Disclaimer: I don't own monster girl quest and will also be turning this into my own story eventually
AUTHOR NOTE: THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN UPDATED AS OF MAY 14th 2019, IF YOU ARE RETURNING PLEASE REREAD THIS CHAPTER AS MANY CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE
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Prologue
Lancer woke up to a strange sound, Ding Ding Ding Ding, "Is that the alarm?" he wondered in his still sleeping mind
"Monster! We're being attacked!" Lancer recognized the voice as Jonsons a town guardsman. Lancer quickly snapped up off of the uncomfortable Inn bed and grabbed his armor and sword. It was cheap raw iron, heavy but durable. He sprinted down the stairs and out of the inn he had been in, the Angelic Visitor. He turned his eyes to the sky and squinted as the Harpy swarm reflected the sunlight off their brightly colored feathers.
Lancer gripped his sword unsure what to do, turning his knuckles white. Suddenly a harpy flew down and snatched him grabbing him by both the arms with her incredibly sharp claws. The air left his lungs while his head spun, in a daze from the sudden altitude change. Lancer shook his head quickly to clear his vision before realizing how far up he was. Everything was flying by too quickly for him to calculate.
He clenched his jaw before deciding on what suicidal tactic to try today. He pulled his arm free and put what little force he could muster by slamming his elbow into the harpies face, the he drew his sword and bashed her head with the pommel, sending them both crashing into the Earth below.
"Well this'll hurt like hell" he thought to himself as he watched the world spin around him. The harpy woke up and grabbed him before he hit the ground, but the momentum he carried along with the weight of his Iron armor sent them both crashing to the ground.
Lancer hit the ground and skid along until his top half slammed into a tree, he managed to land on his feet, however that only lasted for a brief moment before he slid across the ground and tripped over a boulder launching him into a somersault before harshly landing flat on his back. The movement of water from a nearby stream was the last thing his dazed mind focused on before his vision went dark.
Lancer awoke to extreme pain stabbing through his body, he turned his head from the bright blue sky, he seemed to be in a rocky clearing, there was a stream a few meters to his left and the harpy was to his right also within a similar distance.
"The hell happened?" he wondered while groaning then it all came flooding back to him "auggh no wonder I hurt, damn" he then looked over to where the harpy had crashed again. There was a large chunk of the earth missing. He didn't have any quarrels with monsters… that is unless they attack him or piss him off "they must have a knack for that" he muttered to himself, when he tried to stand up from his currently kneeling position his leg gave out he sighed audibly and used his still working hands to brace his leg.
Lancer heard the harpy groan and watched her move slightly.
"The harpy is still alive…" He would go and finish it off, but he needed to know his whereabouts as he hadn't the faintest idea where he crashed. Lancer stumbled over to where it lay while attempting to draw his sword. He felt nothing. He glanced downwards and cursed under his breath. "Well time to do it the old fashioned way. He then grabbed the harpy by its neck and shook it to wake it up. "Tell me your name" he demanded while his arms strained at the use.
The harpy realizing the circumstances answered "Isla".
"Well, Isla, I have some questions for you if you tell me what I need to know. If you answer I'll let you go"
"Okay just don't hurt me please" she responded croakily
"That's what letting you go means" he replied keeping up the of strength. His entire body was screaming at him.
"Where is the main city and what is the fastest way to reach it?"
"Which major city?" she managed to respond
"San Ilia" He stated quickly
"We're in the near Grangold to get to the capital you *cough cough* will want to head east".
"East? Thank you for your co-operation; however, if you attack me again I won't be as forgiving"
The harpy gave no response as Lancer turned to leave.
Lancer looked to the horizon towards a massive volcano, Gold Volcano. "Guess I'll stop by there first, heard there are salamanders... good training" he muttered almost silently
Chapter 1: Gold and Salamanders
Lancer stretched his legs to speed up their recovery as he walked through the lightly forested area, occasionally he came across a large meadow filled with bright flowers and sweet smells however he hadn't ran into any trouble since the town was attacked. He thought about the Gold Volcano and the rumors surrounding the Fire elementals, Salamanders. Fiery women who inhabit volcanoes and the like. They are usually talked about being powerful however just as many people would tell stories of the being weak he was unsure which was true. However there was one rumor he never heard claimed false, it was if you defeat a Salamander she shall give you her control of fire. He already knew that the volcano was incredibly hot but in the future controlling fire would be a great asset, he just needed to think of a way to survive the heat until then.
