"Man, we really are a bunch of pussies." Pete said, dejectedly.
Peter, Henry, and Pete were currently 'trying' to explore the outskirts of the kingdom for the sixtieth time. Sadly they can never seem to make it further than 5 blocks away.
"Indeed, Peter. We are indeed pussies." Henry admitted that they are indeed pussies.
"Don't call me 'Peter' just 'Pete.' you know I hate that name." Pete said annoyed. For some reason he just hates it when people call him by anything that isn't his name.
"Then we should travel further today, just a little bit more. At least 10 blocks this time. Baby steps." Henry said.
"Yeah, perhaps not. I mean didn't you hear that recently a girl got killed and she wasn't that far from the kingdom?" Britney commented.
"Yeah. Happened on the same day we last saw Josh. Poor girl. I think her grandma died of a heart attack or something, not long after receiving the news of her daughter?" Henry said sadly.
"Wait, that happened?"
"Yes, Pete. I think I heard that a large monster killed her, a cyclops or an ogre did it. Even the carriage she was driving was smashed to pieces." Britney closed her eyes to pay respect to the dead girl.
It's the same one who accompanied Josh to the kingdom.
"How do you guys know this? We are literally together almost every day."
"I know this from Britney." Henry said.
"I know from Colby and Ali since they are a bunch of chatterboxes. While you're asleep we sometimes talk to them. How do they know? I have no idea. But they do seem to know a lot more about what's going on than we do." Britney said.
Sometimes Britney talks to her classmates. And she used to date Colby a few years ago, until she broke up with him once they graduated from high school.
"That poor girl. Welp, I am going to bed. See ya!"
Henry grabbed Pete by the collar of his shirt and dragged him back slightly. All Pete wants to do lately is sleep. Henry basically has to drag Pete outside every day. He's only doing this for the safety of his friend.
Pete doesn't really care about getting stronger. Someone else can be a hero in his place, or at least that is what he thinks.
"You're not going anywhere. We are going to get stronger!"
"But why? We literally don't have to do anything. We can just live inside the kingdom our whole lives without going outside, like quarantine but less boring. There are like 100 other heroes who can do this, this, whatever we're doing." Pete said.
"What we're gonna do is get stronger, at least strong enough to kill a dragon."
"I don't see the point. The Great Sage can do that easily, and so can Josh. And besides, the Great Sage has been around for 300 years, I believe he'll last long enough until we grow old and die of old age."
Pete merely wanted to live a simple life that doesn't include risking your life everyday killing terrifying monsters, like a game of monster hunter but with less awesome and beautiful looking creatures to kill in their own habitat minding their own business.
Pete suddenly remembered the huge dragon they saw when it attacked the kingdom. The very same dragon who turned into a loli.
Pete was never afraid of anything before. But when he saw that dragon, his body froze, and he couldn't move. He knew he was safe from harm, but his body still froze, and he couldn't move no matter what.
'All I wanted to do was eat a delicious Snickers bar, order some pizza, watch some Rick and Morty in the comfort of my own room. Was that too much to ask, God?' Pete thought.
That was his plan right before he was summoned.
To this day he believes that one day he'll be back to his home, and eat that Snickers bar. All he wants is to go back home and enjoy his comfortable, boring, and not so deadly life.
"Well, first because our time is limited. Unlike the Great Sage, and Shaun, we won't be able to love a long lifespan, so we need to get strong quickly. And second: don't you get it? This is our chance to exact our revenge!" Henry said.
Britney and Pete looked at Henry confused. What did he mean by that?
"Have you guys heard about the tournament of heroes that's gonna happen in two days? Without a doubt Victoria is gonna join the tournament! This is our one chance to finally punch her in her fat face, for all those years of torture!" Henry said that with so much rage in his voice.
Henry and Britney's eyes widened open. They didn't think of that.
"What are we waiting for then! Let's get stronger and kill that ugly monster! Wait, does that mean we have to kill each other if we join?" Asked Pete, suddenly scared for his life.
"No, the tournament forbids killing other heroes, obviously." The current king might be scum, but he is not dumb enough to have heroes kill each other for no good reason. That would be a huge waste.
"But it's a fighting tournament, 'accidents' happen every now and then. What if a terrible accident fell on Victoria?" Britney said.
