Chapter 4: A Familiar but Different Problem.
Author's Note:
Here we go, another chapter! Some action here, but not as big as you think. The main problem with strong characters honestly, but then again, I didn't want to start straight up with a very strong threat. Not yet anyway, I'm going to let them enjoy their current strength for the time being, but the time for them to face a real challenge will come in time. Besides, why become stronger if you don't have a good reason to? Anyway I hope you enjoy the chapter and feel free to tell me what you think about it. Until next time, this is TheFoolOfTheNoon signing off!
/
Ankha's P.O.V.
A few hours have passed as we reached our first stop on our way to Egyptapia; a quaint village called Calamural. The bus came to a stop and the bus driver told everybody to exit the vehicle so we can stretch our legs and look around. The driver did say he will be leaving in half an hour and to return when he starts blowing the whistle. Until then, we just enjoy the sights and do some light questing.
We got out and got some of our bags as we explored the village. We saw the main population, while small was quite diverse as not only are there humans, but also Dog, Bovine, and Rabbit animal folk walking around and going about their day. Some of them wave to us and we waved in kind.
"Well we got time to burn, so what do you want to do?" Nacho asked as he looked around.
"Since we are adventurers, we should probably do some quests. Not too long ones though, so let's see what easy short ones they got," Isabelle added.
"I second that, with our firepower we should be able to handle whatever comes our way!" Diva exclaimed.
"Lady Diva, please control yourself. You may bring unwanted attention," Amr stated plainly.
"Look at this energy, almost reminds me of your brothers and sisters Ankha," Lucky remarked.
I smiled, honestly, it was like that in some odd form when you look at it. Except for the obvious fact I was dating two people part of this family image. Really sours the image, but regardless it wasn't that much of a big deal.
"Indeed, I quite like it. Just one big family, something we used to have."
"Yeah…the price of immortality. One of the reasons why it's considered a curse."
"I know, but that's why I want to spend as much time with Nacho and Isabelle. They mean so much to me."
"I can see that, just be careful with that. Your emotions have gotten you into trouble before."
Ankha paused as she recalled the time, she parted ways with Lucky due to her emotions running wild. It was one of the worst mistakes of her eternal life and she had to survive on her own for quite a while. It was only after some time in the modern world she managed to find the courage to speak to him after all those years. He is practically the last family she had left.
"Hey! C'mon Ankha! Nacho is already looking at the quest board! Get your furry behind in gear!" Diva shouted, getting both my and Lucky's attention.
"We'll be right there! C'mon Lucky, let's not keep them waiting."
"Right behind you."
Lucky and I headed towards where the others have gathered. A village quest board with a rabbit girl monitoring it and those who get near it. She's wearing a familiar guild outfit that she remembered from Crossroads. She saw me and Lucky and greeted us with a smile, "Hello there adventurers! You must be part of this group then."
"Yes, we are, surely my boyfriend hasn't been too much bother selecting a quest, has he?"
"Ankha…I'm not that bad. Sometimes you got to put some thought into choosing a quest."
"I'm just messing with you love, now what do they have?"
"A lot of small stuff, like helping gather certain plants or clearing out some wildlife that are messing up some roads. There this one interesting one that is up our alley, but apparently we aren't high enough rank to take it on."
"That's because sir your overall group is still unranked. You must do at least five slaying quests and five gathering quests before you can get a promotion quest to become a bronze ranked adventuring group," The guild lady explained.
"I know, I know…sheesh. Lady if you knew what we were capable of then you would be giving us that quest in a heartbeat."
"I'm sure you can back up those words, but I'm legally obligated to stop inexperienced adventurers from taking quests far too dangerous than their proven ability."
Nacho let out a sigh as he looked at available quests again. I looked over to Isabelle and she just gave a shrug, "She explained it to us and thinking back on it, it makes sense. We saw some adventurers with these colored metal bands on them."
"Oh yeah, that must be the ranks she must be talking about."
"It's based on the quality of metal used, we are the lowest as we have no rank and next to that is bronze rank, then silver rank, gold rank, mithril rank, and so on and so forth."
"What's the highest rank?"