As he was thinking he heard some rustling in the bushes. He instantly turned around. He couldn't see anything, but that meant absolutely nothing. He held his breath to listen more carefully. He heard something that sounded like buzzing though it was too loud to be a relative of a bee.
Suddenly a Hornet girl flew out of the bushes. Lancer had to think this through he could try to outsmart it or run. He decided on the latter it was after all most rational. So he ran, but no matter how fast he pumped his legs she would continually close the gap. So he stopped and dove to the side hoping that he could somehow take it down without any armor or weapons. As it passed by he performed a round-house kick, she saw it coming and countered it by ducking and swiping. Lancer dodged grabbed her arm and threw her or at least he tried. She recovered with her wings and steadied herself. "That's what I need to take out first" he thought. He corrected his stance and worked out a plan all the while dodging her attacks.
She swiped using the razor sharp claws to attempt and disable him "NOW!" Lancer yelled in his mind he dodged left and slid to the ground right below her he then proceeded to quickly body slam her from below causing her to lose control. After that jumped onto her back and put all of his weight into driving downwards causing her to crash and ruin her wings.
Now that she couldn't fly she was no longer a threat. She screamed in a mixture of rage and pain. He thought about finishing her off somehow, but then figured that she couldn't do anything and so there was no use only a waste of effort. Even though she had just tried to kill him he felt some foreign sense of remorse as he watched her helpless. "She was just trying to survive…" He shook the thought out of his mind.
He decided to take her with him to the village where she could recover. "You" he said while pointing at her commandingly, "are coming with me to a village to recover. Hopefully they don't try to finish you off."
"Why? I just tried to kill you" she asked bewildered
"There's no reason to kill you, you're no threat and leaving you to die is something only someone psychotic would do, I'm no monster." he replied while carefully picking her up trying not to think of the ironic statement he had just made.
She stayed silent not wanting to ruin her chance of survival. Lancer continued back onto the trail in the general direction of the volcano. "T-the nearest village is to the North of us" she said stuttering slightly, still fearful.
"Right, of course. I-I *sigh* I knew that" He said turning sharply almost like a spin.
Several Hours Pass
"You know I wasn't going to kill you the hornet girl muttered quietly
"Oh really? What where your plans then?" Lancer questioned slightly narrowing his eyes
"I was going to try and mate with you" she said with confidence, "as monsters we were cursed that all males of our species die at a young age. It's incredibly rare for a male to live for more than a few years, we all must leave in search for someone to have a child with so that our species can continue"
"Seems like something I would classify as Not My Problem, it is almost as if someone was horrible at creating life, he said trailing off. It really is humorous, why we live that is. What do we do? What do I do? Is there some specific reason? Am I supposed to help someone? Something?"
"Uh right, but as I was saying" the hornet she said with surprising sincerity, completely ignoring his rabble.
"It would've had the same outcome." Lancer said definitively almost glaring. They continued walking and eventually the town came into site. It was small but had a sturdy wall and appeared very well guarded.
"Hey is that the town?" the hornet girl asked.
"It appears so." Lancer responded dryly
"Halt! Her kind is NOT allowed in! Lancer looked up to see a guard looking down upon them.
"Her kind? As in a hornet girl or a monster?" Lancer said smugly while smirking
"Watch yourself, and I will not say it again HER KIND IS NOT WELCOME HERE!"
"Alright alright she won't be staying long and she's no harm to anyone her wings are torn I have to carry her anyways so she wouldn't be able to move without help anyways. I am not leaving till I get in"
"Well then prepare to spend the night OUTSIDE. She is not coming in here!"
"Well he sure takes his job seriously" the hornet girl commented as if that wasn't already known
"Guess we will stay the night out here… I just needed to buy some stuff, and it's not like you can do anything by yourself"
The hornet girl gave him a warning glance
"Look you weren't even able to take out an unarmed man, let's be honest here" Lancer said chuckling in return
Several hours passed before the guard came back "…fine" the guard said sighing, then he walked off with nothing left to say. The gates creaked and groaned almost like it felt the same way as the guard before finally opening
As they walked in the villagers seemed to stare daggers at them. Eventually Lancer started glaring back. The two eventually found a somewhat decent inn. They checked in, but there was only one room available. "Your room is third floor room C-14 here is your key" said the innkeeper unblinking
"Thanks" the two said.
