Sorry for the brief haitus, but I have read some highly regarded fanfics on different stuff and Ho Lee Shit there are some great stories… I was very humbled!
Reviews:
Thanks for all the positive feedback!
Although she doesn't know about the existence of Nazarick yet, she should indeed be careful if she had tried to take a peek.
There may indeed be a power disparity between the Nazarick group and the protagonists but I think things will work out xd.
Yes, Gallahad is around the same level as the red cap goblins, which is kind of strange when you think about it. Death Knights average around level 35 and it is said that they can lay waste to cities single handedly. A four foot-ish goblin wearing a red cap being even more powerful than a death knight without being from the caster class is kind of funny (Level cap for goblins is level 50 according to Overlord Wiki.). But of course, higher level may not necessarily mean more destruction. Stealth, single target damage, dueling, defense and other different areas may reflect the level gap instead.
No worries, I will keep posting since I am getting lots of views and plenty of feedback, though it is true that I am not getting much favs or follows :^(; which is understandable though, writing never was my forte plus this fanfic neither start with a gripping premise nor it is immediately related to Nazarick (though it will be soon). Instead, it is full of my OCs so I get why people don't enjoy this as much as they do some other ones.
Anyways, onwards with chapter 10!
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"You charmed me!"
All that painstaking work on wild magic… the secrets of the islanders, Grendell and much more was given away as charity under that damned spell. What a headache.
"Time was of the essence and still is, why don't you make your piece about it? Also stop yelling to my ear, it is annoying." The man had been whining since Joann told him what happened. He was a citizen and what she did was not actually legal, but still, his childish protest was quite off-putting.
Berethur was sitting behind Joann on her Pegasus. She, Kelram and Hawken were riding towards the hills at a brisk pace.
Berethur puffed. It had taken him years to make discoveries on the forgotten magic system and to decipher the works of the great wizard Merlin Monroe. What bothered him even more than the fact that he had spilled all his beans was Joann's disinterest in his work. She had focused entirely on Grendell, whom he had been responsible for since the start of their pilgrimage and Berethur could guarantee that Joann was going to be disappointed when she met him. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little competitive for this beauty's attention.
'Jousting with Grendell, what have I become.' Berethur pushed his lower lip forward in defiance but kept his silence.
The Pegasus took flight after reaching the outskirts of the hills while the sorcerer who skipped on exercise braced himself as the beast rose to the sky. Joann on the other hand, activated all sensory buffs and skills she could. They flew over the bumps and the creeks, looking for a clue.
Berethur held on a little tighter so he didn't put an abrupt end to his life. Everything have become increasingly more complicated since their departure from the church. This was probably the journey of his life, his story. The young man couldn't help but compare himself against the characters he had read in the books. The valiant warriors, heroes.
Most cliché books depicted heroes as people who had difficult pasts that made them aware of the core values of humanity which then they fought for. Compromises and sacrifices were made, but the hero always stood strong. Cheesy as it gets. So, what were his goals? What was his war that he fought fervently in order to preserve the ideals of humanity?
'Well, I really want to bang Sir Joann now that I met her. I am also parched… oh and yeah.' 'I want to keep my word to the old hag. Honestly going to the floating castle seems easier than bedding the Knight Captain. There is also a smaller chance of losing some precious body parts.' He felt relieved after discerning which goals were attainable and which were not. 'I am no hero; I just don't have the depth to show that conviction people admire so much. Kind of disappointing, but then again, tales and reality usually don't tell the same story.'
Berethur started seeking Grendell with refreshed conviction. His conviction left itself to anxiety as Joan, whom apparently found his disfigured partner, signaled to the other two knights.
After couple minutes of flying, Joann ordered for a landing. They landed around a large caped figure and a towering savage orc. The caped man did not react but the orc readied his axe, eyes flipping from rider to rider.
The Pegasus made agitated noises but still formed a tight circle around the duo. On top of the large beasts, the knights habitually extended their lances forward while Joann just observed their new acquaintances.
This was the day of enlightenment for Gallahad. He had met two beings stronger than him in one day. What was left for him except for following the strong? Dreams that were thought attainable seemed like silly jokes when faced with the reality of the outside world. He glanced at his new idol who was staring emptily at the knights circling him. Grendell's gaze then landed on the lance tips pointing towards them while Gallahad readied his axe.
'Two defeats in one day is plenty.'
Joann would have ordered them to drop their lances but the presence of the orc made her decide against it.
"Berethur, is that him?" Joann asked calmly, unfazed by the tense mood.
'You made a new friend while I am gone? He looks familiar except for the lack of tusks…' "Yes, that is Grendell." He couldn't help but to keep talking, "As ugly as I have left him. I am also pretty sure that the Orc was some sort of leader in the camp."
