Standing outside again in the great wilderness, Penta couldn't help but smile and smell the fresh air that came along with the forest.
"I love this place!" Penta said as he turned around to the five behind him.
"Now are you guys ready for the hell that is about to come?" Penta said with a sinister smile that stared at Faren, Griss, and Karu as though meat on the chopping block.
"Wh-what!?" The trio said with a step back.
"What do think? This mission isn't something worth that much. The reason I took this mission was to train you guys! Can't have you being this weak around me." Penta said with a smile but the dread that he was emanating was pure.
Penta's fists were cracking.
Three hours had passed since then.
The wilderness was it's usual without disturbance except for one place.
Along a path carved into the ground, you can see a cart pulling two young girls. The young girls were seemingly ignoring the situation going around them as one was reading and the other sleeping.
Ahead of them, the man pulling the car was running with sweat running down his body. He was smiling but what made everybody notice this odd situation was the ropes tied to the man's back that held three other men by the chest.
"Honorable brother, We cannot go further!" Karu yelled as he was barely hanging on for his life. as they were dragged by Penta.
Seeing this he nodded and advised Karu he could get on the cart. Karu's eyes lit up but the speed of the kart simply started moving faster.
"Nooooo!" Griss and Faren felt the increase and stared viciously at Karu. They were sweating buckets as well. They didn't care and just had a shirt on and were almost topless.
Their speed had kept a constant and their bodies were on the brink. They weren't used to such arduous training. Their bodies provided the energies but Penta forbids them from using their energy.
This had caused the scene before our eyes.
They continued this way before Penta allowed them to rest about an hour later. The girls were more rested but reading and somewhat meditating left them hungry.
Luckily, they were well provided for with the stock from Baren. Penta had started getting more used to carrying the bag around and the running just helped further train himself. He just felt that it was the best way to get used to such a thing.
"It didn't that long to make it this far, see we are on the right pace!" Penta said as he smiled and took out some food crates to which he started rummaging around.
"Easy for you to say. Not everyone is a freak. Huff" Griss said as he was finally happy to just sit on the dirty ground. Faren and Karu were like dead logs twitching their feet.
"Oh please, a light workout like this and you are all tired. You really need to train more, lazy bunch." Penta retorted while grabbing some meat and a skillet and preparing some ingredients. That deluxe package included these things and Penta was looking forward to cooking again. He had always been capable but his new stomach was an endless pit. He had to learn moderation when he could.
"Go prepare a fire you lot, and yes you girls too. Can't have you two grow lazy either." Penta said while focusing on his tasks.
Once the fire was lit, Penta started simmering the meat while slowly adding in the vegetables. The fusion of aromas started gathering. He had managed to find something that resembled soy sauce but it was in the form of a paste. After adding that with what he tasted to be salt. The dish came alive.
It wasn't the best smelling or looking dish but to those who were starving it definitely looked to be good.
"Meat and veggie stirfry. Voila!" Penta said as he served the dishes once he was done.
"So good!" everyone exclaimed. They were surprised he could cook so well.
He just smiled and pretend to be mad at the girls. " You think I lived under a great chef like Celia's dad and wouldn't learn a thing or two? Hmph" He play-acted but the girls were too engrossed to care.
Even the trio was satisfied at the end of the meal.
Sitting around the fire, they rested for a short while. Penta who was fiddling inside his pouch finally asked after a short rest.
"How far are we? Who's keeping track?" He asked.
"..." nobody answered and a somber mood hung over everyone.
"Don't tell me no one knows?" Penta asked again but Sana was sleeping again and Kaya blushed as she looked away. The trio just looked at Penta with shock.
"T-this was your mission and you didn't even look that up!" Griss shouted.
"Well, I thought one of you would know. I've never been to Hayak village, not even from there." Penta said while scratching his chin.
"Eh?" a perfect synchro attack.
"Well... I guess we ask whoever we meet on the way. It did say west gate fields. Might as well head that way then."
Having finished their meal, Penta decided they would rest there for the night. He noticed that they weren't going to get much done after all that work. With that, they set up their tents and Penta stood on the side of the largest one with a crystal in his hands.
"You all go rest, I will stand guard tonight then Griss, Faren, and Karu in that order," Penta said to which the others groaned.
However, no one complained.
Penta returned to his seat and decided to spend some time learning as he had to stay awake anyway. He managed to get the crystal to react again to his energy and the link between his mind and it was made.
He did take precaution and leave a portion of his faculties on the outside world. It wasn't too hard as a roach was technically a beast and their natural instincts were still there.
Reading through the crystal, he started getting engrossed in its knowledge.
Like that the whole night passed uneventfully. There usually wasn't much danger near the tribe and it was really the further you got that the more dangerous it could be but this mission in itself wasn't too far away considering the low amount of contribution points it offered.
The sun started shining above the clouds and that is when everyone started waking up one by one. Yawning and grumbles could be heard alongside the chirping of the birds. Indicating dawn had arrived.
"Well, aren't we all well-rested," Penta said while preparing what could only be said to be a feast of fruits and creature eggs that nobody knows where he got.
"Brother! Morning!" The girls ran over smiling but then noticed he looked a little tired.
"Did you stay up all night?" They asked looking him over before turning their heads to the trio who walked out just beginning to awaken.
Seeing them notice their looks and also look away, the girls understood they didn't wake up to take over their watch.
