It's been three days since Orrion and Nell arrived at the north. They heard the north was a hotbed for quests as the human kingdoms occupying the north where generally 'new' arrivals and had not developed to the level of those on the central continent economically, technologically or military wise.
Therefore, the demand for low and high level adventures was quite good. Since labor was always available. From dungeon exploration quests to monster elimination quests.
They had camped far away from the kingdom of Somer grilling meat and having fun chatting when they suddenly heard a roar, it was so loud the ground trembled.
Gusts of wind and warm air blew at them strongly, bending trees and carrying away their belongings.
A suppressing presence enveloped them. They felt like they were being choked. Their mounts foamed in the mouth and fainted. Nell folded his body and held his head praying to all the gods he could think of. Orrion while quivering searched for his shield and hid under.
They heard roaring and the sound of wings flapping. The sound of flames forcing wind away, buildings collapsing and what sounded like a chant or prayer in the distance.
After a while, they heard wings flapping away. Then the rough winds stopped blowing and everything became calm and quiet.
"...Hey, Nell! You alive!?" Orrion whispered.
"Of course i'm alive! You think a roar could scare me, the great adventurer to death!" Nell was still quite shaken by the event and wanted to loosen his tense nerves by joking.
Orrion got up and looked towards the kingdom. Naturally, it was blocked by trees. But he noticed lines of smoke billowing into the sky.
This was because the kingdom was far away, if they were closer, they would notice that the whole kingdom was on fire.
"S-should we go somewhere else." Nell was still a bit nervous.
Orrion thought for a while. "Let's go there when things settle."
'There might still be survivors. Who knows we might even find the king or someone of royal or noble bloodline in a perilous situation.' He wiped a drool from his mouth.
He idealized saving them and gaining huge rewards which caused him to smile.
Nell didn't need to see Orion's face to know what he was thinking. "Don't joke around!? What if the creature comes back! We may be grade F- adventurers but when that creature returns we would be no more than mere worms on the wayside to be step on without being noticed." Nell stared at Orrion like he was crazy.
Orrion shrugged. "Who knows where the creature may have flied to? We could head anywhere and still have a chance to meet it." He then glanced at Neil mischievously. "Besides, this might be a chance to make it big! Didn't you say your little boy had talent. Don't you want to send him to a good school?"
Nell eyes changed.
Seeing this, Orrion asserted. "Look, Nell. We're just gonna take a quick look. We're adventurers we take risks! It's what we do. Man up! We'll head there when things clear up, okay?"
Nell could only silently swallow his worry for now.
***
"Whoa! Look at this mess." They had arrived at the south side of the kingdom. Which was the opposite side of where Riot came in from. They didn't even have to use the gates they just walked through a crack in the large wall.
They searched for any survivor a bit but quickly gave up.
"Unless anyone managed to hid themselves in an underground cellar i don't see anyone surviving this." Orrion looked around with a somber expression.
"Even if there where any one hidden in a cellar the rubble would have trapped them, i don't think we can do much about that. They would have to wait for the church or Zun empire to respond or for a powerful kind-hearted person to arrive before they could be rescued." Nell said as he drop a charred piece of tableware.
He looked at the half fallen castle. As the castle was closer to the southern gate it wasn't very far from where they currently where.
A room shimmered gold and various other lights from the side of a broken room due to the reflection from the sun. Among other chambers this one was quite different so it quickly drew his attention.
He pointed out the room. "Hey! Orrion look. Could that be..."
Orrion first glanced over slightly, then quickly turned his head back a second time, eyes wide. "That's the treasury! Come quickly! we got to take what we can before someone els—."
He hadn't even finish speaking and Nell had already bounded forth.
"..."
Weren't you the one hesitant to come? Now that you've seen treasure you're leaping like a wild animal set free! Or did i misunderstand your adventurous spirit?!
"W-wait for me!" He quickly ran after him.
***
After a cautious climb they got to the hall leading to the treasury. There they saw a tall, good looking man in blood stained armor.