They entered the room, it was small, had one bed, and a small window overlooking what he would like to say is the town but it in fact was a fantastic view of a wall.
"I'm going to bed, and don't try anything" "…Okay" was the only reply lancer got from the hornet girl. For several more hours all he thought about was if monsters were indeed created by a different Goddess than Humans or angels the why would she give them this plight? What was the point other than to create strife? A question suddenly jammed itself into his skull "only the Queen Bee can mate" he turned to ask her but she was already asleep "Is she an exception?" That was the last thing Lancer thought before falling asleep for the night.
"You're being watched" a strange voice said "we will meet later" "seek out the one called Luka, he will be at San Ilia in 12 suns." With that Lancer shot up with an extremely painful headache. Lancer grabbed his bag and left the hotel to go and browse the shops for wares the hornet girl also woke up and peered at him with her reflective red eyes
"Where are you off to?" asked the hornet girl
"To the shops to buy some gear and medicine for you" Lancer replied speedily
"Oh… okay" she responded distantly
As Lancer left for the shops he noticed what the town was like. It was extremely small with only thirty houses or so, and all of them looked like huts. After a few minutes of sightseeing he finally saw the blacksmiths shop. He went up to the owner and asked him some questions. "What kind of swords, shields, and daggers do you have?"
"All kinds, but you need the coin" he said eying Lancer suspiciously
"All right I need a sword with high melting point, a flame resistant shield, and a silver dagger. Will this be enough to cover all of that?" Lancer said while pulling out a handful of glittering coins.
"Most likely, depends if you piss me off or not. It's a tall order, be back tomorrow and I'll have your sword."
"Okay but what about the rest, like the shield and dagger?" Lancer asked breaking the tough guy trance that they had going
"That too go, get outta here...smartass" the man said while waving Lancer off
Lancer smirked, amused. "Alright… next is the medic" he thought out loud. Lancer looked around before finally locating a shop that looked suspiciously like it would have some sort of medicine, "either that or I get a disease from here" he muttered aloud while walking in
"I need some fast-working medicine" Lancer said before he even saw the owner
"I'll ignore the first thing you said" said the shop keeper
Lancer jumped slightly "The hell? Where did you come from?!"
"My mother's womb" the shopkeeper was short and young, unnaturally so.
"Your age?" Lancer questioned, he assumed she knew what he was asking
"That'll be 2 silver." The shopkeeper said disregarding him
"Thanks" Lancer said fishing the coins from his bag trying
"Now leave" the girl said, "kids these days" she muttered
"Interesting coming from a pre-teen" Lancer replied smirking
"Knew I shouldn't have attempted a rejuvenation potion..." she muttered bitterly just out of earshot
Lancer left for the inn again. The hornet girl was waiting for him when he arrived
"Hi" she said, once again distantly
"Here's your medicine, hopefully this will help" said Lancer as he handed her the medicine. "We will need to leave tomorrow.
"Well now what do you want to do?" the hornet girl asked
"Well we can go and look around the village or you can rest and speed up your recovery" he replied thoughtfully. "I'm sure rest would do miracles for you"
"You're right, I'll stay here and rest up" Lancer noticed she relaxed slightly while she said that
"Okay well I'm going to go and scout out the gold volcano." said Lancer confidently
"That's suicide!" she exclaimed, finally showing some sort of emotion
"I seriously doubt that." Lancer responded, however that will need to wait until tomorrow as I have no equipment, he said motioning to his empty belt. "Can't really do anything if I have no weapons"
She tensed up, "are you really going? If you die I will be on my own again"
"Oh please, you've been able to move this whole time you won't die. And when I leave that fake worry and emotion better be gone… You'll find someone else to converse with, someone nicer"
"I'm sorry for being distant, you're just the first human to actually try to talk to me"
"Hah! You are far to strong willed and strong hearted to feel that way. You're only keeping me around because you have nothing else to do, believe me I feel the same. Now get some rest, and get your confidence back"
"Hmph, alright then. Fine" she said once again relaxing
Lancer looked down onto the uninviting floor, then he sat down against the wall and closed his eyes.