Seeing them look unhappy. Penta eased them down saying he had chosen not to sleep since he was trying to better understand his new skill. With them being placated somewhat. Everyone washed up and had a wealthy breakfast.
"Where did you get the eggs? These are delicious!" Karu said appreciating the meal.
"Dunno, found them when I looked around for someplace to take a leak. Some weird bird attacked me after. It was so plumb that I couldn't resist. " He said while staring over a beautiful cooking chicken-like bird being roasted over a fire.
"That's a prancer bird. They are quite abundant in these parts and no wonder the eggs tasted familiar. It's a common tavern product." Griss said while munching on some fruits.
The group of six soon finished their meal and started packing up their tents.
The journey ahead remained and the trio behind totally forgot their training because of the distracting breakfast.
"Onwards!" Penta shouted as he started off running again, with a cart and three roped up men.
They continued like this for another day. Kaya started to proactively stop the group whenever she noticed interesting herbs and such which Karu, Faren, and Griss started to proactively help look for. It was the only time they could get a break from running and as such, they turned into extremely willing scouts.
Penta didn't mind seeing them so hungry to find treasures, he let it be. After all, he was the one profiting off of this. Considering it his fee for training them.
Thus, the journey resumed with breaks, running sessions, and gathering sessions. They continued like this for three whole days before the evening of the fourth they saw a village come up in the distance near a small mountain.
Seeing residents and such they immediately cheered up as they were nearing the goal line.
However, the response from the villagers was much more desolate. They barely took note of the people coming to them in such a strange fashion as the ropes were still attached.
One would usually feel shocked, but the village felt dreary.
Noticing this, they took their time to arrange their outfits and get rid of the cart and ropes before entering. Seeing as they were not crazy people, the villagers relaxed but that didn't change how they still walked a slower beat.
"Excuse me, is this Hayak village?" Faren approached someone and asked to which he got a simple nod before the man continued.
"Well, at least we are in the right place... let's go find the mission requester." Penta said as they made their way into the village.
"Anybody mind pointing us to Elder Viridian's house?" Penta asked in a loud enough voice for everyone in their current surroundings to hear.
"What you looking for Elder Viridian for?" One lady asked while staring at them before surprised at their robes.
"Are you lot here to help with the boar problem?" She asked excitedly which also got a prompt from everyone else as their eyes looked hopeful.
The group of six nodded as they noticed the change in atmosphere, it seems the problem was quite a big one for it to depress so many people.
"Here, here let me lead you there." The same lady who spoke up said as she seemed to regain some vitality while she introduced herself.
"I am Lady Floca, the local apothecary. I am glad the tribe finally sent some people, as the problem has been getting worst lately." Lady Floca introduced herself as she mentioned the issue at hand.
It seems the village had gotten a nearby influx of wild boars that migrated over but the bizarre thing was they these were unusually strong boars. They were mostly mid to high-grade beasts and this specific group seemed intent on taking over the region causing many issues with the local villages' supply of herbs, game, and resources.
They were located near the mountains not too far away which has caused many issues to crop up and sadly, their hunters were unable to handle such a large pack as they have already heavily injured their strongest villagers.
"My my, it seems we will have to look into this for you rather soon," Penta said while not shrugging at the size of the task which only aided in improving his image in the group as the confidence coming from him seemed infectious.
"My, aren't we fortunate finally. The tribe has looked out for us. Now come here young ones so we can quickly meet with Elder Viridian." She said as she entered a rather large house compared to some of the other ones.
"Elder Viridian, we have guests from the tribe." Lady Floca said as she ushered them in to which an old man in his late fifties who seemed kind yet also a little off his rocker showed up. He had one eye that was lazy and the other seemed glazed over.
"Greetings young ones, it seems the tribe has sent us some decent fighters but oh? Who might these two little ones be?" The elder asked without moving his gaze but the girls felt that he was looking at them.
"My little sisters, Elder. They won't really be participating in the hunting but the experience can only be shown and not read." Penta said while rubbing their heads. Seeing this, the Elder smiled as well as Lady Floca, they had been getting a better impression of the dark-skinned man.
"Now about those boars, care to provide a map of the situation and we can deal with them for you?" Penta asked.
"My, eager, glad to hear it. Follow me." The elder smiled and led them to a study which contained a nice table with some drawings on it. Leading them over he pointed at the map showing the village borders and the location of the boars.
"How many are there do you know?" Griss asked as he wanted to know what they were up against.
"A pack of a hundred or so, but they are quite the high leveled ones. An odd occurrence for these parts, indeed." The Elder explained inciting their curiosity to what was causing this.
"Hehe, this is all we are going to need Elder." Penta said as he grabbed the map and started packing it away.
"What? Won't you even prepare for this before heading out? We have known their habits and such for a while now so we might be able to help." The Elder asked confused as he saw them trying to leave.
"Hahaha, don't you worry Elder. These three seem to have had an easy time so far. Gotta make sure to train our future generations properly. Don't you worry and be prepared to feast later!" Penta said with a smile as he dragged the trio away with giggling girls following them.
"Will they be fine Elder?" Lady Floca was having a hard time being okay with such young kids taking such a large task over.
"They should be fine as long as the big one is this confident. He is a peak grade shaman apprentice and his energy is abundant and well-articulated. It's rare to see such talented men." The Elder spoke after a short silence while rubbing his chin from the feelings he had gotten after inspecting them.
'What an odd man, he does not radiate humanity but he also does. It is a confounding thing.' The Elder thought before walking back to his seat.