Basil, together with the father and daughter duo were having a breakfast. The table was silent, unlike the dinner on the night before.
However, it wasn't tense nor awkward. No, it was awkward for Clarissa at least. Danzel looked at the two youngsters eating and quirked an eyebrow.
"Couple quarrel?"
"No!"
The answer was instantaneous. Basil merely ate his breakfast silently. Unlike last night, he was eating quickly but graciously. He could feel all the taste clearer with his stimulated taste buds. It was awesome!
"Woah, woah.. chill out, Girl. I'm just joking."
"I-I-I am c-c-chill!"
"Hehh..."
Danzel looked at her in a deadpanned manner. Seemingly aware of his gaze, she sat back and hunched her back in the seat while holding her head as if to hide herself from the embarrassment.
Basil wiped his mouth as he had finished his breakfast. "This morning, she walked in to the bathroom while I was still using it." Basil dropped the bomb as if it was nothing. "I think she was too tired from her work."
He was itching since then to resolve the misunderstanding.
"Th-that is..."
While Clarissa was trying her best to give an excuse, Danzel was gaping silently.
'My daughter... So Bold!'
Basil couldn't know that apparently misunderstanding tendency ran in their blood. Basil looked at the two of them neutrally and opened his mouth.
"I am going to leave for a few days."
"..."
The people became silent. All of them looked at Basil with a complicated gaze.
"Do you.. have an important matter to attend?"
"Yes, I do."
"Oh..."
Both Danzel and Clarissa sighed disappointment. It might seem weird, however they couldn't help it. They felt comfortable whenever they were around him. Therefore, they were pretty reluctant to part with him.
"Will you.. will you return?"
"I will."
"Will you?!"
"I will."
The first one was Danzel, while the second one was Clarissa. Both of them cleared their throats at the same time when Basil answered them calmly.
"I see... If I may know.. where are you going?"
"Lone Peak."
"What!?"
The two people shouted in unison. They couldn't believe it. How could they believe it? It was a dangerous place, a young man like Basil shouldn't visit alone. Furthermore, they lost James at that place!
"Do not worry about me. I know what I am doing. Besides.. I have my Companion with me."
Basil received all of the gaze calmly while patting Deacon on his head. Basil was simply elated. Deacon had finished the task he had assigned to him splendidly.
"Even so.. it is very dangerous! Even a group of people have perished there. How could you and your only companion..."
Danzel shut his mouth. He realized that the word he was about to said was rude. Knight and Mage alike had their own pride. To point out their weakness blatantly was the same as an insult.
However, Basil wasn't offended in the slightest. He understood Danzel's worry and merely smiled.
"I will be fine. Trust me!"
His last word nailed it. Nothing could be said anymore. Danzel was opening and closing his mouth constantly, however nothing came out. He merely sat down on his seat, and drank so much of water.
He had lost the appetite to finish his breakfast. He looked at Basil and determined himself to properly send Basil off. He couldn't do it to James, he didn't want to experience the same sorrow twice.
"Of all places... Just why it has to be that accursed place?"
Danzel lamented quietly. He looked at Basil that was patting Deacon calmly on his seat. A bitter smile adorned his face.
'It seems Youngsters nowadays like to challenge the danger.'
He sighed and asked, "When are you leaving?"
"As soon as you finished your breakfast."
"..."
That quick?!
That thought remained in his head. He shook his head as if to clear his anxiousness and stood from his seat. Clarissa who had remained silent since earlier, also followed suit.
"Let us see you off, then. We are full already. The breakfast is considered finished."
"Hm."
Basil also followed suit and exited the dining room with Clarissa and Danzel in tow. Quickly enough, they arrived at the front of the inn.
"You don't bring any stuff with you?"
"I have them in my Spatial Bracelet already. Only some of the stuff I don't really need on this trip that I leave behind."
"I can assume you wouldn't leave anything behind?"
"You can."
Danzel merely nodded wordlessly. He felt conflicted. It had only been roughly a day since he met Basil, however the attachment he felt toward Basil was baffling. Fortunately, he was quick to adjust as he had already accepted it.
He glanced at his daughter, Clarissa. She had been silent like a mute since then. He could somehow understand what she was feeling. She had just lost her brother at the same place her first crush was going to go. How could she not be worried?
"Umm.. you are strong enough to beat my late brother..?"
Basil looked at her calmly and patted her head tenderly. "I can beat him man times, more than you could think."
"Hm."
Clarissa merely nodded dumbly. She was simply overwhelmed by the warm hand on top of her head. At times like this, a head pat was the most lethal weapon Basil had.
Basil gave a last nod as a farewell and disappeared from their view, together with Deacon on his shoulder. The destination was Lone Peak.
They stood quietly watching his back for a while, before returning into the inn to resume their activities
...
Lone Peak was located in a nameless region. The amount of danger in this region was so troublesome that no one willing to take it as their territory. Naturally, it was all caused by the monsters that Obelisks spat from time to time.
Lone Peak was the peak of a mountain called Lone Mountain. The mountain was located on a very awkward place, where there was no other mountain aside from it, hence came the name.
The reason why the peak was more famous than the mountain itself was due to the rumour saying there was a dragon lair located there. People were coming there to hunt the treasure.
