บท 6: First Mission
I wake up on the ground underneath my old house.
Again... Every time I sleep I wake up here. Everything is exactly the same, Mama's lifeless eyes looking at me, Papa's corpse with a hole in his stomach.
Here again huh?
Is it not enough already?
The flames of revenge are an interesting thing they burn the brightest but a simple breeze can extinguish it.
.....
"Dear wake up" Says Claire whispering in my ear gently
She is hugging me, her mouth is touching my ear and I can hear her breath. I must admit, the warmth of someone else is a good feeling.
"Im awaken" I say bluntly
Burn the brightest but a simple breeze can extinguish it huh... Maybe in the deepest parts of my mind, this is what I want, to have love again, but I cant.
Claire put herself on top of me between my legs, putting her face strangely close to mine.
"Are you hungry love?" Claire says gently
I accept her offer and she kisses me.
She puts on a blue baggy t-shirt and panties, as for myself im still wearing the same as yesterday, she didnt let me change sigh...
She sits on the sofa with a table in front of her with some food I never seen before. Claire slightly patted her tights signaling for me to sit on her lap.
This woman definitely has something against personal space.
I sit on her lap and she passes her hands around my stomach hugging me and putting her head on my shoulder.
Claire takes a little plate from the table with a strange food with white cream on top.
"This is cake, open wide dear" Claire says gently
She puts a fork with a piece of cake on it close to my mouth and I eat it.
It is delicious. The only foods I have eaten until now are vegetables, bread, and eggs, this is completely on another level, it is sweet and fluffy.
She continues to feed me strangely touching me sometimes.
I wonder, what those guys are doing? where did they sleep or eat? Claire didnt mention anything about it.
"Something on your mind dear?" Claire asks while feeding me
"Those guys riding the carriage dont eat?" I ask casually
She licks my neck and I flinch a little because of how sudden it was.
"You are bad, thinking of other people while with me, but I forgive you because you are the cutest" She says with a slightly angry tone
She proceeds.
"Why would they eat with us? they are peasants and servants, but they do eat there is a compartment behind the carriage with tents and food for them to camp outside" Says Claire casually
So this is how it works huh... the power of gold as Papa used to say.
"They seem rather weak for bodyguards" I say bluntly while she feeds me another bite
Claire laughs a little and kisses my ear.
"From the way you act, I can see that you came from a tiny village" Claire says casually
It is obvious huh?
Claire proceeds.
"You underestimate your rareness love. One needs a body to take mana in without problem this is what we call talent, not everyone can use Mana usually only nobles can, it is rare for a peasant to use it for fighting and be good at it, but some of them can use it for normal tasks" Says Claire casually
So talent with mana is something that passes in genetics, but im very talented so it must mean that it can be random too.
We end breakfast and one of those guys knocks on the door saying we are close to arriving at Gevineia, the city we are going to.
Claire seems cheerful and hugs me.
"When we get there I will buy you clothes and we can go on a date love, I have to take care of a few businesses there so you will accompany me too" She says joyfully
Sigh... I dont think so.
"When we get there I will be going on my own way" I say calmly
Her expression twists in rage and she hugs me tighter.
"Why? You are my wife, stop kidding and stay with me forever" Claire says in a low voice inraged
"I liked being with you and your warmth is good, but I have my own objectives to achieve" I say calmly
Normally this would be the time for her to put me in a cage but she knows im strong, so she is just about to cry.
Her tears fell on my face and she put on a sad expression.
I took advantage of her, I feel slightly bad for it, she did take good care of me after all.
She falls to her knee and cries on my chest.
"You dont like me? Did I do something wrong?" Claire says with a sad tone crying
I already said 3 times that I have my objectives but it dont get through her head for some reason.
I pat her head and she looks up to see me, I kiss her lips.
"After I complete my goal, maybe I could come back to you" I say calmly
Maybe I could, I hardly know what I will do after I get my revenge.
"Tell me your goals then" Says Claire with a sad tone
I cant tell her, if she has links to the white wolf clan could be dangerous.
"It is better if you dont know, and no I prefer if you dont try to help me now" I say casually
If I receive help now, it would eliminate all the meaning of my mission, I need to be strong enough to do it alone.
"Promise then, promise that you will come back to me" She says with a sad tone
At least she will not pay people to get me back I think.
I promise and I kiss her on the lips again, now she is a little more cheerful but still sad. She made me do a few things to compensate for her sadness, mostly related to sex.
When we got to the city, she hugged and kissed me a lot before letting me go.
She gave me a set of clothes, it is a little baggy because it was her clothes but I prefer my clothes baggy anyway.
Im wearing a black long-sleeve shirt with a turtleneck and im wearing my own gray trousers, for the feet, she didnt have my size so im using my boots.
