Part 3
Chapter 1
Kiba followed by his Sensei, Hana, and the Paca were walking briskly along a breezy path through rolling hills of tall grass. They could see a great distance unobstructed on this path. Off to the west they could see a large ancient aqueduct. "It really seems to tie the aesthetic off nature's beauty with human innovation." Kiba thought. Kiba was wearing a brown Mage robe that had a large floppy hood. It was lined with fleece and was resistant to non-living magic. Hana also had on the same robe because her uniform no longer fit since her transformation. Sahara was wearing his a non military set of black robes with demon cleaner written on the back.
"Our destination is the Northernmost point on the Saga Continent there existed the Black Yew forest. This was the area that Sensei had scouted out." Thought Kiba. "According to Sensei we will be entering several different small empires and kingdoms so try to stay inconspicuous."
Kiba and Hana's power had grown exponentially since they went through the Trials. Hana could use elite tier skills and magic. She could now be considered one of the top mages in Saga. Kiba was even more impressive thanks to his Tensho abilities and through the assistance of Rubarow he was able to rank up all his grimoires in the first week since he left the cave. Rubarow would store all the knowledge and recommend the best rank up skills to activate. "I have learned numerous powerful spells and body enhancements." Kiba was thinking, "I have gained useful tools, such as the Deity Art: The Analyst. This gives me the ability to look at an object and determine what the object is and what it is composed of. This is useful to determine what strengths and weaknesses the object observed has.
I also like the Demon art: Devour. This allows me to consume anything without getting sick. This is useful for trekking because I could determine what was safe to eat. Granted it was unnecessary because Hana gained that ability as a reaper and Sensei seems practical invincible."
There was also the reduction of steps for the Grimoires binding to his body instead of activating the Book of Tenshi and Karada encryption he just needed to say, "Tenshi Body Combination."
When "The Book of Tenshi" is activated it consolidates all the Grimoires together and he can see his overall rank which was a two. Apparently the last Tenshi had made it all the way to level twenty.
Kiba sighed as he thought it would take forever to get to that level. Traveling with Hana and Sensei was usually pretty quiet and they didn't talk much, so Kiba thought he could get his Sensei on a monologue. Kiba said, "Hey Sensei do you know anything about the last Tenshi?"
Sahara thought for a moment and started into the lecture Kiba expected him to.
"The last Tenshi to be born was to a vagrant woman two hundred years ago. At that time there was no Saga just a multitude of Kingdoms and noble lands. There was a prophecy detailing this Tenshi's arrival, and the kingdoms were moved to war in search of the prodigy. They broke out because all the kingdoms in what now makes up Saga thought the other Kingdoms were hiding him. The truth was the child had been taken in by monks after finding the mother's body. She had been killed by road bandits which were prevalent in those times. The monks took the unprotected child in and raised her through their strict discipline. One day during a meditation the Grimoires revealed themselves. It created quite a stir for the monks, and the girl. They explained to the young one that she had a very strong power and that she should never use it. She was very obedient and followed their warnings. One day she was out collecting medicinal herbs with a couple local adventurers when the monastery was attacked by the Oaster Kingdom. The Oaster Kingdom was the most powerful in the region and was located in what now marks up Taira and Minamoto. When she got to the monastery not a single person was left alive. From that moment forward she vowed to end the fighting and unify the people. She changed her name to Nowa Minamoto and began cultivating a massive independent military to stop the power struggles. Over time she controlled an unstoppable military of humans, Demi-humans, and beasts. When she finally seized complete military superiority and forced the fighting kingdoms in submission she created Saga. Saga was designated to be exclusive to human and outside would be demi-human territory. This was done mutually and trade was allowed to occur between the two groups. After She died there was a power vacuum, but was stabilized by her son. Over time after about hundred and twenty years. Saga fragmented and was split into the four major clans we know of today."
Sahara wrapped up his monologue and noticed Hana and Kiba making fun of him behind his back. With a quick cough both of the offenders were struck with a floating stick. The next few hours were tranquil and felt surreal. The group was looking for a good place to camp when Sahara noticed Hana making a gesture with her fingers to him. He smiled and called out to Kiba. "Hey Kiba since we a breaking early why don't you go and round up our meal for tonight. It'll be up to you. Hana and I will set up camp and the barrier.