"Arcanite, apparently it's a naturally magic infused metal."
"That is interesting, this world really runs on magic in a sense."
It was an interesting thing to think about. We should ask Azhum on this subject when we are away from the public eye. Anyway, it wasn't long until Nacho chose two easy and quick quests we can do. One slaying mission on a pack of wolves that have been harassing the village, and another is a gathering quest that we need to gather five Caligesto herbs that grow in the nearby woods. We just needed to be quick, so we don't get left behind by the bus.
After having our maps updated by the quest lady, we headed to the forest where the quests are located.
/
It took five minutes to get into the forest and it was rather expansive once we got through the entrance. It was almost like we entered a giant house or something. It wasn't long after we entered the forest that Azhum flew out of the bag Lucky was carrying and let out a sigh of relief.
"Whew…I hate traveling that way, but there isn't much for a talking tome like me to go. Anyway, I see we are in Caligesto's Forest. This place has quite a history."
"I believe it, but right now we got some quests to complete here Azhum," Nacho stated plainly.
"Sorry, but that does sound interesting Azhum. Perhaps you can tell us another time," I added, it does seem like an interesting subject, but it would have to wait.
"Alright, anyway your looking for Caligesto herbs, right?"
"Yeah, unfortunately our little tablets can't help us with this other than give us a picture of it," Nacho opened up his tablet to show the high definition picture of blueish green plant that is tilting to the side with bell like buds on it.
"Ah yes, that's the plant. My how magi-tech has evolved, but that means nothing if you don't know how to use it."
"Yeah, this thing is beyond what you normally find back home. The tech guys in the agency would love to look and reverse engineer this stuff."
"I feel like that would be a bad idea Nacho," Isabelle remarked as she overheard our conversation.
"I agree with Isabelle, messing with technology infused with magic is just a recipe for disaster."
"I appreciate the concern; however, I don't plan on messing with something like this. I'm curious, but not that curious. Besides I rather not let the guys back home try to mess with something like this."
"That is a wise idea love."
"Yeah, anyways, let's get moving. Those herbs have to be around here somewhere."
"Agreed, let's split up. We can cover more ground if we split off into pairs."
"I already got my buddy right here, ain't that right Amr?"
"Yes milady, I will always be by your side," Amr said calmly to Diva.
"Nacho, you don't mind hanging out with Lucky do you?"
"Nope, I think it's time we get some brotherly bonding anyway," he said enthusiastically as he looked up to my guardian brother.
"That sounds great to me, just be careful. If something big shows up and it's too much just give us a call!" Lucky said as he pointed to the tablet.
"Hey, if we are all splitting up then who am I supposed to go with?" Azhum complained.
"You, you can be with Isabelle and me. We could use a fellow with your wisdom and insight."
"If you say so milady."
"Make sure to notify everybody if you find an herb, so we know how many left we have to find."
Everybody agreed and we all headed off in our own separate directions in the large area. Isabelle kept pace with me as we headed deeper into the forest with Azhum following. It took us a few minutes until we found ourselves in a darken spot of the entire forest that was lit up by strange plants that gave the area a strange summer night feeling.
"Ah, this is the Endless night canopy. A darker part of the forest that looks to be covered in eternal night."
"It's beautiful…" Isabelle marveled.
"I'll say, looks to be a perfect spot for a picnic," I amused myself with that thought for a bit before refocusing on the task on hand, "Anyway, let's keep going. I doubt we can find that herb growing here."
We kept going until suddenly we all heard some growling from nearby. I didn't need to ask Isabelle as I look over to her and she nodded to me as we pulled out our monster hunter weapons. We put our backs to each other as we slowly circled from where we are as we tried to catch a glimpse at what I believe to be feral wolves stalking us.
"Do you think it's the wolves in that other quest the mayor selected?"
"Hopefully, it would save us time looking for them."
Azhum stayed in between us as I suddenly saw these red eyes briefly move in the farther parts of the forest. My ears twitched and moved as it picked up on every small sound it can pick up from these animals. Judging from what I heard, they were circling us. However, what I couldn't figure out is how many were there. It's like they were running in circles really fast!