He had short white hair and slightly tan skin tone. Though he looked young, he gave off an air of someone with a strong military background.
'Shit! Someone's already here!' Orrion was shocked and a bit pissed.
Nell looked at the man cautiously, a hand on his sword. "Who are you?"
Riot looked at them as if he just saw them. "Just a passerby..."
He then looked to be in thought a little.
Then finally saying. "You want in on the action right? Do you have a spare spatial ring i could use? Carrying all these with a sack could be quite a hassle." He gestured at the treasure.
"..." They both looked at each other.
Spatial ring? That item is so expensive because of it's high market demand and low supply. If we had a single one cubic meter spatial ring we would be considered rich! Talkless of having a spare! Even if we had one would we give it to a random passerby!?
By their expressions Riot already knew that they didn't have one.
He nodded and said. "Why don't we work together then. We could bring them out to a more secure place, with the three of us we could carry everything that's left. Then we can split it amongst ourselves evenly before someone else comes." He winked with a slight smile.
Nell immediately felt that this guy was quite straight forward and reasonable. He looked at his friend Orrion.
Orrion suddenly had a thought and agreed. Riot led the way as they followed behind him. He looked defenseless.
'Fool.' Orrion sneered and quickly struck heavily at the back of his head with a fist.
Ghu! Riot was hit hard. He fell on the floor skidding forward a bit, without so much as a groan he laid there motionless.
Nell was shocked. "What are you doing!?"
"What? It's not like i killed him. Now there's more for us, isn't that better?" Orrion smiled and walked forward with large strides.
"What if he was stronger? If he was at the grade E we could have been in grave danger!" Nell was furious.
Orrion tapped at his head. "Ay, use your head Nell. Didn't you see the way he emphasized how carrying the stuff was a hassle? A grade E combatant wouldn't look that helpless and would rather drive us away or even kill us to take everything for himself.
Also, didn't you see how defenseless he was? His probably the son of one of those rich merchants who only knows how to fight, but have no experience about the cruelty of life.
I've seen too many grade E's in the central continent, enough to discern them by the vibe they give off. But this guy... aside from the sense of military discipline he gave off, i felt no threat from him." Orrion looked smug as he narrated his thoughts out.
Suddenly a cold voice sounded behind him. "Oh? Thanks a lot. You see i was having a hard time figuring out his grade. But you've sorted that out for me."
Orrion lunged forward but the dagger was faster.
Splat! Blood sprayed as his head fell off his neck.
Nell was dazed. His quickly changing emotions left him at a lose to what was happening.
A previously invisible figure slowly turned visible. It was a man wearing a matching set of dark green leather armor. The silver enchantments on the armor's vest slowly dimmed due to the stop in the mana flowing into it. In his hands where twin daggers.
Nell looked at a shiny badge on the vest. It depicted a devil-like creature with horns holding daggers. Three small stars could be seen above it.
Seeing this, fear gripped him as he stepped back. "This...Opus Mardi? A grade E assassin of Opus Mardi!?"
Opus Mardi was a cult that specialized in summoning creatures from the infernal realm to cause destruction and all sorts of atrocities. They were a hated enemy of the church of Lumen and where generally hunted down by them as well as other lawful factions.
The badge they sported usually represented their grade and class. Which for some reason gave them a strong sense of pride.
The creature holding daggers signified his class as an assassin type combatant. If it held a staff and wore a hat it would mean he was a mage type combatant and the like.
While the number of stars represented their grade or energy level starting from G. For example, one star meant his strength, agility, endurance and intellect where that of a normal human(grade G), two stars meant that at least one of his attributes had a breakthrough and had advanced into the next grade(grade F-).
This breakthrough also caused a slight improvement in the other attributes as every initial attribute breakthrough excites the advancement of the overall body's cells into a higher level.
The higher the grade the more difficult it becomes to have an initial attribute breakthrough. That is, advancing an attribute from grade E+ to D- would be way harder than advancing from grade G+ to F-. Of course it would be easy for those with powerful bloodline. In that case they would be called geniuses or talents.