Next morning
Lancer stretched and looked at the hornet girl, she was sound asleep, "looking healthier every day, good. Job done"
On the way out of the village he decided that he should visit the smith to get his equipment, "is my gear ready?" he asked when he reached the man
"Yeah sure they're on the rack over there" he muttered while waving him off again
When he reached the rack he saw only his dagger and shield, "Is the sword not ready yet?"
"No of course not, as if I would create a rubbish sword, master pieces cannot be created in a mere day, I'm using Cryonium to help it cool faster"
"Cryonium? Lancer asked
"Are you daft? It's a strong fast cooling metal, some adventurer you are" the blacksmith said in an almost admonishing manner
"As long as it's ready when I'm back" Lancer said no longer caring
After he got his dagger and shield he went over to tailors shop to get some light weight cloth unfortunately the only color they had was black which would make the volcano hotter, but he would at least be cooler when not wearing his leather jerkin and pants. The tailor never said a word while measuring Lancer. The man seemed absent minded
After that he left the village and faced the Volcano it wasn't that far of a trek only twenty or so Kilometers
Once he came close so he started being more cautious. His eyes scanned the surrounding area there didn't seem to be any creatures nearby. It was just crumbling stone as far as the eye could see.
He made it to the entrance and right before he went in a monster appeared out of nowhere. It was a dragon clad in armor with a huge single bladed six foot long sword. Lancer instantly went into defensive position he whipped his shield and reached for his nonexistent sword. "Fuck" he cursed. The monster seemed to notice this.
"You there, you dare raise arms against me? I have no pleasure in killing weaklings" said the monster.
"Who are you" Lancer said slowly reaching for his daggers while reevaluating the area and situation
"I am Granberia, one of the heavenly knights, and now you will die for your incompetence." She pointed her sword directly at his chest
Lancer had no chance and she was going to attack whether he wanted her to or not. She swung at him, it was easy enough to dodge; she most likely wasn't even trying. Then she did a cross-cut slash followed by a vertical slash. He had some difficulty dodging as she was increasing her speed exponentially. When he dodged however he followed by a leg sweep her eyes widened in surprise at the fact that he would even try to fight back. The dragon lost her balance, but before Lancer could do anything she used a horizontal slash while falling backwards to prevent him from any further attacks. It caught him dead in the chest with the tip of the blade, giving him a painful cut and knocking him over. He got up as fast as he could, but before he knew it he was hit with flat side of the sword. She was already back on her feat and on the offensive again.
"I see you know at least some form of combat" said the heavenly knight while grinning excitedly
"Well I'm not much without a sword" replied Lancer grimacing in pain. Then faster than an eye could see he whipped out his dagger and charged.
She swung her massive sword straight down but Lancer deftly dashed to the side and caught the dull side of the blade, he grunted as his muscles bulged and tensed up. He ran his dagger down the backside of the blade to disarm her however she twister her grip as fast as lightening and forced Lancer to real backwards as the blade spun in a circle.
"Not going to win this, no way in hell..." Lancer grinded his teeth
"I do have a question for you before I dispatch your head."
"What makes you think I'll answer it?" replied Lancer trying to buy time. He sheathed his dagger to appear unthreatening
"Talking back huh? Why where you at this mountain? Are you powerful? Obviously not she said smirking, perhaps you're just a plain imbecile"
"I would ask you the same" Lancer replied smirking, "can't even kill a lowly human with that great big sword"
"I have my reasons, and believe me. I can kill you faster than you could beg for mercy" The dragon replied fiercely
"Hah, begging. Haven't had any experience at that. I'm sure you're more adept at it than I"
"Yet again, why are you here and without a sword nonetheless?" The dragon said with more power and anger in her voice
Lancer said nothing, he narrowed his eyes. "I need to think fast..."
"No matter you're dead any ways" Granberia said as she pulled her blade into a readying position.
Lancer took this chance he sprinted into the volcano knowing very well that she would easily be able to catch up to him if he ran into the forest. Noticing this she gave chase, though effortlessly. Lancer ran as fast as he could, looking back and seeing her gain ground with a smirk on her face just gave him all the more reason to run. Then he looked back and saw that in around a quarter of a second there wouldn't be ground in front of him so he jumped. This caught Granberia by surprise so she slowed down by where he jumped just to see him falling. Right before Lancer hit the ground he crunched up and rolled as he hit the ground using the momentum to spring him back to his feet and keep him running.
Granberia looked down at him and thought "Maybe he deserves another chance. If he survives this mountain then I will be proven correct." Then she spun and left.
