning as he lay down on top of a crate.
"Yeah, I already know that. But you can't blame me for being curious."
"You're curious about why I keep my full power hidden?"
"No, that part's obvious. You just don't want people's attention on you, right? If you readily showed off your abilities, you'd end up being heavily relied upon during Quests and stuff, and you won't be able to just hang back and fly under the radar."
"...yeah, that's about right."
"What I'm curious about is...the full extent of your powers, I'm pretty sure what you did back there wasn't your upper limit. It looked like you weren't putting in any real effort at all."
"And yet, it's the most effort I've put in with my magic in ages. I'm not really sure what the full extent of my abilities are, I've never actually tried going all out, and it's not like I train or anything," He replied with a sigh.
So wait, he was just absurdly naturally talented?
...was that even fair?
"I know what you're probably thinking. That's actually another reason why I don't like showing off my powers. I didn't work hard for it or anything. I was born with an exceptionally high level of Mana, and once my Anima manifested, I conveniently gained immense control over all that Mana. I was never interested in power though, I just want to live my life as relaxedly as possible. That's why I'm trying to become an Adventurer, it's the fastest way to earn enough money to retire young and relax for the rest of my life."
"You know, it's pretty weird when you talk a lot, since you usually speak in short sentences or not at all," I remarked.
"I can make exceptions. I just wanted to be thorough and make sure you wouldn't have any questions left to ask. Because I...want to take a nap," He replied, taking off his armored gloves.
"N-no offense, but your hands kinda freak me out," I admitted sheepishly, instinctively shrinking away at the sight of his webbed hands.
"I know you can't help it. Goodnight....," He mumbled, shutting his eyes.
So...now what?
I wasn't tired or sleepy enough for a nap, and there was nothing to do here.
A few minutes passed by.
I get antsy when I have absolutely nothing to do. In that case, I suppose I could...
I drew out my dagger and carved a small peephole on the left wall of the cart. I then sat on a crate that was near it, and peeked through.
Earlier, when the Hobgoblins tossed those rocks at us, everyone inside the carts would have been crushed without ever realizing a thing if it wasn't for Azyl. This way, if something unexpected happened, I would see it and have time to react.
That being said, nothing out of the ordinary happened over the next couple of hours. Nor for the rest of the day. We just kept running into Hobgoblins, and with each encounter, we dealt with them more or more efficiently.
As the sun began to set, we lit up the lanterns hung on the sides of the carts. We didn't have any specific meal times, each of us could just eat whenever we felt like it while our group was resting. There was a variety of different canned meals we could pick from, they weren't exactly gourmet, but they weren't bad either.
"I think we should set up camp here for the night, we've covered a decent amount of distance today. It's about twenty minutes to 10 PM now," Informed Instructor Trocuelo, glancing at his portable mechanical clock.
Good call, the night sky wasn't very bright, it was getting harder and harder to see as the shadows grew darker.
After we set up the tents, we had to decide on who'll be keeping watch. It was too risky for everyone to go to sleep at the same time.
I still wasn't particularly tired, so...
"I'll keep watch first," I volunteered.
This way, I could get six uninterrupted hours of sleep afterwards.
Since there were twelve of us, we decided to keep watch in four two-hour shifts with three people keeping guard in each shift. The first would be me, Persia and Gela. After I'd volunteered, Gela did, and immediately after, Persia did too.
The others fell asleep pretty quickly. Guess they had been tired. I suppose it would be unfair to compare them to me, I had done stuff like stakeouts, shadowing and other tedious tasks that require patience when I had been an assassin, so I knew how to stay alert without losing focus or draining my mental energy.
...though, that doesn't mean I don't get bored.
As everyone else fell asleep, I headed for a tall boulder off to the side.
"Hey, let's keep watch from up there," I suggested, nodding at the top of the boulder.
An eagle's eye view is the best angle to keep watch from.
It was about ten meters in height, giving me a clear view of the campsite and it's surroundings. Given that tonight was pretty dark, with the moon hidden behind clouds, a high vantage point was definitely the best option.
Persia climbed up after me, as Gela flew up. Thankfully, the top of the boulder was pretty spacious, with plenty of room for three people to comfortably sit.
Which is why I was caught off-guard when Gela sat down right next to me, practically leaning on my shoulder.
"H-hey, what are you doing!?" Whispered Persia sharply.
"Hm? Am I doing something wrong?" She replied with an innocent look on her face.
"You're, uh...kinda close," I remarked uncomfortably.
"Am I? I hadn't noticed," She responded with a seductive smirk, leaning in closer and running her finger across my collarbone.
I hadn't really noticed before since she always sorta acted like a psycho, but as she pressed against my arm, I noticed that..she had pretty big boobs.
It was...distracting, to say the least.
I took a deep breath and scooted away, clearing my throat.
"Come on, quit messing around," I sighed, making myself appear calm and unbothered.
I'd rather not show that that was enough to get me flustered. Especially since Persia was here.
"Aw, you're no fun," Said Gela with a pout, before smirking, "So, would you still be saying that if your cat friend wasn't here?"
"I h-have nothing to do with th-this, leave me out of it!" Huffed Persia, looking really irritated.
Neither of them were focused on watching the campsite.
"Oh, you don't? But your expression says otherwise. So...this doesn't bother you at all?" Grinned Gela, once again moving right next to me, grabbing onto my arm tightly.
I was starting to get nervous about the way this was escalating. She was having way too much fun, I'm getting a bad feeling about this.
"N-no, I don't m-mind! It's j-just an awkward situation, that's all! Wh-why are you being so clingy anyway? Wh-what, do y-you like him or something?"
Hey now, calm down, Cat Girl...
My bad feeling was slowly starting to get worse.
"H-hey, let's all just try and get along-."
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Why do you ask? Oh, maybe because you'd rather be in my position right now? To quote you, 'do y-you like him or something?'," Imitated Gela, sticking out her tongue.
They didn't even notice me trying to speak, or maybe they just ignored me. It's like I'm not even here.
"H-huh!? I d-don't know what you're trying to suggest, because I don't like him at all in th-that way!" She shot back immediately.
Okay, not gonna lie...that one kinda hurt.
And to my rotten luck, Gela noticed, as she instantly flashed me a sadistic smirk.
"Aw, look what you did, I think you hurt his feelings," She said in a mock sympathetic tone.
Jesus fucking Christ, I need to stop this before it gets any worse, before it ended up being a disaster.
"Quit exaggerating, I'm just fine," I tried to laugh off, but that was...very unconvincing.
Damn it, this awkward situation was throwing off my bluffing game, the more desperately I wanted to stop this, the harder it was to stay calm and rational. And Persia's last comment...definitely stung.
I was anything but calm and rational right now.
"No wait, I didn't m-!" Began Persia.
"Oof, you could just hear the pain in his voice, now I'm starting to feel bad for poor Kuro," Remarked Gela, though her sadistic expression certainly didn't match her words, "Oh, well. So, Persia...since you're so insistent about not liking him...I suppose you won't mind...this."
Whatever she's planning, it can't be good. But before I could react, she grabbed my arm and held it even tighter, pressing my bicep firmly up against her boobs.
"Hey, what're you- mfph!"
She cut me off, as before I could finish my sentence, she quickly leaned forward and pressed her lips onto mine, kissing me...
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Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism! Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.