"Ankha, how many are there?"
"I don't know. I think they are trying to confuse us as they know they hear us."
"Are you sure?"
Not to long after Isabelle said that, my ears picked up some rustling above us and almost immediately I knew what was going on, "Move!" I shouted as I pushed her and Azhum out of the way as an oversized wolf came crashing into the spot where we once were.
I quickly got back on my feet as I stared down the attacker. It was a large wolf alright, but it looked different than the ones back home. It was more greenish and browner in color, almost like it was born out of nature itself. It growled at me just as my two companions got back up and immediately got ready for a fight.
"Uh oh, Sylvian Timberwolf," Azhum muttered just as the rest of the pack showed up. Nine smaller wolves that surrounded us.
"This isn't good, they might end forcing us to take drastic measures just to take care of them."
"Yeah, and I don't want to beast trigger here of all places."
"Plus, who knows when Nacho is going to show up, his senses should already be telling him that we are in trouble."
"What do you want to do?"
"Uh ladies, if I must make a suggestion. Fire magic should be very effective here, if it doesn't kill them straight up then it should scare them off."
It was a good idea in theory, but there was another concern, "I don't think I can risk that! I might burn down the forest!"
"Yeah! We're going to have to find another way."
I heard Azhum gave a dissatisfied grunt, "Such short sightedness, sure to the untrained, physical combat is the only way out, but let me show you what a master in the mystic arts can do."
I raised a brow in confusion as Azhum floated out from behind us and opened himself up before shouting, "Combust!" A little fire ball flew out of his pages and to my amazement, the large wolf immediately burst into flames and fell to the ground. No cries of pain or anything, it instantly died. However, Azhum wasn't done as he followed up the spell with another, "Chain reaction!" In no time, the other wolves following the large one burst into flames as well. Again, there was no struggle or an ounce of crying pain.
That was it, the wolves that would have caused some trouble were all gone. Almost instantly incinerated by pure magical power and as silent as the wind. Not to long after that display of power, Azhum was breathing heavily as he fell from the air and onto the ground.
"Azhum! Are you okay?" Isabelle asked with concern as she scooped him up in her arms.
"I'm fine milady, just that this body of mines doesn't allow much in terms of casting spells. I guess I forgotten that it limits my mana pool. I won't be able to float for a bit, so do you mind carrying me?"
"It's alright Mr. Spellslinger. I do what I can to help."
"Thanks Isabelle."
I was about to speak up when I heard a 'beep beep' noise coming from my tablet. Opening the screen, I noticed there was a new notification on the quests section. Opening it up I saw that those were indeed the wolves we needed to slay as the quest itself now said completed on it. Isabelle had the same notification as well and before we can comment on it, we received a video chat from Nacho. I opened it up and I saw the image of Nacho appear on screen with a worried face."
"What happened? I felt that you were in trouble and I was on my way to your location until suddenly I felt the danger is gone. Next thing I know, I'm getting a message saying the slaying quest was already done!"
I gave a sheepish smile, "Would you believe me that Azhum took care of the problem with just a few simple words?"
"Wait Azhum did that? Damn…that's crazy!"
"Tell me about it, I saw his power firsthand and even I'm still having a hard time believing what I saw."
"Well, anyway, I'm glad all of you are safe. How goes the herb hunting?"
"No luck yet, those wolves rudely interrupted us in our search. I assume you haven't found any either?"
"Actually, Lucky and I just found three and were going to retrieve it until my senses told me you were trouble."
"Three?! That's great! Just too more and we will be done with this quest in record time."
"Yeah, we are going to head back to the entrance area to see if we can find the rest. Got nothing from Diva and Amr yet, so hopefully they find at least one."
"They better, I don't want to wait for another bus."
"Alright, well see you three then. Love you and Isabelle too."
He waved goodbye just as Isabelle came over, *Love you too Nacho,* we both said in unison as the call ended.
"You three have quite a special relationship," Azhum commented.
"Yeah, based on trust and many battles with each other."
"What Ankha said, we fought together and after what we experienced together, I doubt there is anything that can break what we have!"