"Awesome!" Kiba shouted as he grabbed one of the swords off the paca. He slid the weapon into the belt like sash around his waist and ran off.
Sahara and Hana set up camp after Kiba left, and when they finished Hana wrapped her arms around her superior. Sahara turned and kissed her passionately. He was usually not the kind of person who would fall for a Demi-human, but she was like a Madonna. Her black skin radiated a unique luster that made her seem almost divine. Sahara recalled something about how black obsidian like skin represented a blessing from a type of Deity. After a minute of kissing they went into the tent.
Chapter 2 -
Kiba ran along a stream while following what appeared to be animal droppings. "I hope it's a horned rabbit!" Kiba said to Rubarow as she floated behind him.
"You should cast the detect presence skill if you want to locate the prey." Rubarow told him
"Thanks Ruby but I am trying to up my abilities naturally as well as magically."
"I understand Master, but shouldn't you at least set a skill to detect hostile presence?" She said.
Kiba paused he knew that he was like a beacon for evil creatures, but they had been fairly safe during the day. They mostly just ran into Demi-humans like goblin and these dog like heteromorphs. They were pretty weak opponents.
"No it should unnecessary but as a precaution I will activate Ghostshifter to turn into an apparition in case the enemy is too strong."
"Seems risky," Rubarow complained, but in the back of her head she thought. "I love master dearly since he rescued me from that prison, so maybe I am being over protective."
"It will be ok!" Kiba smiled I have you after all. Rubarow blushed and pouted. "Yea Yea," she dismissed him.
After about thirty minutes, Kiba heard a rustling sound off to his right. Something was in the bushes near the edge of a scattered woodland. He paused and crouched down. He noticed something poking out of the bushes and then hopped out. "It's a horned rabbit!" Thought Kiba as he charged it. Horned rabbits were much better tasting that regular rabbits and they were easier to catch because that fought rather than run. That's was Kiba believed, but when got to the area where the bushes were. A dozen more horned rabbits were charging him. Kiba jumped over them and collided with a young red haired lady. Her hair was cut in a non like fashion and she wore high quality adventuring clothing and armor. They both sat in the grass rubbing their heads.
"Sorry," they both said at the same time. The redhead laughed at this.
"What is a boy like you doing out here?" She inquired
"Oh I am just hunting these horned rabbits for a dinner with my Sensei and the Captain.
The girl thought for a moment, and smiled, "hey since it is my fault the prey got away would you like to come to our camp? I will give you some food to return with."
Kiba considered the risks but decided to go anyway.
Chapter 3
Kiba was astonished when he got to the redheads camp. There were four more women who were all quite pretty set up in a large carriage that looked like a skeletal centipede. The women were all doing various tasks and taking care of children. Of these children one was a human baby, the rest were Demi-human. There were two lord type Demi-humans and a toddler ogre. It seemed to be that these women were the moms. Redhead explained that they are traveling with their wonderful master who fathered these children. "Wow what a big family!" Kiba exclaimed innocently. The women laughed at how he did not think this was unusual. Kiba talked excitedly about his family and how he was traveling with his Sensei and friends.
After a while the redhead presented Kiba with three horned rabbits and small metal plate. Apparently it was for a mercenary group made up of Demi-humans. He thanked the woman and said bye to the children as he wished them well. Before he left to return to camp the redhead said, "if you see any rare Demi-humans in the surrounding area show them that plate. Anyone in our group will recognize it, so they won't attack."
"Thank you Mam! I hope see you all again!" Kiba shouted as he ran back to camp with the game.
Chapter 4
Kiba returned to the camp to find Hana was washing in the stream and his Sensei was collecting firewood in the nearby woodland. Kiba called out raising up the gift from the nice redhead lady. The two waved at Kiba as they walked over to greet him.
"Wow!" Said Hana who was drying off with a towel. "I haven't had horn rabbit in a while."