The city is really big compared to my old village, the movement is bigger too. There are a lot of people on the streets various kinds of street shops, and even normal shops, and roads made of stone not dust like in my old village.
The houses are a mix of wood and stone. Some roofs have different colors too.
I walk the street with Penance in my hand, people would probably find it strange if someone walked around with a crow.
Now I need to find the adventurers' guild.
I stopped and asked for information in a few street shops, seems like I need to find a sign with cross swords on it, just down the street.
People dont look so cheerful on the streets, if you look closely you can even see children begging in alleys. I used to beg on the streets too in my previous life, I know how it feels when people dont even look you in the eyes when they dont even perceive you as a human being.
Soon I find the guild, I enter the building and see that most people look really tired and without life. Sitting at tables of wood drinking and talking.
Most of these people are really low-rank nobles or nobles who lost their titles, risking their lives every day for a few coins. Mama used to say that there are very few adventures that are adventurers because they choose.
I received some puzzled looks probably because of my small figure.
I walk toward the balcony without caring about the looks. There is a guy on the balcony, who is wearing a uniform with a blue tie.
"I would like to register as an adventurer" I say to him with an apathetic tone
The man let out a sigh and looked annoyed.
"Look kid, I dont want to intrude but if you do this, you will die" He says bluntly
"No need to worry, register me" I say apathetically
He got a little annoyed but there was nothing he could do. He gave me some papers to sign and a card with my name and an F, I need to perform well and my rank will increase and I can get missions depending on my rank or teammates.
After I got my card, a group of 4 came to me.
"Are you interested in joining our team? With more people we can get missions that give more coin" Says the guy in the middle
This is obviously a trap, im a beginner here and a kid, there is no way someone would be willing to accept me right off the bat. But why though? maybe my sword or my clothes, or maybe even me.
"Okay" I say apathetically
They dont seem to be strong, if they all die I could get a bigger reward and sell the items too.
There is, Isaac, Iria, Orek, and Komichi, they all have last names but I didnt bother to remember them.
Isaac is the leader, he chooses missions. He is tall and muscular, has red hair, wears white clothes with some leather to protect his chest and wrists, and uses a spear as a weapon.
Iria is the only woman, she wears green clothes, a bow on her back with some arrows in a bag too, brown long hair and a tall slim figure, and white skin slightly tanned.
Orek is big and bulky, he wears some red clothes and uses a short sword with a relatively big shield, tanned skin, and spiky blue hair. Looks at me like a predator remembers the look on Claire's face the first time we met.
Komichi is younger and wears black clothes, uses two daggers as a weapon, blonde short hair, and white skin.
They all use some basic protection but nothing crazy.
Isaac got the mission. Apparently, a pack of wolves in the nearby forest, lightning wolves, their claws have electricity infused to them, and they are slightly bigger than normal wolves.
We are now making our way toward the forest, it is close so dont take long to arrive.
They casually try to talk but I do not really bother and just give blunt answers.
What should I do? torture them until they reveal something about the white wolf clan, it is highly unlikely but any information is better than none. I should wait until the wolves appear, kill them, and deal with these people after.
It is moaning and the forest is well enlighted.
Soon they turn to me and get their weapons out.
They will not even wait for the wolves? They are not even trying to hide huh.
"Dont make it difficult kid, put your weapon on the ground and take out your clothes and anything of value you may have" Says Isaac
I take Penance out of the scabbard and they rush at me.
Iria sent an arrow at me charged with mana, it came rather fast, but not enough.
I cut the arrow in half and dash at the other three.
Ignoring Oroki who is focused on defense and is slower, I make my way swiftly toward Isaac. My speed took them by surprise and Isaac could barely block my strike, but he couldnt block the follow-up and I took his hands that were holding his sword.
Isaac fell to the ground screaming in pain, and Komichi dashed at me in rage trying to strike my back, he is fast. I bent down to dodge and put Penance on a reverse grip and I swiftly cut his leg.
Iria tries to send an arrow at me but I throw Penance at her making it go in crow form to attack her face.
While Penance distracts Iria, Oroki rushes toward me but he is rather slow so I have time to cast.
I cast and some chains got out of the ground immobilizing him.
Now there is only Iria, I run at her and kick her in the stomach making her fall to the ground.
Their faces are pale and full of fear, they dont even dare to speak.
I hoped a little bit more to tell the truth, they only know basic mana tricks.
"Crawl toward Oroki location" I say apathetic
At least they are not dumb and grasp the situation they are in they do what I say rather quickly.
I stop in front of them making Penance come back to sword form. They seem a little scared by it but are trying to keep calm.