"I see, that is quite a claim, but your confidence is something to be admired. Anyway, shall we be off then? Perhaps we can find one of the herbs before returning to the entrance?"
"Yes, let's go, hopefully nothing else gets in our way."
Again, we were off, looking for one of the herbs as we explored the forest. We didn't run into any more trouble along the way and it wasn't until after a few minutes we finally found one an herb just randomly growing in the open. We made sure to send a message to the others which meant there is only one left to find. On our way back, one thing stood out in my mind. Azhum's power, he called my magic power untrained and after seeing his fire magic firsthand I'm reluctant to agree.
"Azhum?"
"Yes Ankha?"
"You said that you can help train my magic power and awaken the magical power of Isabelle and Nacho."
"Yeah, what do you mean by that?" Isabelle asked with intrigue.
"Well yes let me explain. Ankha, from scanning you I am well informed of your magic training and how you neglected it in the past and just recently training it again. I can help you not only regain the power you should have from the start but go further and find your full potential. As for Isabelle, it's a little complicated, but I do have the ability to awaken her inert magical power. However, what mana type and elemental affinity I cannot say until it is awakened."
"Mana type? Elemental affinity? Care to elaborate?"
"You aren't aware? Hmmm, that is disappointing. I would have guessed those in your world would have some grasp on the subject."
"Well magical power isn't something that is common back in our world. As a matter of fact, the only ones I know that taught me magic is my original magic teachers. I met no one else."
"I see, no wonder your partners are magically inert then. Wide disuse and lack of magical practice had made them dormant."
"Wait, are you saying that the mayor and I always had the capability for magic?"
"Yes, hence why you Isabelle and Nacho need to have your mana pool reawakened. No doubt it will be really weak though."
"That is interesting to know, but what has to do with mana type and elemental affinity?"
"Well, skipping the very long story of how mana came to be. Mana type is the type of mana a person or creature is born with. This affects how the person uses magic or how the magic is used in their bodies. The most common, and the one I found in you Ankha is Traditional mana. This is the same mana type I have as well and to put it simply it is far easier to understand than the others. It basically almost works the same way as you see in fiction, but also more complicated."
"How so? I would like to know," This information will prove to be invaluable. While my previous teachers taught me to the best of their ability, none of them brought up mana types or the like.
"You see, traditional mana type users are able to cast spells on the command of their voice and eventually their thoughts. I assume you already know that magic needs a conduit in order to be unleashed."
"A conduit?"
"Basically, an object or thing for the magic to come out from, Isabelle. An example is like our weapons or hands and fingers. The only problem about using your hands or any part of your body is that it may not be able to handle the magical energies coming out of them. However, it is possible and requires training."
"Oh, that sounds really dangerous."
"Anything that ends with more power usually is that way lady Isabelle. However, I can assure you that it is worth it as long as the proper guidance is involved."
"That is interesting, so there is a high chance that if you awaken my magical potential that it could be a traditional type?"
"Precisely, but there are other types I discovered in my studies. They are Ki, Glyph, Psi, and Anti. Ki is more of a physical focus mana type with many of the magic enhancing the user's physical capabilities or allowing them to use many interesting skills. Best suited for martial artists or warriors that don't rely on magic very much. Glyphs are those who have their mana manifested as magical markings on their bodies. Not to be confused with magical tattoos or birthmarks like yours Ankha, these people will only able to summon their magic from these markings alone and have natural magic armor. I seen some summon weapons from their bodies as well. Psi, short for psychic is when the mana pool focuses more on the brain of the user and they can use most of their magic or psi skills without voicing the name of the technique. Their version of spells and magic is a bit more complicated as it doesn't have the same properties as normal magic."
I was astonished by the types of mana and what they do. Never did I expect such a thing to exist, but here it is and now I'm aware of it. However, this makes me wonder on the types of people we may run into with these types of mana. I pondered on this thought for a bit until finally the subject of Anti mana type came up and I must give my full attention.
"Anti-type, this is by far the rarest mana type. The user is born with no mana and it is instead replaced with some sort of field of anti-magic. This field weakens or outrights negates magic that comes near it and if a person of this mana type touches you. You will be unable to cast spells at all."