"Yes, It was a strange thing but I ran into some mercenaries while I was hunting." Kiba said.
Sahara stayed quiet to listen to Kiba's story.
A few minutes later after Kiba told the two of his exploits Sahara was looking at the metal plate. "Kiba… I completely forgot to tell you something important." Sahara was saying slowly. "Did you give them your name? "
Kiba's eye grew wide out of excitement, "it was strange Sensei, I was about to tell the redhead lady my name, but she stopped me from telling her. She did not tell me her name either."
Sahara relaxed a bit, "ok that's great news. These people truly are good. I wonder what kind of person runs that harem you encountered?" Said Sahara "Anyway it is extremely important to never reveal your true name outside the Divine Barrier especially since we are going against witches. They have power to use names for black magic."
Kiba recalled the lesson Sensei gave about black magic and remembered he did mention how curses could be cast onto people with basic information about the individual. Black magic was considered to be pure evil magic unlike other magic with similar names like shadow magic or dark skills. That is when Kiba came to a realization, "Sensei should we create fake names?"
"Yes," replied Sahara. "In fact we are about a week away from Gashi. It is the most populated city north of Tachibana. There is an adventurer guild there where can register as Adventurer. We can use it to solidify our fake identity. Kiba come up with a name for yourself."
"Yes Sensei," Kiba answered.
"What should my name be Major," asked Hana playfully.
Kiba watched Sahara think for a moment and whisper something in her ear. Hana blushed with a big smile, and whispered something back to him.
Kiba looked at them with a weird face.
Chapter 5
The next day they had officially concluded on the names they would use. Sahara would be Sensei Yard Tosu, Hana would be Mimi Nowa, and Kiba would be Shin Uumi. Kiba noticed that Rubarow felt left out so he gave her the name Emmi Rald because she had emerald eyes.
As they walked through a forest they came across a fork in the path which Sahara lead them down the path to the west. He said that this path goes to Gashi and the other leads to Fuun Volcano where a legendary monster lives. "There are rumors it is a dragon, but nobody who goes near the volcano is able to get close enough due to the lava moat."
They continued on for a few days with nothing exciting occurring. This slightly vexed the Sensei who wanted Kiba and Hana to train while traveling. "It can't be helped. " he would say as he would force Hana and Kiba to fight to near death exhaustion. He would also force Kiba to forge for dinners every night.
One evening while Kiba was hunting, Hana and Sahara laid next to each other discussing why no Demi-humans had been attacking them.
"Do you think that mercenary group is powerful enough to subjugate all the Demi-humans in this region?" Hana asked while wiping up a particular mess.
"It is strange," Sahara said as he bit his thumb. They were still nude and Sahara had a hard time concentrating as Hana breasts bounced around while she cleaned. "It isn't weird for a lord type Demi-human to have a harem, but for there to be five human women free to do as they please… the master must be a fairly intelligent and compassionate entity."
Hana nodded as put the dirty cloth in a laundry bag.
"If he is able to subjugate an entire region of Demi-humans and have a cheerful harem then he must be incredibly powerful. Most Demi-humans are not smart enough to be ruled let alone told not to hunt humans. Most lords are extremely corrupt and violent. Gah it doesn't make sense, so I will leave it alone for now."
Hana was rubbing his back, to relieve his frustration, when they heard the barrier sensor detected a presence.
It was Kiba. Sahara quickly got dressed as Hana did her usual bath and laundry preparations. Sahara scrambled out of the tent to see Kiba dragging a dead orc along the ground.
Sahara was excited this was the first demo-human he had see since a week after they left. They had been traveling almost a month. Usually he would see them daily on this path.
"Nice catch boy we are going to eat well tonight." Sahara smiled. "Did he attack you?"
Kiba nodded he was proud of himself though he had fought much harder Demi-humans before.
"Yea apparently he is the last one in the area. He said there was an Ogre Lord working as a mercenary who eradicated his whole clan for a town the Orcs had been subjugating. He then tried to attack me again after I was going to let him go. Oh well orcs are tasty."