When Lancer finally slowed down he noticed that the dragon, Granberia, was no longer chasing after him. He slowed down and checked his surroundings the air around him burnt as he breathed and it stank of burnt rock and ash.
"Probably getting close to the center" Well there's no turning back now" he muttered imagining the gap he jumped. As he ventured further in it started getting unbearably hot. Lancer could visibly see the heat waves, the very air seemed to be bubbling. He turned a corner as saw a few monsters
"So two red slimes and my target, a salamander". He said exasperated. He looked around the corner again and snuck behind them. They seemed to be bathing in lava "Looks painful" Lancer thought to himself. He saw a split in the room leading into another corridor. He was almost to the other path when one of the monsters noticed him
"Hey where do you think you're going?" Lancer froze and turned around
"Uh nowhere." He said in a matter of fact statement as he continued walking towards the cave backwards.
"Well if you're going nowhere why don't you stay here with us for a while, or stay with us forever?" the red slime said grinning widely
"I'm good thanks for the offer." Lancer replied hoping to catch them off guard with his seemingly carelessness
They simply laughed at him "So, what brings you to this volcano?" asked the first red slime. This time Lancer felt like he might as well respond
"Her" he said while pointing at the salamander This time he stopped moving away, he started gripping the leather straps of his shield tightly
"Do you know him?" asked the confused slimes
"N-no" said the salamander shocked
All three of the monsters stared straight at him, "Look gals, I only want to kill one of you. Three is a bit much" Lancer said cooly.
The salamnders eyes widened in realization. Lancer dashed forward before they had time to react and bashed one slime with his shield scattering her substance across the cavern. Then he proceeded to fire off a series of fast kicks to stun the other slime. He turned to the salamander and threw his entire body behind one shield bash. He swung as hard and fast as possible feeling his joints groan in protest, he slammed the shield directly into the salamanders face. Th shield exploding on impact almost making him feel bad for the elemental. She went limp. Lancer took this chance to grab her and sprint towards the passage he was originally intending to go through.
He eventually saw pure natural sunlight in the distance, he heard screams of anger behind him, he clenched his jaw and sprinted faster, he finally reached the end of the cave and set her down so that he could catch his breath. He stood above her and drew his dagger, he would be a legend with power like this. He looked at her form and his resolve began to waver. She was beautiful, voluptuous but also not frighteningly so, like most monsters. She wasn't even awake, "I...I can't just kill her like this. It's glorified murder. She didn't do anything, she's not even able to fight back. This isn't right. He sheathed his dagger and began wondering how to sneak her back inside when she stirred awake. h
He turned and went to grab his dagger, the salamander quickly shot her arm out and launched a massive ball of fire at him. His eyes widened in shock before the impact sent him sprawling
"Aaugh that hurts like... I say hell to much." He muttered.
She started charging up the next ball of fire, he took his shot and ran towards her, ducked, and finished pulling out his dagger finally and threw it at her just as a distraction, because he knew that a dagger wouldn't be able to pierce her scales that easily. She dodged it and then frantically started charging up another ball. Right before she launched it he slammed his knee onto the ground and slid underneath her while spinning, unintentionally getting an eye full he shot his leg out and knocked her leg from under her.
Lancer tried to scrub his mind of the less than human vagina he happened to unfortunately glimpse. He continued sliding and grabbed his dagger before pinning her arms and putting the dagger to her neck effectively stopping her struggle. She stared at him in terror. He calmed his breathing while struggling to get his adrenaline under control.
The salamander looked from on eye to his next, the fear slowly melted away as the curse that affects all elementals started taking hold
Lancer relaxed the pressure against the woman's neck, "what?" Lancer said while gasping for breath
The salamander hardened her expression, "as an elemental if I am defeated I must do whatever you say, it gets stronger as time goes on, eventually leading into feelings of love"
"That, is probably one of the most bullshit things I have ever heard anyone say", he said chuckling
The salamander said nothing in response. Lancer sighed and relaxed his pressure even more before finally letting up.
High above Lancer Granberia was watching while smirking. She was right, she was always right. He did deserve a second chance, he had survived the volcano with nothing but a shield and dagger. "We will meet again human male" she said barely containing her laughter
Lancer walked with the salamander down the trail back to the town. "So, I heard that if someone kills a salamander they gain their elemental powers, is this true?