Joann carefully inspected Grendell over her ride ignoring the whining. 'Let's see if you have more to you than meets the eye… [Detect: Life Essence]'
…" Huh."
Joann slumped on her saddle, wide eyed.
Kelram and Hawken stared at their captain then exchanged questioning looks with each other; not sure what they were supposed to do. Berethur also threw a questioning gaze at Joann's back. Amongst the collective confusion, Kelram did not notice the reaching hand of Grendell. Then chaos ensued.
As soon as Grendell grabbed the reinforced adamantite tip of the spear, his empty eyes shone with a wicked glint. His eyes met the knights' whom realization slowly downed upon, but it was too late.
"My toy."
Grendell pushed the spear forward then yanked it back. Instead of bouncing off of Kelram's silver-plate armor, the handle penetrated through the armor like it was made of paper and lodged itself into the knight's guts. As Grendell yanked the spear back, Kelram flew towards the beast; still gripping his spear with a confused look in his face.
Grendell's face on the other hand, contorted with dissatisfaction, seeing the knight was not relieved of the shiny pointy-stick. His eyes searched around for something to wipe the knight off of his toy.
Hawken could only gawk as the spear swung towards him at an unnatural speed with his comrade still impaled on top. A blur met the spear before Hawken's Pegasus was sent to the afterlife and Hawken was thrown off of his ride.
Grendell looked back to the spear, now at half its length with questioning eyes. Before he could think of anything else, air around him exploded. Although he did not feel pain or nausea, the world span around him for a couple seconds until everything came to an abrupt halt. He slowly got up from a large trench to take a look at his surroundings. A knight in pink armor was standing before him looking all small and fragile. He was annoyed, his toy was broken and this person obviously was an obstacle between him and his magic-trickster friend.
Berethur clenched his jaw as his old companion made the worst introduction known to mankind ever. He watched with terrified eyes as spear with the knight and all was swung towards the Lloyd Knight called Hawken. That was when Joann disappeared in front of him and reappeared in between the monster and the knight. The sword parried the spear, but apparently the weapons were not made of materials of equal quality since the metal spear snapped like a stick at the contact point causing Kelram to smash into the head of Hawken's ride. Time seemed to slow as Berethur could only track the afterimages of Joann's movements. The knight captain's hand rose up to Grendell's chest and air expended rapidly towards the beast. The shockwave was so condensed, it looked like the exhaled smoke from hookahs. Just hundreds of times thicker. With a deafening boom, Grendell was thrown back like a ragdoll. Joann followed the flying body.
With the two of them suddenly gone, there was three very confused individuals left. However, it did not take very long for Gallahad to make up his mind. In fact, he had made up his mind the second he noticed the knights. The savage orc closed the gap between him and Hawken in a split second. Hawken on the other hand, was a veteran. With the Lady fighting the unknown beast, it did not take him much time to figure he needed to deal with the orc. A sword that was drawn masterfully met the gigantic axe just in time. However, the strength discrepancy between the orc and Hawken became apparent as the knight could barely managed to hold on to his weapon when he was flung backwards by the strike.
Hawken rolled on the ground and got back into a fighting stance while Berethur watched in shock. Kelram's ride charged into the orc, enraged by its rider's death. The Pegasus madly swinging its hoofs down on to the orc reduced the power discrepancy between Gallahad and Hawken to a manageable level.
Around a hundred yards away, Grendell swung at the puny knight, only for the knight to dissipate into the air. As her air-clone dissipated, Joann finished her preparations.
"[Swamp Emergence]" The spell that was being channeled released, turning the ground in a fifty-meter radius into a muddy swamp. Grendell's large body sank into the muddy waters of the swamp, making the beast let out an agitated roar which turned into "gulp, gulp" noises as his whole body sank under the water.
'Who would have thought… The beast did not look like any being that I know of in either worlds, but who would have known that "It", was a Vanir*…'
Joann was feeling a mixture of emotions. She had expected this beast to guide her to new revelations but she did not expect to make a discovery of this scale. Things were clicking up in her mind, as well as small seeds of hope she held in her heart began to bloom. There was damage sure, there were losses sure, but IF she could fix him…
'A druid whose beastly transformation was halted halfway by that shard of blade lodged into his neck, couple dozens of physical and mental de-buffs left him in this pathetic state, for Thull knows how long. If I can bring his consciousness back, I can take back my Lord's Kingdom. With a level 100 druid, it is possible…'
Joann straightened herself, now she had to make the beast calm down.
Berethur had shaken off his confusion and now was flinging low tiered spells as fast as his exhausted body and reserves could towards the orc. Although it was three on one now, Hawken was barely keeping himself alive from Gallahad's axe. If his armor was of any lesser quality he would have already lost, but he was reducing the power of some unnervingly accurate axe strikes enough for them to bounce off of his armor, leaving large dents and sending shockwaves through his body. It was nothing he couldn't handle with a combo of [Fortress] and [Minor Deflection]. He currently had [Acceleration] [Quick Feet] and [Dodge] active but he was unable to go on the offensive against the orc, even in its heavily wounded and exhausted state.