"Good thing I can fight well without magic backing me up."
"Good indeed, I can't even count the number of times I seen experienced spellcasters fallen to a user of this mana type. Honestly, its because of this that I prefer more well-rounded spellcasters that can both fight with a sword and spells. However, mortality and life spans usually force most people into one area of training. As for me, if I ever get caught in something like that I will practically shut down or even die if not removed from the premises."
"That's good to know, so now we know what to avoid for your safety!"
"I thank you for your concern Isabelle. It's nice to see such a positive person filled with energy."
"You mean you haven't seen a positive person in a long time?" I asked with disbelief.
"Well, sort of, when you are a floating talking book with nothing else better to do then add more pages to your body. Save for a few, I don't have much of a social life."
"That's pretty tragic honestly."
"It is, but I have nothing to complain about anymore. You all seem like nice people and I look forward to knowing you all better."
"Like wise, I look forward to learning from you."
"Me too!"
"Thanks, including your life partner Nacho. I have no doubts you will make excellent students, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I almost forgot about elemental affinity."
I mentally slapped myself, "Oh right, we kinda trailed off topic there didn't we?"
"Indeed, we did, well…I think it's best to save that for when you two and Nacho when we get to Egyptapia. There I will start training your skills in the arcane arts and bring out power you never knew you had."
I smiled at this while Isabelle grew more excited. I'm not sure what kind of training he will give us, but anything to help me in my mission to aid the gods and protect my loved ones. However, I just wonder what is my magical potential? With all the current power I have right now, will it be crazy? Will there be a long road ahead of me? I don't know, but now I'm curious to find out.
/
Diva's P.O.V.
"Have yah found it yet?"
"Not yet milady, the herb proves to be elusive."
"I figured that Amr, all I know is that the thing likes to grow in places that have sun going through the natural ceiling here. We are the only ones who haven't found one yet and we need one more in order to leave this forest!"
"I hear you milady, just remember to keep an eye on your surroundings. We have been attacked by some wild animals on our way here."
"Yeah yeah, I get it. No need to get your tunic in a twist."
We kept search until finally we found the darn thing hiding next to a base of a tree. Taking it with us we reported to the others and made our way back to the entrance of the forest. I it was a bit of a walk, but at least no animals were trying to kill us anymore.
"So, when are you going to tell them about your situation?"
I sighed, "I know, but not now. I'll wait until we get to Egyptapia to tell them. Honestly, it's kinda embarrassing."
"Only you will find it that way. Frankly I think it should be your top priority."
"Whatever, I'm sticking to the plan. You may be my guardian, but you don't tell me what to do."
"If you say so lady Massika."
There he goes calling me by my real name. Sheesh, he just never lets up, does he? That's my eternal life in a nutshell. Being nagged by my guardian on stuff like this. Well, I suppose it's fine as I can't really imagine myself living without the guy. I mean most girls in the modern day would kill to have this guy to be their roommate. However, I like to keep him around as he is like a disciplining older brother. Really something you just can't live without.
We got closer to the entrance area until suddenly we heard something rustle one of bushes nearby, "Uh…you heard that, right?"
"Indeed, something large is eyeing us. Stay on your toes milady."
I readied some water magic in my hands as the rustling gave way to loud stomping. We waited until the beast in the bushes revealed itself and boy was, I surprised at what we saw. Staring us down was a large green to brown armored grizzly bear thing. However, not only was it larger than a real grizzly, but it was emitting magical power as well. Something that was more apparent as these mana line markings glowed on its body when it roared.
"Uh…you don't suppose this is the monster in that quest the lady didn't want us to do?"
"I think it is my lady. That aura of power is not natural for a beast like this!"
The beast roared at us before charging up magical energy in its claws. My eyes widen as I canceled the spell I had charging and hit the dirt. Amr, did the same thing as the monster swing its claws and magical crescent blades shot out. It was a good thing we decided to dodge as the next thing I knew, the trees and plants behind us fell apart.
"Oh shit, did that thing do that?"
"Language milady!"
"Can it, not the time!"
"We can't fight it here milady. We need to lead it to a more open area!"