"Well, the Great Sage is gonna be there to supervise us most likely. But it's worth a shot."
Their hatred for Victoria got to the point of wanting to kill her. But these three were merely joking, as they don't even have the courage to kill a goblin, not to mention a classmate of theirs.
"Now we sound like those bastards plotting to kill the MC in a typical wuxia novel. Heh." Henry said, chuckling to himself.
"Wuxia?" Pete and Britney look at Henry confused, again.
"Seriously? Have you two ever read a light novel?"
Both of them shook their heads. They have seen some anime, but never read manga or light novels before. These three never even watched Naruto but have heard of it.
Henry has read 'some' light novels in his spare time. Some of those books have indeed piqued his interest, but he wasn't that big of a fanboy compared to other people. It was one of the few things that got him through quarantine.
"Nevermind. Let's get stronger!"
And the merry trio finally found the courage to travel further away from the kingdom, and to train for the purpose of beating up Victoria. Even if they couldn't 'accidentally' kill her, it'll be satisfying enough to hit her once or more.
"By the way, we were kidding about killing Victoria, right?" Pete asked unsure.
"Yes and no." Both Henry and Britney responded at the same time.
"Wh-what does that mean exactly?"
"Mhm."
"..." Pete.
Inside the kingdom, Bruce was training with the hero Shaun Quincy.
"What's weighing on your mind, boy?" Shaun asked Bruce.
They were sparring in the training area. Currently only the two of them are using it. Bruce only used his fists merely because he doesn't know how to fight with weapons. Shaun uses a magical spear, but for the sake of the other 'soft' heroes he doesn't use it.
These two would spar on a regular basis. Bruce did so because Shaun is a very experienced fighter, not just because he's the second oldest hero, but because he is also an experienced military soldier with over 100 years of fighting experience. He was the perfect training partner for him, as there are no suitable heroes right now to even spar against Bruce.
"Well, the girl that I like is- AH!" While Bruce was talking, Shaun pinned him down so fast and held him in a rear naked choke hold.
"Don't ever be distracted in the middle of a fight, Bruce. Haven't I told you to treat our spars as if it were the real deal?" Shaun said seriously.
Bruce nodded while being choked. Then he tapped furiously on Shaun's arms once he was about to black out.
Shaun let go of Bruce, and Bruce started gasping for air.
"*Cough* *Cough* But you asked me a question?" Bruce said angrily. He couldn't even react to Shaun's movements. He was so fast.
Shaun's hero ability is having a longer lifespan, which is why he looks young despite being over 100 years. Even so Shaun continued to grow strong enough to overpower a dragon with ease.
This is the reason why the Great Sage is planning on having Shaun replace him when he retires. Currently Shaun is without a doubt the second strongest hero alive.
"I did. And I cannot believe you fell for that trap. Always be on your guard, especially against other heroes. You must suspect everyone." Shaun smiled.
He liked Bruce more than the other 'soft' heroes.
"What do you *cough* mean?"
"I mean trust no one, Bruce. Do you think that people won't betray you just because you're a hero, or because the Great Sage is protecting the kingdom?"
There have been some instances of heroes betraying humanity, which is why they're referred as 'fallen heroes' with the first fallen hero being the Witch.
Shaun also remembers one hero from his time betraying humanity, and being killed on the spot after robbing a store or something. He didn't like her that much, so he was glad when he heard that she was killed.
"Why are you telling me this?" Bruce was confused because they weren't even talking about anything remotely related to the current subject.
"Oh? I thought you were gonna say that the girl you liked betrayed your feelings, and leaped in the hands of another man, or something?" Shaun said, faking a surprised face.
"Well, kinda, but not like that I mean. It is kinda sad-GAH!"
Once again, Shaun held Bruce in a rear naked choke hold.
"You're a good fighter Bruce, but you're pretty gullible most times." Shaun said seriously while smirking to himself. In a way Bruce was like his punching bag,
He worried that Bruce's good nature would affect his fighting style.
Shaun learned before that perhaps these soft and pitiful heroes were a sign that he did a good job at preserving the peace in his old world.
It took him a while to learn and accept the fact. Still his opinion that these heroes are a lost cause hasn't changed one bit. And he hoped that he could turn these citizens into fine soldiers, and improve their chances of surviving in this world.