Gallahad danced under the gigantic Pegasus's hooves while his axe came down on the knight from various angles. He felt pain from the spells sent by the caster but his thick skin withheld preventing further damage. With a sudden move he threw himself away and to the side of the knight, dodging the hooves of the Pegasus. He swung his axe in a large upwards arc, meeting the throat of the winged horse as its body came down to where Gallahad once stood.
The headless Pegasus stood tall, desperately flapping its wings for a couple more seconds before dropping to the ground. Berethur had dismounted from Joann's ride which was keeping its ground, while Hawken was readying himself for the battle that was soon to be resumed, albeit at worse odds. As the fighting came to a temporary halt, Berethur's attention went back to Grendell and Joan. He watched with wide eyes as the ugly bastard got swallowed by the ground.
"Grendell!"
Berethur had given his word; he could not let the Knight Captain kill the old beast before his task was complete. He stopped readying another spell, and ran towards Joann, leaving Hawken and Gallahad behind.
The surface of the swamp exploded, revealing a very angry Grendell that was now a couple meter in the air traveling towards Joann. It was futile however, brute strength was not enough to defeat an opponent who was as crafty as Joann. Yet again, Grendell's fist went straight through an air-clone and lodged itself into the ground. Grendell immediately retracted his arm, ready to smash the real knight.
"Hey, sorry we started off the wrong foot. I am Joann."
Grendell turned towards the Knight who was now picking her nails with her sword, no sign of understanding whatsoever. He roared as he charged, his only arm cocked for another punch. Joann sighed as she prepared a stronger [Air Blast] than she had used before.
'Sorry but I have to make you understand that you can't hurt me with your current skills. And this isn't enough to actually hurt you too.'
To her surprise, Grendell's charge slowly came to a halt, his eyes transfixed on Joann. No, it wasn't her the beast was looking at. 'Berethur.' Joann thought.
"Magic man." Grendell confirmed with a deep voice, noticing Berethur's presence for the first time.
"I think I should handle this Joann-kakka."
Berethur did not bother to hide the ice in his voice. After all, if the knights had not intervened, he would have been free to find Grendell by himself. To him, all this fighting was meaningless. Grendell was just an awfully strong albeit stupid beast and Joann's ignorant fixation annoyed him.
Joann raised an eyebrow at that, though she retreated away from the duo. Around the same time Gallahad appeared, ready to kill off the nuisances and set off with his newly found idol. For a split second, there was a strange standoff between a human, a fairy, an orc and a…Grendell.
Sometime later…
Air was a mixture of not-so-friendly emotions around the campfire. Joann and Berethur would not let go off Grendell while Grendell would not let go off Gallahad and Berethur, his new friends. Gallahad, well much had happened to him lately for the savage orc to think right. So now they further along the route, camped in the grasslands before continuing with Berethur's Pilgrimage.
Berethus looked at the peacefully sleeping Grendell. It was hard to accept what Joann had told him. But if that was the case, then going to the Floating Castle somewhat made sense.
'Grendell, or should I say Druid-san… Wonder what you were called before the villagers found you on our shores…'
Its cape was ripped to shreds when Joann unleashed her spells. The only thing that was left on the beast was the ring he had put on his finger couple weeks ago, which seemed like decades ago now. Grendell's bare chest rose and fell with each breath, his arm was limply laying on the grass. On one of his thick fingers, a plain looking ring was visible.
Berethur narrowed his eyes to make sure the faint light around the ring was not the product of the flames of the camp fire or his imagination. No, the ring was faintly glowing over the green grass. He crawled towards Grendell to take a better look, receiving a threatening side glance from the orc who was probably just acting like he was asleep, which he did not notice.
He kept getting closer until his eyes were inches away from Grendell's hand. From this distance, he could make out the etchings on the ring. 'Etchings?' He had held it before, there wasn't anything on the ring when he had gotten it from the old hag. But then again, it also was not glowing back then. Now, over the green grass, the ring seemed to react with the nature around it. Berethur tried to make out what was written on it.
'This isn't written in common tongue! This is… His heart beats got stronger as he recognized the shapes that were similar to the shapes he had often seen in the works of Merlin Monroe.
'B-bl. Hmm, Blue? Yes, that must be the word. And, P hmm, plan? Planet? Blue Planet? Wonder what that means…'
After making sure there wasn't anything else written on the ring, Berethur carefully crawled back to his makeshift bed. After cranking his mind on what he had read for a while, he fell asleep.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
* A group of gods associated with nature, fertility, wisdom, magic and the ability to see the future. A high-level racial trait in Yggdrasil.