"Are you going to kill us?" Ask Isaac with a fearful tone
"Yes" I say bluntly
Iria starts to cry a little and the others seem very scared.
"It could happen fast or slow" I say apathetically
...
Mostly fast, I tortured them for some time, as expected nothing really useful.
I got their weapons and a few accessories. Iria had a book, some rings, and necklaces too.
I put everything on the ground and I entered the forest marking my way to make sure to not get lost.
I still need to kill those wolves, hopefully, it will be quick.
Doesnt take long for a pack of wolves to come at me. Every time they put their feet on the ground to run an electric noise comes out, not very stealthy. There are 6 of them, they have gray fur and yellow claws.
They shouldn't be too strong after all that team came to kill them after killing me.
I dash at one of them cutting its head.
Huh, not really a danger.
After a few minutes, I killed most of them, putting their mana gems and ears on a piece of clothing that I had taken from Isaac's corpse.
Now, the worst part, going back with all the loot alone, sigh...
...
Finally arrived at the guild doorstep, time to head inside.
Im a little loaded right now so I have to go slowly toward the balcony. Everyone around seems surprised after seeing me and puts on fearful expressions after seeing me hold my last teammate's weapons.
I got to the balcony and the cleck from before seems afraid of me now. I throw everything that I have on the ground making a lot of noise.
I throw the ears on the balcony.
"I completed" I say apathetically
The clerk swallows dry.
"And what happened to your teammates?" He asks with a hint of fear
I look at his eyes and with an emotionless expression, I say.
"They kindly sacrificed themselves for my sake" I say
He dont ask anything more. The tension in the room is high, all eyes are on me.
"I would like to sell these weapons to the guild too, some rings and necklaces if possible" I say formally, I throw some rings and necklaces at the balcony
I got to sell everything, I won good money with only this mission and selling those things. I can keep myself for some time until I absorb these magic gems, which should be enough to unlock my shoulders.
I ask around about an inn to stay and I found one. It is not very luxurious like Claire's carriage but it is enough.
A few people are drinking themselves to death at some round tables on the first floor, people are drinking and eating while talking the place seems rather full but on the second floor must be the rooms.
I walk toward the balcony and I buy a room for a day and a meal that I plan to have now.
A waiter came to me with a slightly embarrassed look.
"There is no table left, do you mind having to share with those people?" She says pointing toward a table with 2 people
A tall and thin man with slightly pale skin wearing a black cloak, black smooth hair combed behind.
The other seems to be an older woman she is tall and lean, has gray-tied hair and slightly tanned skin, wearing a black cloak around her body.
I agree to sit with them.
The old woman is staring at my weapon for some reason.
"What was the price?" She asks with a slightly mischievous tone
Huh, so she knows about these types of weapons, this is a first for me.
I dont really have anything to hide here, there is no need to lie.
I open my right eye, it is empty. The woman looks a little surprised and the man dont seem to care about our conversation.
"Not bad, I heard of people who lost a lot more" She says casually
So it is not an uncommon thing for these types of weapons to show up? I should ask while I can.
"It is not a rare thing these kinds of weapons?" I ask casually
"Oh no, you misunderstood my tone, it is very rare actually, it means that a divinity chooses you, mostly because it found you interesting or could be other things too" She says
So that big crow is a godlike creature? weird, but dont matter to me, it is useful.
My food arrived alongside their food.
I asked for a vegetable soup, truth be told I wish to eat cake again, but it is noble expensive food I cant buy it.
We ate in silence, after I finished and was about to leave, the woman talked.
"Im forming a group, with an objective I cant quite tell you, would you be interested in joining?" She says with a formal tone
How would I start to consider joining if you dont tell me what the group does? I dont know what these people are, but they are definitely strong, I can feel it, and I dont feel comfortable walking around with people that could kill me if they want.
The man at her side seems surprised by her offer.
"No, thank you for the offer" I say formally
The woman let out a laugh.
"My code name is Laplace, maybe one day we can meet again" She says casually
She rose from her chair alongside the man and got out of the inn after saying this.
I go toward my room on the second floor, after arriving I lock the door and sit on the bed, the window reflecting the moon and a night sky filled with stars.
The bed is made of animal fur and straw, it is like my old bed. The room is tiny and has only a bed and a drawer.
I should try absorbing these mana gems.
It was the first time I got to see mana gems, they are blue little stones, and they glow a little too.
I have these 6 mana gems around me and I sit on the floor to meditate.
I slowly absorb them, it needs to be done slowly so I should not absorb all of them today, plus im already a little tired.
I will try absorbing them a little and go to sleep, I can absorb the rest tomorrow.
I stop and I put the mana gem in the drawer, I get the book that I got earlier and I sit on the bed to read using the moonlight.
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