It was true humans eat a variety of monsters in fact they are packed with vital nutrients which allowed better Vis production and storage. This is especially common outside of Saga, because it is much more difficult to raise livestock outside the Divine Barrier. This would be the second time Kiba had eaten orc. The first week on the trek they encountered a couple orcs and a pack of goblins which were easy for Hana and Kiba to deal with. Since Hana transformed her fear induction had dropped drastically, she did not harbor fears of orcs anymore instead she just wanted to kill and eat them.
Hana had walked over with some laundry still sweaty from activities earlier. She looked at Kiba's prey and patted him on the shoulder. "How did you take this bad boy down?" She asked
Kiba patted the short blade on his waist and pulled it out with a fancy trick. "Easy, this sword is too quick for these pig guys."
Hana laughed and asked if she could take a piece since she was starving. Kiba agreed and she used her flame magic to roast the orc. She then cut the arm off and ate it like a massive chicken wing as she walked to the nearby creek. Kiba and Sahara ate until they were stuffed. Everyone's appetite had increased dramatically since the start of the mission. All that was left was a leg and a few ribs. When Hana returned she ate the rest. The trio relaxed and chatted about what they were going to do in Gashi for the rest of the evening.
Chapter 6
As the group drew closer to Gashi they noticed more and more travelers. Kiba and Rubarow watched as people passed by on horse drawn wagons and as they passed older folks walking with large backpacks. Many on the groups would have what appeared to be adventurers guarding them. Adventurers were easy to spot because of the arm bands they wore on their left bicep.
The majority of the adventurers had green or orange bands but every now and then with larger or more wealthy parties of people there would be one or two adventurers with red bands. Kiba assumed this must be the way they measured an adventurer's capabilities. He knew they would be going to the adventurers guild in this town to register themselves and he was excited to see what rank he would get.
Kiba looked over to Hana who had activated a undead magic skill called "Apparel of the Mummy" which covered her entire body with enchanted cloth wrappings. The only exposed was some of her hair, eyes, and mouth. This skill was necessary because it masked Hana's massive undead presence. Also her skin and tattoo-like marks were similar monsters that are hostile toward humans. At first he thought Hana looked silly but with her brown mage robe it complimented the look so now she looked powerful and cool.
The ruined architecture that they had passed intermittently through their weeks long trek was replaced by fully developed and efficient modern marvels such as windmills, dams, and churches. There was an aqueduct also fifty meters tall with three channels to carry water from what appeared to be a distant mountain range. The ducts lead to a massive fortified wall at least thirty meters tall. It was surrounded by a magic barrier as well. Since the city sat on top of a raised bit of land the only way to get into the city was by the steps to the front and rear entrances.
Sahara led the group to the entrance where a long line of people were being screened for entry. Sahara said, "I have means of entering the city much more quickly but since we are using aliases we should act like foreigners. Let's just say we come from a distant monastery. Also I used a skill of magic nullification so the screening mages won't be able to detect lies."
Hana was doing to pass the time party tricks, such as creating a flame by snapping her fingers or creating small fireballs to juggle. She stopped once she noticed a crowd was starting to watch her in astonishment.
"Wow she can use magic like it's nothing!" One green band adventurer said to an orange band who must have been a higher rank. The orange band man was flustered by this comment and tried to downplay the feat.
Hana kept a low profile for the rest of the wait. It took approximately an hour to get to the screening. Each of the three were searched and had their weapons inspected. They were advised not to use their weapons inside town. Then they were asked about the purpose of their trip. To which they all replied to become adventurers so that they could become stronger and gain more connections. When asked where they were from Sahara produced a document stating they were sponsored by Vail Monastery. This document was created to solidify their story. Since Sahara temporarily nullified their magic the screening mages could not detect the forgery.
All in all it took about ten minutes to get through the screening. The trio were now walking slowly to an inn that had stable services to keep Paca. After about five minutes of walking a large sign hung above a large stone building with a thatch roof. The sign said, "Orc's Head Tavern and Inn." In the middle there was a painting of a decapitated Orc with an apple in its mouth. Sahara lead his two pupils inside where there was a surprisingly calm scene. One would imagine a tavern called the "Orc's Head" to be filled with misbehaving and aggressive men getting slammed on wine and beer. There were intimidating men but they stayed to themselves or their groups.