"You're not planning on finishing the job are you?" the salamander replied
"...If I wanted to I would have done it earlier" lancer replied quietly
"Why didn't you?"
"It wasn't right, the power wasn't worth murdering a defenseless creature"
"I thought all you human men were about gaining power?" she replied before quickly saying "oh, and I am very far from a "defenseless creature" she stated in a slightly hostile manner
They eventually came across the town, with the same guard at the wall. "AW HELL. ANOTHER ONE?"
"Do you every I don't know, think about how your life consists of yelling at people while wearing a hideous outfit? Go home man" Lancer replied back
"Wait, is that a salamander?" he asked caught off guard
"Yes what of it?"
"It's just those monsters are legendary!" one of the other guards explained after sprinting up.
"You're a lucky bastard, what I wouldn't do to get my hands on one of em" He said rubbing his hands together hungrily
"I suppose I am" Lancer said shooting highly threatening glances at the guard
Lancer and the salamander walked through the gates. "Where are you from, why are you here, what's your name, where are we going?"
"If you would slow down I would tell you. My name is Lancer, we need to stop by the inn and find someone, then San Ilia. The rest I don't know. I just hope I don't run into Granberia again"
"Granberia? As in the heavenly knight?"
"Yes" Lancer said starting to get annoyed by the questions
"Like the guard said earlier you are a very lucky man, at least for today"
"Hah, less luck than you think"
"Mhm, keep that ego in check"
Lancer turned and struggled to keep his mind from the traumatizing image he saw earlier, "I need to get you clothes... I saw more than I wanted earlier"
The salamander started laughing hysterically, "I can make my appearance less curvy if you would like, unless of course your eyes would like to wander"
"The problem is you are naked, and that is not as welcomed in human culture, believe me. My eyes don't want to wonder."
"Hmm, so earlier you responded to most of my questions with an I don't know, you don't know your past?"
"No, every night is pounds my mind, it haunts my thoughts...I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me"
"I'm sorry... well my name is Allison."
"Allison huh? I like that name." Lancer responded. When they reached the room he noticed that the wasp girl was gone. Lancer blinked a few times before swiftly spinning.
"Is something wrong Lancer?" Allison asked
"Not at all, just realized I didn't leave anything there"
Lancer ignored all the stares and glances as he made his way to the blacksmith
"I'm back, for my sword of course"
"I wish you weren't" the blacksmith stated dryly. "Your sword is over there, and I must say. It is a masterpiece, I even named it. A glorious name to match your ridiculous dark clothing" he cackled
"How much is it
"Fifteen gold and eighty-seven silver, after all it is a masterpiece, also there's no blacksmith for ages so I can overcharge you."
"Damn he does not care, okay… Here."
"He was making fun of you, are you just going to take that?" Allison said smiling mischievously
"I'm sure the name isn't as dark as he says" Lancer pulled the sword out of the sheathe "it reads Daemon Purifier, perhaps not. He may think the name is hilarious however I think it matches the design"
It was like a long sword, it had a crown of spikes as the guard and the back of the blade also had spike on it almost as if it was meant as a saw not a sword.
"I am rather impressed, he said it was a masterpiece but this is far beyond my imagination. It's perfectly balanced light but weighty at the same time " Lancer said in awe.
"Despite my love of watching you stare at a hunk of metal we should start walking"
Eventually the sun started shooting oranges and pink across the sky as it began to set on the horizon. They continued walking as the sun began sinking into the masses of the dark leafy forest, until they finally found another small town, this one was around the same size and just as unwelcoming.
The citizens kept peppering Lancer with questions about his companion, Allison who did not seem pleased about the constant bombardment
"Did you actually defeat her?" said one.
"You do realize she's right here, she can hear you." Lancer said smugly.
Eventually the two found the inn in the most backwater part of the town, the walls were rotting on the outside and the sign was layered with moss
"Can we get a room?" Lancer asked too exhausted to care about the shape of the inn
"Yes, of course" "two silver for one night" said the inn keeper excitedly.
