I looked back to where Sarah was. She was still behind the tree.
I noticed the cold of the forest beginning to leave and the sun began to illuminate the entire clearing. The thick fog was also gone by now.
Just then, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. I turned back to where the Wendigo had been to find a pile of various items. Amulets, rings, crystals, etc.
"It must be everything inorganic that the Wendigo consumed," Erythro said.
Tsk. Just how many victims did it take to make a pile this big?
"Let's take it all back to the guild, I'm sure some of these hold sentimental value," I spoke as I absorbed all of it into my mass.
I walked over to Sarah.
"Is it over?" She asks.
"Yeah, it's over."
"You got a bag on you?" I asked.
I can't exactly show up to the guild and pull a huge pile of stuff out of my body.
"U-um, yeah, sure," she said as she pulled a black garbage bag from a pouch on her waste.
"Thanks."
I took the bag from her and ejected everything from my arm into it.
"Hey, look, I still have something to look for, whether you stick around or not is up to you," I said as I prepared to leave.
"What are you looking for?" She asked.
I pulled a picture of the Dragon's Breath root out of my chest and showed it to her.
"This, it's called Dragon's Breath root, I need three of them. Problem is, I haven't seen a single one since I've been out here," I confessed.
"I...might be able to help with that," she said as she opened another pouch, this one on her left thigh.
No way, she has a whole pouch full of them. I saw those roots pulsating with light, like they were on fire, but it was being controlled perfectly.
"Wild Boars love these things, so I collect them and use them as lures," She explained.
So that's why I couldn't find any.
"Are they for sale, I have some money on me if they are," I said, trying to bargain.
"Dear customer, you can have these for free," She said as she handed me five.
"Wait, are you sure?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's fine. Who knows what would have happened if you weren't here. I'm only rank D. By the way, what rank are you, you have to at least be A-rank, right? I mean, that speed was unreal," She admitted sounding impressed.
"I'm only C-rank, and thanks. I really needed this," I said, taking the roots from her and putting them in the bag.
She froze up.
"C..." She said quietly.
"Yeah, are you alright?" I asked.
She suddenly grabbed her ears and began scratching her head.
"Y-you have to joking! The gap between D and C is just too big if that's the case!" She yelled in frustration.
That's how I felt when I faught Lucian.
"You said you were hunting right? I can help you with that."
She stopped scratching and turned to look at me before grinning.
"Dear customer, you have yourself a deal," she said.
"You can call me Milo."
"Dear Milo, you have yourself a deal," she said in the same tone.
Still with the "dear," oh whatever.
(1 hour later)
"Are you sure you needed this many, greed is a sin you know," I said while holding far too many bags of wild boar.
"I'm sorry, who offered their services dear Milo?" Sarah taunted.
Well, can't complain there.
"I'm just saying, we should head back, it's getting dark. You wouldn't want to run into another Wendigo would you?" I taunted back.
Sarah tensed up after hearing this.
"F-fine we'll head back," She stuttered out.
We made a 2 hour hike back to the warp gate. When we exited it was as if nothing had ever happened. No one knew a thing.
We left the tower and I was surprised to see that it was still day time.
"Why's it still day time here?" I asked Sarah.
"You mean to say you don't know? Time passes by at a slower rate in the dungeons. 1 day out here is like 3 days in there," She confidently explained.
"How is that possible?" I asked.
"Beats me, some time it's a form of spatial magic, others say it has to do with the dungeons being in a different reality," Sarah said.
Hmm...spatial magic. Maybe that can get me home.
"Alright Sarah I have to head somewhere to deliver these roots," I said.
"Alright, just put the bags over on that carriage," She pointed to a big wooden carriage, with one horse attached to it.
There was an old man there, sitting in what looked to be the drivers seat.
"That's my father, he's pretty supportive of what I do as long as I keep the family business going. Sarah was my grandmother's name you see," She said honestly.
"I see, what's his name?"
"Paul, he's a pretty good merchant too," Sarah admitted.
We approached the carriage and as I began loading the Boars onto it, Paul spoke to me.
"Oh, and who is this young man, could you perhaps be Sarah's lover? I'm expecting grandkids soon ya hear." He said while stroking his beard.