"Then let's bring it to the others then! Nacho did say this sort of beast is up their alley, right?"
"Indeed, let's get a move on."
Seeing our chance, we got the heck out of there with the bear monster on our tails. The fact it was chasing us told me immediately that it was out for blood and nothing more. I sure hope Nacho, Ankha and Isabelle really can take on a monster like this! I had it easy up until this point!
/
Ankha's P.O.V.
"You know, I still can't believe that Azhum is capable of doing that," Nacho remarked as I watched him look at the living tome in Isabelle's arms.
"I know, I mean, combusting a bunch of wolves without harming the forest itself. I don't think even your former teachers was capable of such a feat," Lucky added.
I just got finished explaining what happened back on our end of the forest walk to the boys. They themselves didn't have much issue as Nacho's more intimidating monster aura would scare off potential wild threats. Only the bold or stupid would dare attack him which apparently a few large predators did try and were slain effortlessly. Azhum was still recovering, but he did add his thoughts to the conversation which earned a few laughs from us.
"Anyway, when do you think Diva will show up? We only got fifteen minutes left before the bus leaves."
"She should be coming back soon, she did tell us that she will be heading back here since she found the last herb," Isabelle responded, "However, we have no idea how far she was when she said that though."
"Well she shouldn't be too far now. I mean it took us a bit to get here, so I'm sure she shouldn't be too far away. Has anybody check the map? Last I check it can track all of our positions in the current area we are in," I explained as I took out the tablet and open the map, "Look, she's heading our way right now!"
"Uh…Ankha, if that's true then why are there three dots heading towards this area? Because logic dictates that those smaller two are Diva and Amr. Which means that something big and mean is following them from behind," Nacho added as I saw what he meant. Judging by the positions on the map, she is about to enter the area now.
"Guy's, we have a big problem here!" Diva shouted as she busted out of the bushes with Amr in tow.
Before any of us could ask what was chasing her. We got our answer when a large bear monster broke through the trees and roared. It's magical power apparent as these markings glowed around its body. I drew my weapons and readied myself for a fight as Nacho and Isabelle did the same after putting Azhum in a safe place.
"What in the name of Ra?! That is twice the size of a grizzly bear!"
"It's an Ursanos!"
"A what?" I shouted as the monster roared.
"Remember that one quest I wanted to try out? It was a slaying quest for some kind a bear monster called an Ursanos. Look out!"
Nacho's warning quickly put my attention back to the monster as I quickly saw its claws glowing with magical energy. It gave another roar as it slashed the air and these crescent bladed projectiles fired out. I quickly dodged out of the way just to be forced to dodge another wave of blades. It was easy for me, but I heard a grunt of pain from Nacho and an eek from Isabelle. Clearly, they didn't expect the monster to fire off two projectiles in a row.
"Ow…definitely not an average bear," I looked over to see Nacho bleeding slightly from the slash marks on his body. His clothes showing the damage, but his skin quickly healing up the wounds, "Should have worn the armor, now my shirt is shredded! You are going to pay for that Yogi!"
He takes out his swords and charges at the monster. The beast roared and puts its paws in front of it's face. Surprisingly, when Nacho strike the bear's claws, a magical barrier appeared and completely stopped the attack. I couldn't let him do this alone and I quickly ran in to join him. However, I used Nacho's assault on the monster's barrier as a chance to attack it from behind. As I suspected the monster's guard only worked where its claws are. My blades easily cut through the hide of the monster and this took if off guard. It probably wasn't expecting somebody like me to make easy work of its normally tough hide.
"Pay attention grizzly!" I heard Nacho yell as I heard him slicing into the chest of the beast before and explosion went off and knocked over the monster, "Guys, if you want to jump in now is the time!"
"I got you cover Nacho sir!" Isabelle exclaimed as she ran up to the struggling monster and started slashing at the belly of the beast. Lucky, Amr, and Diva joined in with them attacking the monster. Slashes and water magic pelted the beast as we all essentially ganged up on the monster. Clearly it bit off more than it can chew. It was whining and groaning, you can almost feel bad for it if it wasn't for the fact it attacked us first.