In the assassin's case, he had three stars which meant that either one, two or all strength, agilty or endurance attributes had entered the grade E realm. Intellgence would not be considered as he was not a mage and it was more difficult to raise that specific attribute for melee combatants.
Combatants at the grade E could do things normal humans (grade G's) could only dream of, like jumping 10 meter high with a single leap, running like the wind and so on. This was especially true for those who had mastered the 'Voltage' technique.
If a combatant usually operated at a 100% efficiency, entering the voltage state would push their overall capability to 120% or more depending on the quality of their bloodline.
The state of 'Voltage' was in simple terms the channeling of mana into the heart in a regular pattern by combatants to improve their overall performance.
The higher the person's grade or energy level the more efficiently the cells of the body could convert mana into energy, which then improves their overall battle performance.
A combatant had to be sensitive to the amount of mana he channels into the heart though, as pumping more than the heart could utilize could lead to severe heart diseases, worst case scenario immediate death.
The voltage state would be more efficient and safe if the combatant practiced energy training techniques.
It wasn't too hard to master this though as even 'Riot' had learnt it. He learned one of the advanced category energy training technique(although it took him years to master).
According to this worlds grading system Riot estimated his own attributes would be like this: Strength F-, Agility F, Endurance F and intellect F-.
He believed his attributes where pretty balanced. And for a melee combatant his intellect would be pretty high because 'Riot' read a lot of books ever since he was young.
Intellect simply meant how fast the brain could process information. It could be improved by lots of reading and was the slowest and most difficult attribute to raise for non-mage combatants. Sorcerers, enchanters, potion masters and the like all valued this attribute as it improved the efficiency of their work. As for other debatable attributes like faith and spirit. It mainly mattered to those with religious and spiritual classes like the priests and healers respectively.
The Voltage technique was a must learn for all combatants, as it helped people achieve this state of max body functionality and also increases the potency of skills.
Nell drew his short sword and held a round shield. He knew he was in trouble. Turning back to run would only expose his back. He needed to think of how to get out of this dire situation alive, after all, unlike Orion he had a family.
Nell had already entered the voltage state. His energy suddenly overflowed and radiated out giving off a faint pressure which was felt clearly by the assassin.
Nell sweated as he slowly walked backwards. Seeing this the assassin could only smile.
"S-say why don't you take the treasure for yourself, and we wouldn't have to fight." Nell tried to make a bargain.
At this point he didn't even think about avenging his friend.
"That would have been fine, but unfortunately i have to silence you. I don't need the church finding out we were active in this area. Otherwise our plans might be ruined." The assassin shrugged helplessly.
"What! I wouldn't say a word. I swear on El's nam–" He stopped as he suddenly realized he had made a mistake.
The assassin's eyes suddenly turned sharp. "Don't mention that blasted name before me!" He then signed. "Besides, there's no need, since your life is in my hands anyway. I'd rather have you dead than alive."
He suddenly sprang forward fast, getting low, with a twist of his waist he spun like a top upwards. Dishing out several blitz spinning strikes at his waist, chest and neck.
Ding stran diing!
Sparks were released as Nell tried his best blocking the first few strikes. But more strikes quickly followed after the assassin steadied himself.
In less than fifteen seconds he was overwhelmed.
Swing splurt! His bicep was slashed which caused him to loose focus as more slashes quickly followed. In an instant Nell was quickly cut down. Blood stained the assassin's body. He casually waved blood off his dagger.
With a smile he observed his work. "Chaos is the beginning. Chaos is the way. Chaos will ever be."
His heart raced with excitement and couldn't help but chant one his Opus Mardi's maxims.
'Now to end that unconscious man. I thought he noticed me hiding there, but it turned out he was just waiting for these guys so they could carry the treasure together.' He thought as he turned around.
Swing! A sword quickly came at his neck just as he turned.