Surely, no one had ever come back alive. Those who did, merely recounted the life-threatening events they had experienced. Despite so, people were still eager to try.
The rumour saying there was a treasure at Lone Peak wasn't wrong. However, there was no dragon lair up there. Basil knew what was residing in the peak.
"The snake is found thanks to you, Buddy."
Deacon merely flashed his fangs proudly in response. He was too intelligent that he defied his fate as a Saberwolf to bark.
Basil merely gave deacon one task. That was to find a trace of an abnormal snake. He accomplished it splendidly! It took Deacon roughly twelve hours to find it. The trace was leading to this place. Therefore, he was going this way.
"The Eight-Headed Snake from the East, Yamata no Orochi. The snake will be hard to kill, however the reward is worth it. The Emperor Sword, Kusanagi."
Basil couldn't find a good weapon. He had never bought a weapon in his past life. Every weapon he had had been either forged by Dwarves or what he got from his 'visits' to Obelisks. He didn't like to use human made weapon.
To be honest, human sucked at making weapon! None of them knew what was a great ingredient, and how to process it. There were tons of historical proof implying how sucked human made weapon was.
Caliburn, forged by the greatest Battle Mage, Merlin, had been broken after a brief clash with the Phantoms. Luckily, the Lady of The Lake was a good character among Druids that she provided him Excalibur to win the war against the Phantoms.
Sadly, the weapon was lost because of a traitor amongst human, who was apparently the half sister of Arthur, Morgan Le Fay.
"It is also a proof of how weak Arthur was without his weapon. I can't understand why many Knights admire him."
Basil muttered quietly. Every Mages in the Kingdom would aim to be like Merlin who was the greatest after Solomon, while the Knights would aim to be like Arthur. It was only for the reason Arthur managed to stand toe to toe with any great Mages at that time.
Basil couldn't understand it, why would they idolize a sore loser who was glorified because of his weapon? Weapon is a tool. What makes one powerful, is one's ability, not the tool one use. Unfortunately, no one shared the same thought as him.
Just like that the trip continued. Basil would rest, practice [Heart Clenching] and [Star Withering], eat, exhaust himself, and repeat. He was pushing himself to the limit constantly.
He had been late in his past life, he didn't want to be late for the second time in this life. This time he would surpass everyone faster than in the past.
After three days of traveling in full speed, he finally arrived at the foot of Lone Mountain. The mountain was as awkward as what people said. How could one expect a single mountain on an empty plain?
He got down from Deacon and looked at his surrounding. It was filled with idiots who wanted to try their luck.
The wind blew at him and made his coat billowing in the air. He was wearing his white attire that was quite durable to endure the hardships he was about to face. All eyes had been on him since he was riding on top of Deacon to come here.
All of the people gathered were Knights. Mage was a logical people, no, most of them were cowards. Once they heard about a slight danger, they would never risk doing things. Therefore, only Knights had the guts to challenge Lone Peak.
"Hey, there... We are looking for a person to join our party. Will you join us?"
Out of nowhere, a quite suave man approached Basil and called out to him. The man had a quite pricey armour adorned his body, showing how much money he had and how skilled he was.
However!
"I think you have found the wrong person."
"Pardon...?"
The man was dumbfounded. How could he not? He was a proud Early Stage Yellow Core Knight! He had even unlocked his Aura. However, this mysterious pretty young man in front of him just refused him!? Unbelievable!
"I think you misunderstood something. We won't take anything belongs to you for ourselves..." He stopped as Basil raised his hand.
"Listen, being an Early Stage Yellow Core at your age is impressive. However, you are not in the position of regarding yourself invincible."
"Th-that is not my intention!"
"Then, why do you think I need your help?"
Basil cocked an eyebrow at the man. The man was speechless and got silently enraged by his attitude. The man wanted to refute, however he couldn't do so. There were many people looking at him already. He couldn't risk embarrassing himself in front of his party.
"Huuh..." In the end, he merely sighed and said quietly, "This is what we always do whenever we climb to Lone Peak. No one can survive alone. I hope you don't regret your decision."
The man tried to answer it as warm as he could, however what came out was a cold voice. Basil shrugged his shoulder inwardly and asked, "What is your name?" The man stopped and gave him a sidelong glance, then answered, "Jester."
Basil quirked his eyebrow in amusement. Fate is a strange thing indeed. The man in front of him, Jester, had been the one who had wielded Kusanagi in his past life, before being slain by Mujō Bushi from the East. Mujō Bushi would then become the last wielder of Kusanagi.
Kusanagi was undoubtedly a great weapon. Unfortunately, in the past, it had been misused that the originally Emperor Sword had been called the The Condemned Sword by the people.
Many people had died due to the careless swing of Kusanagi in his past life. This time, he wouldn't let it happen.
To be honest, he just wanted to have it for himself. He couldn't afford nor think of a good weapon for himself currently. Rather than giving Kusanagi to the idiot called Jester, it was better to take it for himself.
Therefore, he had been in a hurry. If he had been slightly late, Kusanagi might have been taken.
Waking up late lets chicken peck your fortune. To be fortunate, one has to be awake faster than anyone!