Chapter 34: Learning
He immediately went back to his house. The trip he made today only made him confirm his expectations of the Blacktooth Gang. It was better if he just killed all of them.
He took out the pouch that he took from the stronger of the two. It was a black pouch with a skull embroidered onto it. The skull was all gold except one tooth which blended into the black pouch.
He emptied the contents of the pouch onto his bed. It was a lot of money. He took out the crumpled notes and coins and started counting them all. They totaled 30000 Star coins.
Other than the money, there was also a token. It was the token representing the person's position in the Blacktooth Gang. He held it in his hands for a second before throwing it back into the pouch.
The token wouldn't be too useful to him because the Blacktooth gang wasn't that huge. He wouldn't be able to impersonate someone because they would know that he didn't belong there immediately.
He put the pouch and all of the money on the side of his bed. He didn't need any of the money yet, so he was going to save it to buy himself a proper dagger as well. He decided to rest for the night and train the next day.
A couple of days passed without any trouble. Leo and Daphne both didn't even step out of their rooms. Since they were a Mage and Aura Knight respectively, they didn't need as much food as normal people. They still came out to eat, but less often.
After dedicating all her time to training, Daphne finally saw some minor success. She was able to make her Aura turn icy and was able to make it stick to an arrowhead for long enough. It was only a few seconds, but it was the longest she was able to do till then.
After she did that, she immediately went to Leo's room to tell him about her progress. She knocked on his door.
"Come in," he said.
She came in and showed her progress. In her hands was an arrow whose tip was glowing a light blue color.
"I can hold it for long enough. Can we go to test it?" She asked.
Leo nodded. "Yes, we can go tomorrow." He was also excited to try hunting with Daphne.
He went back to training while Daphne went back to her room to try and keep the aura on to the arrow for longer. The rest of the day passed uneventfully.
The next day, both of them got ready to go to the forest. While they were walking into the forest, Daphne was humming along the way. Leo looked at her optimism and chuckled.
"Don't think this is a leisure trip. You have to be careful. The Outer Forest is no longer just Pseudo 1st Circle Magical Beasts. It is filled with real Magical Beasts. You have to be incredibly careful." He warned her.
She stopped humming and her face turned downcast. She walked a lot less energetically. This wasn't what he was going for, but he needed to give her a sense of reality.
He suddenly heard a small noise. He immediately signaled Daphne to get ready.
"There could be an animal nearby. Aim your bow." He said to her.
She nocked an arrow to the bow and got ready for Leo's command. She couldn't see any animal yet, but she trusted his word. She suddenly saw a movement in the bush and aimed at the source of the movement. She didn't shoot yet though.
Slowly, out of the bush, a rabbit wandered out.
"Shoot," Leo said.
Daphne looked at him with shock.
"But-"
"Shoot," he said again.
She looked at the rabbit and winced. She unwillingly released the arrow. The arrow flew toward the rabbit but missed it by a foot. She turned to him. She wasn't trying to miss but she was happy she did.
"Sorry, I missed." She said.
"I knew you were going to miss," he said. He walked up to the arrow in the ground. The rabbit ran away after seeing the arrow.
"You need practice not only for using aura but for using a bow and arrow as well. It's not as simple as you would assume," he added.
Daphne nodded. "Then what should I do?" She asked.
He walked to a tree. He took out a chalk and drew a few concentric circles on it. He walked away and sat on a rock nearby.
"Shoot at that. If you miss, you will have to bring back the arrows, so don't miss," he said.
She looked at the target. The tree was thicker than a normal trunk, but it didn't make a difference. It was still a hard target to hit, even if it was stationary. It was also pretty far away.
She closed the distance between herself and the trunk first. She knew she had to start small to avoid walking a long way to get the arrows back. She nocked the arrow into the bow and started firing arrows.
At first, she only used a little strength to get the hang of it. She used so less strength that the arrows didn't even stick to the tree. Eventually, when she felt she wasn't missing as much, she increased the amount of force she used.
For the rest of the day, she only shot arrows from a close distance while Leo was sitting at the side, training his magic. They weren't even in the Outer Forest and only in the outskirts so they weren't bothered by any animals or adventurers. The entire day passed like this.
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A/N: I would greatly appreciate comments about the story at any point. I would also appreciate reviews.
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Chapter 35: Meeting
Another day passed similarly and the day when Leo was supposed to meet with Clarice arrived. He decided that he wouldn't bring Daphne with him yet, but he would tell them about her and see if they were okay with her joining him.