Sahara approached the counter where a young maiden was wearing a traditional style bar keep uniform.
"Good afternoon miss, we have just arrived in town and would like room a week with meals. Is a gold coin enough?" Sahara asked knowing a gold coin was worth ten silver coins and one hundred copper coins was equal to one silver. The running cost for a week at an inn was one silver coin. Although Gashi was outside Saga they used Saga currency for convenience this allowed easier trade among the city and empire. It really is not fair to call Gashi a city because it was actually the Capital of the Gashian Kingdom which controlled the surrounding towns and villages. The King went by the name Rem Bo. He had one of the largest consolidations of power outside of Saga and was known to be a harsh but fair type of ruler.
Hana's keen senses picked up a conversation of the right between two adventurers with orange armbands.
"Did you hear?" One of them said
"The Princess has fallen under a dark disease possibly a curse."
"Hmmm," the other man pondered. "That explains all the herb collection quests and traveling healing mages arriving."
Hana glanced over at Sahara who caught her eyes and nodded that he heard as well. The bar keep was being amused by Kiba who asked her a bunch of questions.
"Are you the owner of this place?" Kiba asked as the cute attendant laughed quietly with her hand covering her mouth.
A large figure appeared behind the girl.
"Nay!" The voice boomed, "I am the owner Sisila Ox!"
Standing behind the clerk was a massive lady who stood two and a half meters tall. She had spiky brown hair all the way past her thighs. She had a light tanned skin with large scars and massive muscles. On top of her head were two bovine like horns. Her face was aesthetic but intimidating. She wore very revealing clothing and had the biggest chest and hips Kiba had ever seen. On top of this she wore a massive battle axe strapped to her back.
Kiba smiled hand held out his hand, "Nice to meet cha Mrs. Ox lady!"
The massive woman glared at the boy with killing intent causing Hana to go on guard. Sisila then broke out in to a huge grin and shouted, "Aww hell kid I like you! You got a girlfriend?" She then shook the boy's hand.
Sahara and Hana looked at the pair with awkward unease. Sisila looked over at Sahara and her jolly demeanor went serious for a moment.
"Herm…" the Ox lady cleared her throat. "Tina go set up the conference room for our guests we need some privacy."
"Yes mam," the girl bowed slightly and went off.
"It's been a while you ol white haired spook." Sisila grinned smugly.
Chapter 7
Sahara sat on a large sofa with Hana to his left and Kiba to the right. The room he was in was slightly cramped because there were no windows and the room was a bit small. In front of him was a fairly large table with short legs. It looked like it was used for eating while sitting on the floor. Across the table sat the extremely well endowed Sisila her arms and legs spread out like a man.
"So so so what brings you here Major Sahara errrr I mean Tosu-Sensei." Sisila asked sarcastically.
"Well considering you are my only connection in this town I figured I would pay you a visit. I received your letter about how you took over this establishment when you retired from adventuring."
"Well that true but I know when your bullshitting. So let me in on the reason your here and I will give you the current events. I will also vouch for you at the Adventurers Guild, which has a new rules," she said waving her hand
"I see," Sahara responded.
Sahara went into a brief explanation of what there intents were.
"We would like to be registered as adventurers so as to not raise a panic for our mission to the Northern Forest. Towns will be extremely suspicious of dark oriented magic users if we enter without guild Identification. I cannot let you in on the exact details because it is classified and unverified. I can tell you it may involve black magic so we need to conceal our true identities so that we aren't cursed or manipulated."
Sisila nodded Hana remained reserved and professional. Kiba was feeling the effects of being a young man with a scantily dressed woman in front of him whose every movement caused her mammaries to bounce. Kiba tried to concentrate on the discussion but was failing. Eventually the discussion was over and they left the room. Sisila was going to take them over to the Guild so she told Tina to mind the business. Apparently the reason the tavern was so calm was because of Sisila's rules, and if anyone violated those rules Sisila would do something scary to them. She was a legendary adventurer in this town after all.