However, before we could finish the job. The monster glowed green and created a magical shock wave that blew us all away from it. Nacho, Isabelle, and I quickly recovered to see the monster limping away. Clearly realizing it was outmatched and had no chance of beating us.
"It's getting away!" Diva shouted!
"No, it's alright. Let it run, I think it learned its lesson," Nacho stated simply as we all watched the beaten and somewhat bleeding monster stumble away while looking back at us. It made the mistake of looking back at Nacho to of which he made a stomping motion forward which spooked the bear even more.
"Well that's takes care of that I suppose. We should head back and turn in the quests before we miss the bus," I said casually just as Azhum flew out of his hiding spot.
"Heavens, never have I seen a low rank Magi-beast beaten so savagely before."
"Magi-Beast? Is that what you call that Azuros rip off?"
"Yes, I guess, I'll explain as we head back to town. Frankly I'm surprised how easily you defeated it. Especially you three."
"In all due respect Azhum, but we have experience taking down monsters like that. We even took on much worse beasts that make that thing look like a teddy bear by comparison," I pointed over to Nacho, "Nacho here is basically an expert when it comes to these things as he fought them for most of his life."
"Heh heh…yeah. Those were some fun times, was surprised by the magic bit though. That was new and I fought freaken Kirin's that can shoot lightening and ice!"
"I see…quite extraordinary. Still I suggest exercising caution when you run into more beasts like that poor animal. You might end up losing more than your upper body wear."
"I know, I know. Ain't the worst wound I suffered, but I'll keep that in mind. For both of their sakes," Nacho pointed at me and Isabelle, "It's a promise I made to myself and them."
I gave him a warm smile and both Isabelle and I walked over and gave him a light kiss on the cheeks before hugging him. I'm glad he's being thoughtful of his life; I still remember how many times he broken the promise of not getting into potentially lethal situations on our last adventure. I should have known better to try and make him hold that promise. It was never going to happen, and I shouldn't have gotten upset with him. I'm just glad he's trying his best to not get seriously hurt and worry us.
/
We broke up the hug and exited the forest in order to return to the village. Along the way, we passed a group of adventurers. We greeted them kindly and they quickly noticed Nacho's currently destroyed shirt. We explained to them that we went on to do two quests of our own and when we were done, we were attacked by the Ursanos infused with magic. We didn't get past the part how we managed to fight it off before the leader said,
"It's alright, the professionals are going to take care of this. We're relieved none of you got seriously hurt."
Then they went off to slay the beast that we didn't get the chance to mention that we already beaten the ever-living heck out of it already. I guess they will have to figure that out themselves. Oh well, I guess they should be grateful that we soften it up for them. Not sure how they planned to slay it, but I'm sure they had some kind of plan. As for us, it didn't take us much longer before we ended up back in town. We turned in the quest to the guild lady, who was surprised to see Nacho in the state he is.
"Oh, my goodness! Looks like you ran into the Magi-Ursanos. By the looks of it, you're lucky to only gotten away with having your upper clothes destroyed. The magic blade attack that beast can shoot out can cut through thick trees cleanly. Thankfully, another group of adventurers came by to take on the quest. Finally, that monster can be put down and make the forest a bit safer for everybody."
"Yeah, everybody will be happier for it. Can we get our rewards now? We got a bus to get on before it leaves," Nacho stated hurringly.
"Oh! Right, here is your gold, some leather, and healing herbs for the quest. Thank you for helping!"
"You're welcome! Come on guys, the bus is waiting for us!"
Taking our rewards, we hurried onto the bus just as the driver made the last call. With nobody else coming, the bus lifted off the ground and took off. We all sighed in relief and congratulated each other on a job well done. Not only did we managed to inch closer to the next adventurer rank, but we managed to fight our first major beast of the world. Granted it wasn't much of a challenge, but it has me wondering what would come next. We'll probably find out when we reach the next stop.
Still though, what does Egyptapia even look's like? Every tree and rock we pass on our way to the next stop fills me with anticipation. Will it be like home? Or will it be different? There is only one way to find out and the answer can't come soon enough.