He still hadn't decided whether or not she was ready to join him since she had just started using a bow and arrow. He still hadn't seen her make an impact on even a normal animal, much less a 2nd Circle Magical Beast.
He got ready and went to the hall. Daphne was waiting there, thinking they would go out to the forest again.
"We are going to go later, not now. I will be back in around 2 hours. Okay?" He said to her.
She was confused. "Why? What are you doing?" She asked.
Leo explained to her his plan to hunt a 2nd Circle Magical Beast. She heard this and immediately started questioning him.
"Why do you want to hunt a 2nd Circle Magical Beast? That has to be the dumbest idea I have heard in my life. You are just a 1st Circle Aura Knight, right?" She asked.
"Stop pressing me this much. You aren't even part of the plan. I have my needs for the Beast Core. That's it. Now, I have to go or I will be late," he said. He avoided all of the questions she asked because he didn't have the answers to them.
He left the house quickly by giving that excuse and walked to the inn he goes to normally. He was planning on being a little early to check in with the owner.
When he got there, he saw that there were small amounts of damage around the inn but everyone who was entering the inn was ignoring it. The sign board for the inn was missing half of its board and one of the lamps was broken.
He entered the inn and saw the normal casual environment he usually did and decided that the damage was just a few drunk adventurers going overboard. He walked up to the front to talk to the owner.
Before he even got there, he saw Lily. She saw him and walked toward him.
"Hi, Leo! How are you?" She asked him.
"I'm doing good, Lily. How are you? And do you know where your dad is?" He asked her.
"Why do you want to meet my dad? He's in the back though. I can call him for you." She said.
She went to the back and came back with the owner. She went back to her job of serving people drinks. Leo looked at the owner and started talking with him.
"So, Mr-"
"Just call me Miller," the owner cut him off. Your money helped me a lot. I was able to get my wife back and now business is a little better so I am able to get by. Thank you so much."
Leo smiled awkwardly. "It's nothing. I was going to check with you about what happened, but since you said everything is fine, what is the damage outside?"
Miller's smile turned into a frown.
"That? That is because the Blacktooth Gang was here. They came in and a lot of them got very drunk. They were angry because one of their squad leaders got killed," he said.
"Squad Leaders?" Leo asked.
"Yes. They only have 6 Squad Leaders, and one of them was killed a few days ago. The entire Blacktooth Gang became a little edgy because they don't know who killed them. But rumors are around that it's a mage. Obviously, it's just a rumor. What would a mage be doing in the slums of Solhaven?" Miller said.
"Also, did you have anything to eat yet? Anything you have here is on the house," Miller added.
Leo was still processing the information. The reason the rumor spread out must be because someone drunk from the Blacktooth Gang spilled it. That means that they figured out it was a mage. He looked at Miller.
"Oh, okay," He said. He wasn't paying a lot of attention because he was deep in thought. As he was walking to get a table, he heard a voice calling him.
"Leo!"
He looked up and saw Clarice and Evelyn near the entrance. He waved at them. He walked to an empty table while they were walking toward him and sat down.
"Hello, Clarice. Evelyn." He greeted them.
"Hello. Did we keep you waiting?" Clarice asked.
"No, I had some work here beforehand," he said. "Do you guys want to order anything?"
They both shook their heads.
"We already ate. We came just to talk about the hunt. We want to do it." Clarice said.
Leo became serious. "Are you sure? This is going to be incredibly dangerous and I want the Beast Core." He said.
Clarice nodded. "I was a Late-Stage 1st Circle Aura Knight until recently. I passed a minor bottleneck and I am now a Peak-Stage 1st Circle Aura Knight. To go to the next level, I have to take an elixir."
Leo was curious. "Elixir?"
"Yes," she said. "The Thousand Treasure Tower sells an Aura Gathering Pill for 50000 Star coins. One of them would just help with practice, but if I take two of them consecutively, I can definitely gather enough aura to form my second circle. Right now, I only have 80000 Star coins saved up. I need this hunt to hit that number quicker." She said.
Leo was confused. He had easily made 150000 Star coins over 3 months. Why was she struggling to save 80000 Star coins? After all, she had been an adventurer for so many years.
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A/N: I would greatly appreciate comments about the story at any point. I would also appreciate reviews.
If you like the story, then please consider voting with power stones.
:) Thanks. Have a great day.
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