Bruce tapped furiously on Shaun's arms and he released him, again.
"*Cough* Again? Really? *Cough*" Bruce gasped for air. To be taken down the same time twice was annoying.
"Again? Well if you insist, soldier."
"Wait, nononono, not what I meant- AH!"
'Can this be considered a spar anymore? Ah, it's whatever.' Shaun thought. It reminded him when he was training in the military, it wasn't a walk in the park. If anything Shaun thought that he was being too lenient.
In a real military camp, every single hero would have thrown up on the first day. Till this day only 3 heroes have thrown up from overworking themselves.
If they weren't so sensitive to every single topic, perhaps Shaun would have already trained them to be fine soldiers by now.
Meanwhile…
Will and Sandra were currently planning on what to add to their kingdom.
"I think we're pretty much done, don't ya think? All we need is to focus on the interior." Sandra said.
Right now there wasn't much to add. They added walls even taller than the kingdom's, so many sentry turrets everywhere including on top of the walls, many buildings enough to fit 100 people in their kingdom, and a farm that's still in progress.
But they weren't satisfied yet. They needed to make a kingdom that surpasses the kingdom of Reyes.
"I mean, I could always tear down the walls and expand the kingdom. Or just add more walls without tearing down any walls, I hope that sentence made sense." Will said, confused at his own wording.
"I know what you mean. But I don't think it's wise to have a large kingdom if nobody else is gonna live here aside from the two of us."
"Well…" Will thought about it, and she was right, there wasn't really a point to expand the kingdom any more.
He doesn't plan to have people living in his own kingdom for reasons: because one nobody is crazy enough to live here apart from them. Two: he doesn't trust people easily to let them inside his kingdom, not with all the secrets he has to hide. Three: he just doesn't like the idea of leading people and having hundreds of people rely on him.
And besides he built this kingdom in Alex's name and nothing else. And also because he always wanted to live in an epic castle.
He has the ability to make his own castle, so why not use what he was given to fulfill his dream?
"You're right, we should focus on the castle's interior design first." Will said.
"First we should remove the gold throne." Sandra commented.
"Agreed!" Will agreed without hesitation, because he sat a few times on the gold throne without wearing armor and it was super uncomfortable to sit on.
Castle's have thrones as they are exclusively for the royal family. But thinking about it better he wondered if those kings and queens would get blisters on their asses from sitting too long in such uncomfortable thrones.
'If I could make some bean bag chairs, I'd replace them for the thrones.' Will liked that idea. He just wanted to feel comfortable when he sat down on the throne. Reminds him of when he used to go to school and sit in uncomfortable chairs for hours at a time.
"Do you know how to make gaming chairs?" Sandra asked.
"Of course! Gaming chairs! Why didn't I think of that? With a cup holder on the arm rests" Will cursed his own stupidity. Replacing the thrones for gaming chairs simply made so much sense.
"Oh, and also we need to figure out how to make a working castle gate that opens and closes."
"We'll figure that out later. It can't be called a 'castle' without a working gate." Will asked.
"Definitely. A working castle gate sounds cool." Sandra also loves the idea of having a working castle gate.
"Hm? I hear something. Something heavy is coming to us at a great speed." Sandra suddenly said.
'How very anime of you.' Will thought. He never liked anime, unlike Alex. But he has seen several epic scenes from various episodes that Alex showed him from time to time.
"I'll check it out."
Will flew up high. With the help of the enchantments on his mask he could see very clearly a familiar organic creature headed this way. On top of her was a single elf, Rias..
"Adaline?" Once Will saw Adaline he had never been happier. He quickly flew down and landed in front of her, not caring about the two elves she was carrying.
"Adaline! I missed you" Will hugged her tightly, and in turn she too tried to hug him but her happiness couldn't be contained, she was just jumping and running everywhere like a happy dog.
He has never been happier than before.
"Will?" Rias jumped off of Adaline. She was shocked when she saw Will fly towards her with his dragon wings, she almost thought it was a baby dragon.
"Oh, it's you." Will said in a depressing tone. He didn't have a favourable impression on Rias, and hasn't forgiven her for breaking down his base. He had forgiven Grace already, but not Rias.
"..." Rias didn't say anything because she knew why he was angry with her. She just didn't expect Will to hold a grudge.