"Fine." He said while slapping the money onto the counter. Once they reached their room Lancer dropped off his pack and went into the restroom, or rather a room with a bucket, a mirror and a bin of clean water. It splashed his face with the water and stared into the mirror at his reflection He had dark red hair, almost burgundy with the bangs covering parts of his eyes, a lean face with soul piercing purple eyes, and a muscular body, he was around six foot. "Why are my eyes purple?" he wondered aloud, he had never looked into a mirror before and didn't remember ever gazing into a pond. He eventually went back into his room, Allison was already asleep. He considered the bed with her, but didn't want to wake her. He eventually decided to sleep on the floor. He roughly sat against the wall while taking all his equipment off, his vision faded before he finished however.
The next morning he woke up early just to see the job had been completed for him. All of his equipment was lain neatly against the wall near the bathroom. Allison was already sitting up on the bed staring at him.
"You need a bath" she said while running her hands through his thick hair
"I always feel like I need one" he muttered. "Not enough nice inns."
"Alright let's go" he grumbled in agitation. "We need to visit the market, almost all of our supplies are gone." He stated while digging through his bag. Lancer walked down the creaking stairs of the inn and squinted his eyes at the intrusion of bright sunlight. They walked to the market once again ignoring all the stares and murmurs. He saw a fish, vegetable, meat, and fruit stand. He skipped all of them because the food would go bad too quickly. He stopped when he saw a small shop with giant letters saying Bread he entered the shop and picked up some loafs for their journey. He went up to the store clerk and put out twenty silver. "This will cover it right?"
The shopkeeper eyed him for a moment before finally accepting the money
He went by the local tavern and asked around for some rumors of jobs, and found none. The tavernkeeper was far from what he was used to. Normally the tavernkeeper was a large gruff man but this one was only a young boy, perhaps fifteen.
As they were leaving a villager ran up to them "Hey wait up!" Lancer and Allison turned around. "Yes, what is it? What do you need?"
"Can you escort me to San Ilia?"
"Well it's not out of the way" Lancer replied starting to grin
"I'll pay you five gold!"
"Five gold huh… Alright, but we're going my speed." Lancer responded, "finally something good to happen, getting paid to go where I was planning to go anyways"
"We will be making camp here tonight." Lancer exclaimed, "don't want our feet to hurt tomorrow
"Finally!" The employer said nearly falling over in exhaustion.
When they finished setting up camp Lancer walked over to Allison "We have to get there in four days to meet the person I'm looking for, we may not make it." Lancer said.
"Well we'll just have to go faster then." Allison stated blatantly
"You're obviously right but I don't think THAT guy can handle any faster. Let's just wake up earlier, should hopefully help." he sighed
"You're running out of time" a voice said. "You must hurry, you must make it." At that Lancer woke up yet again with a splitting headache. He couldn't sleep anymore. A few hours before morning he woke everyone up despite their grumbling
"Alright get up it's time to go!" Lancer started yelling
"What? You said early, but this is insane!" the employer exclaimed
"Well too bad we need to get moving." As they were walking he heard someone or something whispering. "Stop I hear something" Lancer whispered.
"What?" the employer questioned, " I don't hear anything"
"Shut up and be quiet" Lancer responded. Then something came out of the bushes charging straight at them he pushed Allison and the employer to the side. It was a spider he dove underneath it waited for it to pass over. He then pulled out his dagger jumped up and drove it into the back of the spider which instantly stopped sending him flying. He rolled got up and put away his dagger pulled out Daemon Purifier. The spider let out an angry roar and charged at him again this time it put its head down to prevent Lancer from going underneath. When it was right in front of him he jumped and used his hands to propel him over the back of the spider. In midair he turned around and swung his sword horizontally at the same time cutting its abdomen open and killing it. He landed and cleaned his sword.
"That was an amazing display of acrobatics and battle prowess!" said Allison and the employer surprised. "Thanks" Lancer responded, "I wasn't sure if that was going to work or not"
"Alright let's" but before he could finish an angry roar came and another spider came out before it could attack Lancer pulled out his dagger and threw it without looking hitting the spider right between the eyes and successfully killing it. He retrieved his dagger. "Alright now let's go, before more show up. Spider innards stain."
"Can we take a break?" the employer whined.
"No" Lancer responded exasperated
"I'm tired also" said Allison.
"Fine, we can take a break." Lancer said giving in. During their resting period Lancer went looking for water to refill their canteens. He found a river and refilled all of their canteens. He saw something slowly rising out of the water
"Leave now Human don't comeback unless you want to die! Lancer pulled out Daemon Purifier, letting light gleam down the blade.
"You dare?!" Then a slime come out.