Chapter 8
They walked the cobblestone roads with stone walled buildings on either side when they got to a large open area with a massive stone building it was only one floor but it sprawled out further than any other building in the area. As they approached the number of merchants and travelers dispersed as more and more adventurers were seen. They were in groups or by themselves, some were inventorizing their supplies, some were in arguments with other members. This was the scene that was expected at the Tavern but instead it was here in the front of the guild. Kiba noticed Sisila was glaring at people who were being loud and gritting her teeth. "She must not like loud noises." Kiba thought. He touched Sisila's arm, "Mrs. Ox are you ok?"
She flinched at first then relaxed, "Yes yes, sorry to worry you. I get a little ancy in crowds. I don't need to worry though because I have you right?" Sisila joked.
Kiba smiled and replied, "Yes I will protect you!"
Sisila patted the boy's head with her mammoth hand. "Hey Tosu I love this kid. You gotta let me have him."
Sahara waved his hand, "No can do his mother would get angry if did."
Kiba felt a pain in his chest but let it go. Sisila made a dissatisfied noise with her teeth as continued to pat Kiba.
They went inside the guild hall to see a massive crowd of rowdy people. Kiba patted Sisila's arm to calm her down but it wasn't enough.
"OI KEEP IT DOWN!" She shouted as all the adventurers turned to look at that monstrous roar.
"IT'S THE OX QUEEN!" Someone shouted and a cheer went through the hall. Kiba looked defeated as Sisila drew her ax and gave off a powerful bloodlust.
"DIDNT I SAY KEEP IT DOWN!" Sisila swung the ax and hit the people closest to her with the flat part sending them flying through the wall.
The guild was now silent except the groans of the people unfortunately struck by Sisila.
"Ahhh Sisila come to the back it will be less noisy," a voice called from around the room. It was a older man possibly around the age of War Chief Inzai.
Sisila grunted then composed herself. She led the group through a parted sea of awestruck adventurers.
They all got settled in the back at a large round table where the older man sat.
"What is going on,Guildmaster?" Demanded Sisila.
"Now Now Sisila calm yourself. Here have some tea." The man gave here a ceramic cup of a brownish liquid.
"So we just called a mandatory meeting for our adventurers guild, you probably didn't hear the bell because it is a spell that only current adventurers hear."
Sisila narrowed her eyes as she sipped the tea.
"The fort city of Prisma is under siege by an army of Non-living. So everyone here is preparing for an excursion to re enforce the stationed men."
"I see," said Sisila.
"So Sisila you thinking about coming along?" The man asked.
Sisila was silent.
"Well we will comeback to that. May I ask who these individuals are?"
Sisila focused and said, "they are magic casters and warriors from a Vail Monastery they wanted to expand their skills by joining an adventurer's guild."
"Oh it is unlike you to accompany people who want to be adventurers to the guild."
"Well I am here to vouch for Tosu here. He helped me subjugate the Orclord and army outside of Dororo."
"I see, I will take your endorsement into consideration, but as you know the new rules state every adventurer must start at the lowest rank until they can prove their worth on missions."
"Yes I am aware, Tosu would you like to say something?"
"Yes we have no issues with starting at the bottom. Are there any quests that would take us to the Northern forest? We promised our sisters that we would collect some of the bark from the Evergreens so we can make more potent healing medicine."
The Guildmaster frowned, "Unfortunately no that region is too dangerous for Greenies, plus that's where the non-living army that is attacking Prisma is from."
"I see," Sahara said thinking
"I suppose I could ask you Sisila, how strong are these individuals?"
"Hmmm I would say Shin is red, Mimi is black, and Tosu is the same I was so Adami."
The guildmaster's eyes grew wide, "That strong?"
"At least," Sisila said confidently.
"Well as Guildmaster, I will grant you permission to travel to the Northern Forest… on one condition."
Sahara nodded
"Join battle at Fort Prisma and I will evaluate your abilities on the mission."
"Guildmaster you are going?" Asked Sisila
"Nay but you will."
Sisila grinned, "I see."