"Do you want some food? You must be starving." Will said with a joyful tone.
"Sure." Rias responded quickly.
"I was talking to Adaline."
"Oh. Will, in case you want to know, Grace is okay. But she was kidnapped by-"
"Save the sob story for 'America's got talent' I am gonna take care of Adaline now. See ya." Will gently led Adaline back to his castle. He purposely made a door big enough for her when she returned.
Will would be lying if he said he didn't care about Grace. But hearing that she's okay made him feel slightly relieved, because now Adaline can stay with him.
'Where… How do I go back?' Rias didn't think about it, but she had no way to safely reach her home now. And she thought she could stay inside Will's base. But she was too naive to believe that Will had forgiven her,
And also she had somehow forgotten that she destroyed a part of his base.
The reason she's with Adaline is because she was the only one who could 'protect' Adaline should she ever find herself in trouble. Rias didn't think that Adaline needed her protection in the first place, not like she could protect anybody.
But these were Arbor's orders, so she had no choice but to follow his orders. And also Rias is the only one that Adaline trust's compared to the other elves she's never met.
Arbor and Silvas are currently taking care of Grace in their village. This is the first time she's been kidnapped, so Grace was most likely to be mentally scarred from the traumatic experience. So her family was there for her all the way.
Arbor could tell that Adaline wanted to go back to Will. Arbor wanted to go with Adaline to protect her, but staying by his daughter's side was more important. So he sent Rias with Adaline for no good reason other than to worry about Adaline, like a doting parent worried for his other child.
If he could he'd keep Adaline by his side forever, but he knows he can't do that.
As for Radix, Adaline still hated his guts when he shot an arrow through Will's head. So Radix was out of the question. And the only one left who could go with Adaline was Rias.
"I missed you so much, girl. I even managed to store some more scorpion meat while you were gone." Will said happily.
The corpses of the scorpions who destroyed his base didn't go to waste. He had stored their bodies for Adaline, and it also helped to clean up his base. Will and Sandra did not have a fear of giant insects, but found it disgusting to touch and clean their dead bodies.
"Will." Sandra ran up beside Will, before stopping when Adaline was growing at her.
*GRRR*
Adaline still hasn't gotten used to Sandra, yet.
"Um… hi, Adaline." Sandra awkwardly waved at Adaline.
"Woah, when did you learn to growl like that?" Will asked. Unless he forgot, he has only heard her hiss at people and nothing else.
Adaline gently nudged Will to a building. This building Will made it for Adaline, like a dog house, only that it was bigger than a cheap apartment.
"What's wrong, girl?" Will asked after being nudged inside a building by Adaline.
Adaline showed a spot on her body that was filled with exotic flowers, and a box.
"I didn't know you could do that." Will was amazed to see Adaline can do that. Now that he thought about it, how does an organic creature's biology work, or even look like?
Adaline led him into the building so that no one could see the exotic flowers she brought. She hid them everyday for the last 2 weeks, even from Arbor.
Adaline then handed Will a small box.
"A box?" Will was confused. He unravelled the old cloth and opened the small box. Inside were various small items: Two pictures, and a cross with a small Jesus on it. That's it.
Will didn't know what to think when he saw the cross.
In this world there is no such thing as religion. The Great Sage personally sought that it does not affect this world. Many heroes were religious, some were Christian, Jewish, etc. But they never could bring their religious beliefs to this world.
Why did the Great Sage do this? No one knows. It could be for many reasons, because he knows that bringing religion to this world could upset the balance of power?
Or because there was no need to pray for a god when there is literally a powerful sage living in his tower?
If the Great Sage existed on Earth, without a doubt he'd be hailed as a god.
Back to the story.
Will, seeing the cross knew that the box belonged to a hero, without a doubt. Who else in the world would carry or even protect a cross?
"That's interesting, I think." Will placed the cross inside the box again. He took a good look at the pictures. The photos were old fashioned with no color, it was just black and white. The pictures were sorta damaged from being exposed by the elements, but one could clearly see everything in the picture.
One picture was a decent looking man with a gorgeous girl beside him. Both were smiling and looking at the camera while holding hands. They were both wearing traditional wedding apparel.
In another picture was the same couple inside their house in a room, only this time there was a newborn being carried in the man's arms sleeping.
"Hmm…" Will used the masks' enchantment to see clearer, like using a magnifying glass.