"You won't stand a chance now leave me be. Lancer muttered annoyed
"I am Erubetie the slime queen." At that Lancer instantly regretted pulling out his sword he quickly threw his guard up and slid a foot back
"Well only one thing to do now.". He charged, making the first move typically isn't something he normally does however he couldn't afford to wait. As he charged she turned into a puddle and slid across the ground towards him. He saw it let himself get caught. He had a plan as she caught him he stopped moving just enough for her to attach then slowly become solid. He then cut the slime rolled behind at sliced her straight through. She turned around growled in anger and swung heavily. He rolled backwards and jumped to the side. Just in time she had created another had to try and trap him after his first initial dodge. While Lancer was fighting, his group went to look for him. Lancer heard footsteps causing to look for a split second to see his employer and Allison.
"Stop! Do not move!" Lancer yelled while countering a ball of slime.
"Allison took no heed and ran into the fight and launched a fireball. Erubetie turned into a puddle and dodged reappeared right in front of Allison and hit her while turning solid. Lancer ran over slashed and rolled. Erubetie turned around and hit him in the chest launching him. As the slime queen came towards him he got up and ran towards her. Once he was close enough he did a side flip over her landed behind her and went to slash. Allison woke up and used fire to embed it in his sword. His slash connected burning the slime and keeping her solid. Erubetie screamed in pain turned around and noticed he was gone. Lancer ducked and slid while in the sound cover of Erubetie's screams to keep her from hearing him. He rolled behind her as she turned stabbed her and threw her into the lake. Not caring if it healed her then he ran pulling the other two along with him. They ran back to the camp site grabbed their stuff and kept going.
"Who was that!?" Allison questioned
"That was Erubetie, she called herself a slime queen." Lancer responded completely exhausted.
"What a heavenly knight?!" Allison asked surprised
"She was one too?" Lancer asked bewildered. "I'm damned unlucky...oh and thanks for the help. Really saved me there" He said while staring at the ground
"It's a good thing we came when we did." Allison said proudly
"Only forty more kilometers. We can make it to San Ilia if we keep going with no breaks" said the employer still unnerved
"Alright well let's keep going, we may even make with an extra day." Allison told Lancer. As they left Lancer felt something watching him with a cheery yet powerful aura. "Yeah…yeah let's keep moving." he responded while glancing around guardedly
Erubetie came out of the water feeling extremely angry, but the intruders were gone. She needed to vent to someone and it just so happened that another of the heavenly knight was not too far away. Erubetie searched with her mind until she found the kitsune she was looking for. "There's a human, who was being a thorn in my side, I believe I heard a salamander call the mortal Lancer. She used fire on his blade to turn me solid."
"Well he didn't attack me so I suppose that's your problem, you probably initiated the fight didn't you" the Kitsune asked playfully
"Kay?" Bye now." Said Tamamo as she teleported away. When the Kitsune landed she figured well might as well check the kid out. Tamamo teleported to a nearby location close to Lancer using her mind to search for a salamander. She ended up in a tree around 40 meters away from his supposed location. Then she saw him. Wearing black cloth with metal bracers imbued in his cloth around his neck, shins, and tops of feet, arms and hands. "Probably for extra defense." Tamamo thought to herself. She also noticed his blade all black with silver engravings that she couldn't quite make out. He seemed to notice something and turned around and looked in her general direction. "Does he see me?" she wondered. She heard him say something then he turned around and left. "I'll have to check up on him later." She thought slightly intrigued
As they entered the city Lancer noticed tall stone walls massive amounts of guards. The group entered the city and gasped at the site they saw. The city was absolutely massive and their were buildings as far as the eye could see. The employer quickly threw the money as Lancer before sprinting off into the city saying something about his life dream. "Well it could've been harder to make this money" Lancer said looking towards Allison.
The two went and checked out a room at an inn this one was much cleaner and extravagant than the last one. Lancer took a quick bath before passing out into the feathery soft bed "He's here look for a boy with a lamia" said a voice.
"Same as usual" he thought then woke up again with another headache. He grabbed his gear and headed out annoyed to have been woken up again. As he walked towards the main plaza on the city section he was in he saw him.
"A boy with a Lamia." He remembered.
"Hey you, are you Luca?" Lancer said while running up to him
"Yes, do I know you?" the boy asked politely while the lamia starred at him intensely.
"No" Lancer responded simply, unsure of what to say