"Father, we talked about this, I'm waiting for the right person," Sarah said firmly.
"Oho, you'll be waiting forever with that attitude," he joked.
I'm not ashamed to admit, I chuckled a bit.
"Why are you laughing?" Sarah said as she slugged my shoulder.
"My bad, my bad. I didn't mean to, but it's hard to hold back, you know?" I pleaded.
She paused and looked at me.
"Anyway, thanks for today, I'll be sure to give you a friend's discount next time you stop by our stall," she said as she winked at me and hopped onto the carriage with her father.
"I think she likes you romantically," Erythro said.
"Yeah right. I'll drink myself drunk if a girl were to like me in any romantic sense, and I don't even like alcohol," I replied cynically.
Then, they rode away. I decided to use appraisal on her father out of curiosity.
Name: Paul
Race: Beastman (Cat)
Rank: N/A
(Status)
Lv.11-Exp(1,236/11,000)
HP: 3,236/6,000
MP: 1,000/1,000
Strength: 32
Agility: 30
Endurance: 21
Intelligence: 28
Sense: 32
Mana: 50
Spirit: 55
Attribute Points: 0
Passive Skills:
Martial Arts(Lv.20)-Understanding of physical and combat prowess.
Look at the stats on this old man, what's with that Martial Arts? He's way above me! Wait a minute, why's his health so low.
I decided to aim my healing at him. Heal.
HP: 3,226/6,000
HP: 3,856/6,000
HP: 4,124/6,000
HP: 4,500/6,000
It's not going up anymore, he must be out of range. Oh well.
"Something's not right, but I can't pin point the problem," Erythro said.
Hmm...something wrong, I wonder what it is too?
"Appraisal has been Upgraded to Lv.4"
Nice. Now I need to head back to the guild. I tossed the bag of of belongings from the Wendigo over my shoulder. I took to the rooftops again and arrived in no time flat.
I walked into the guild glad that the mission was finally over.
I was surprised to see that everyone was staring directly at me. They weren't even hiding it this time.
I looked around to find the source of attention when I finally looked down at my chest. Crap, I was still wearing my suit, red glowing x for all to see.
No, maybe I can play this off. It's just some exotic clothing to, they haven't seen Erythro.
I approached Rachel.
"Milo, could you in fact be someone famous?" Rachel asked in amazement.
"In a sense, yes, anyway I finished the quest," I said.
"Oh, right. Follow me to the filing room," Rachel instructed.
I did as she said. When we entered the room through another pair of two large doors, I was surprised to see Lucian working at a desk.
He looked up to see me, a smile crept across his face.
"Lucian, Milo recently completed a quest, he wishes to file a report, please take a seat infront of the desk Milo," Rachel stated.
"Please tell me what happened," Lucian said.
(7 Minutes Later)
"A Wendigo, huh. That would explain the disappearences. Good thing you managed to crush it's heart by prying it's ribcage open. Good job Milo, I knew you were amazing," Lucian said.
"Thank you very much sir," I said.
"Please, call me Lucian," He added.
"Oh sure," I agreed.
"Rachel could you please check the contents of the bag?"
"On it."
Rachel opened the bag and began sifting through it.
"Wow, five Dragon's Breath Roots, rings, amulets, necklaces, pieces of armour, and..."
Rachel started shaking.
"Are you alright?" Lucian and I asked.
She was clutching a specific amulet in her hand staring down with tearfelt eyes.
"This one belonged to Alissa," Rachel confessed.
"I see...I'm sorry," Lucian said.
I stayed silent.
"That dumb girl, she would always visit me and brighten up my day," She went on.
"If it's okay I would like to keep this one," Rachel added.
"That's fine with me," Lucian said.
"Thank you," Rachel said.
"Um, as for your reward Milo. We can deliver the roots and give you your reward next time or you can deliver it and retrieve the reward yourself," Lucian offered.
"I'll deliver it," I stated.
Lucian pulled a suitcase out of his desk and loaded the Dragon's Root into it.
He handed it to me, before congratulating me one last time.
"I'll be sure to give you a good adventurer name," he stated.
Then, I left, following the map to the location that the order came from.
Reader's Bonus
I wonder if anyone reads this part.