Will saw the man wearing the same cross around his neck. It was a bit hazy but Will could make it out.
"I thought it'd be something interesting, but nothing. I don't even know who this guy… hold on."
Will almost didn't notice it. But in the second picture with the man holding the baby. Will noticed that behind the woman was a shield hanging on the wall.
"The shield…" Will suddenly remembered where he saw the shield.
"Adaline, stay here. I'll be right back!"
Will ran down the mine, completely ignoring Sandra. He ran at full speed down the stairs, almost falling down several times.
Will reached the hidden temple. The temple is a tomb where the hero Christopher Lawrence died, and buried himself in it along with his family and friends.
Will remembered that this tomb had a rusty, copper shield. It was only a normal shield.
In the picture, the shield had a '+' on it. Will took a better look at the shield in front of him, and without a doubt, there was a '+' on it as well.
"Without a doubt, this is the same shield as the one in the picture. Then the one in the photo is Christopher, and his wife and son. But where did Adaline find it? Wait… Hold on."
Will realized something important. He ran up the stairs full speed, even using his teleportation cloak to save himself a few seconds, like a speedrunner.
Once he made it out he ran towards the castle building.
"Will?"
Once again Will ignored Sandra.
"Where is it? Where did I put that thing?" Will rummaged through his chests.
"Aha! Found it!" Will took out the magical item that Grace lent him for the time being. It was a magical item that can locate other magical items, except itself.
Will ran inside the building where Adaline was. She was still there, along with the box and other stuff. And he activated the magical item. Suddenly it glowed a bright yellow color. It meant that there was a magical item nearby..
"Seriously?! Oh… wait." Will was happy at first. But then he remembered his magical cloak that was on his back.
He placed the cloak inside his inventory. Since it was full, he threw one of his weapons like it was garbage and placed the cloak inside his inventory.
The cloak counted as a magical item, so obviously the magical item locator would glow when it senses the cloak. But if he places the magical item inside his inventory, the magical item locator can't locate it.
And the magical item locator was still glowing.
"So it is… GAH!" Will remembered that he had a magical bracelet, and a magical ring with him.
Will threw the ring and the bracelet to the other side of the kingdom. Sandra stared in confusion to see Will suddenly throw out two magical items out of the blue.
'Did he hit his head or something?' Sandra asked herself.
Will set the magical item locator range to only 10 meters. Just enough so it can't sense the other magical items. Making sure that he had no other magical items, apart from the one on his hands.
At this moment, Will prayed to the video game gods, to RNGesus, to the genie from Aladdin, to anybody who could answer his wishes.
"Please, tell me that this is it."
Will was hoping that one of the items in the box was the magical item he had been looking for, the magical item that can control the weather.
And just like that, the magical item locator glowed a bright yellow color. Will pointed it at the box, and the color glowed brighter than before.
"The box?" Will checked the box carefully. He took out whatever was inside it, but the magical item locator was still glowing very brightly while pointing at the box.
Will tapped the box with his finger to give him a clearer explanation. It's one of his system's abilities, it can tell him many things about the item he pokes with his finger.
{Magical box}
{Able to store larger items inside and be hidden from plain sight}
"What?" Will was hoping that the box was the magical item he was looking for, but it was not.
"Christopher, you're really not making it easy for me. If this is a prank you're pulling off on me, I'll… ah whatever, you're already dead. What can I do to you?"
Will checked the box inch by inch. He found something irregular on the bottom of the box.
On two parts of the box were two little square buttons that Will could barely make out. If he didn't have his enchanted mask with him, without a doubt he would have missed it.
"Interesting." Will pressed one of the square buttons. As soon as he did, a golden ball appeared from the box and dropped on the ground making a loud noise.
Will was shocked, and so was Adaline. The ball came out of nowhere.
Will picked the ball. It was heavier than he expected. He poked it and read its description.
{Failure 29}
{Able to control the weather to whatever its user wishes}
{A heavy ball that was made by 'The Conqueror' it is a failed product that he deemed 'worthless' but gave it to his child who likes to play with her father's creations}
{This item cannot be broken, or rust. It is made from an indestructible golden material that is not from this world}
'Finally.' Will teared to finally have the magical item he desired for so long. And it was all thanks to Adaline.