I opened the door to the Guild Hall and forced the bulging sack through the entrance as I felt eyes bore into my back. "I got the stuff they stole, but I couldn't catch the thief," I informed the barmaid as she stepped up beside me. "There's even some extra goodies in there."
"Technically you've not completed the quest," she joked, and I shrugged, knowing she was right. "But here. You done more than enough, C-Rank." She shoved the two healing potions into my hand, and I hastily opened one. I chugged it to the last drop, and the warmth that spread throughout my body was what I imagined a mother's embrace to feel like.
"Thanks," I said as I stepped over the bag and opened the door to leave.
"I see you got yourself some new armour too, eh?" The barmaid asked with a wink. I looked down at my new outfit and acknowledged her with a smile and a nod before leaving. I had to get the potion to Asmode.
I took the same path to exit the gates as I did when I entered. It felt infinitely easier now that I had healed the burns on my chest and the risky crack in my back.
"Watch where you're going," a man yelled at me as I bumped his shoulder sliding past him. I rolled my eyes and continued going, only three streets away from the gate.
I passed by an alleyway opening and felt something wrap around my throat. I instantly clawed at it, but there was nothing there. Not even any proof of Wind Magic being used.
As I tried to remove it from my neck, the invisible hand yanked me into the alleyway. I was pinned against the wall, and noticed a short shadow approaching me. I didn't have to think too hard for who it might be.
"Came to take back your coins?" I asked Ava as I readied my hands on my sword's handle. She finally reached a point of light where I could see her fully once more.
"Just a chat," she replied, but the grip on my throat got tighter as she spoke. "To make sure you understand something."
"What have I got to understand?" I asked, and I noticed her scowling at me and couldn't help but laugh at how unfitting it looked on her face. "I'd also like you to understand that this might get me aroused if you keep it up."
"Fucking gross," Ava tutted. She removed the invisible hand from my throat. And I lunged at her. I pinned her against the wall and attempted to hold my blade against her throat to intimidate her, but only the sheath appeared. "Learn how to talk nicely to women," she warned me as I felt my own sword press against my neck.
"I get scared around women," I joked, and her jaw tightened. My sword pressed harder into my neck, and I moved back, releasing her. "What do you want?"
"What the fuck was that back there?" Ava asked, a genuine anger showing on her face. "You know they're going to talk, right?" She asked as she admired my sword.
I watched her face, then looked up to her ears. They looked… off, now that I looked at them properly. As though they were… I reached out and nipped one quickly, but she showed no reaction, only a glare. "Fake?"
She slapped my hand away, but the fake earpiece came off as she did so, and I held it in my hand. I looked back to her head, and there it was. "Do you like to gossip?" She asked as she brandished my own sword against me.
"Everyone has their secrets," I retorted as I glanced at my sword. It glowed at around the same place it had when I held it for the first time. A small symbol that looked eerily similar to her eye. "I'm guessing yours is as big as mine?"
Ava snickered at my choice of words, then handed me my sword. "Depends," she shrugged, and the atmosphere changed as we both realised hostility wasn't worth it in our situation. "What's your plan?"
"I'm heading out to take on the quests you stole with my partner," I replied as I pointed to the rolls of quests I had in my waistband. "You took all the fun ones anyway."
"And who's your partner? Someone trustworthy?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. I nodded, then handed her the fake ear back. She snatched it with an invisible hand, then set it on her horn gently.
"Another one of us," I told her, and she furrowed her brows as she examined whether I was lying or not. "He likes to fight," I continued, and she snorted. "What about you? You can't keep those on forever."
"I can keep them on a while longer," she argued, but her mouth snapped shut as she composed herself. "Garret's been bugging me to learn how to fight, and I guess I don't have a leg to stand on after a monster just strolled into our den and robbed us blind."
"Apologies," I smirked, and she shook her head. It felt weird to sit only feet away from her despite knowing how quickly she could even take the clothes off my back without me realising. "Here," I yelled as I threw her a bag of coins I had stolen from them. She caught it and eyed me wearily as she hid it away in her pocket. "We're going to Ravenport, Tri-An, then finishing the last quest in Kollum. If you want to join us, you better do it before we leave Kollum."
"And why would I want to do that?" Ava asked as she stood up straight and stretched her back. She seemed rather flexible, though that must've been a necessity in her trade. "I'm fine running with the thieves."
"For now," I informed her as I also prepared to finish our conversation. "Remember your own words. Thieves talk, especially for money. I met one of the Heroes, and he seemed to have enough money to buy confessions from a Sin themselves."
"Thanks for the advice," Ava smiled at me- an expression that also seemed weird considering her personality. "See you later," she waved before vanishing into a crowd, hidden by the taller people and waving coattails.
"Later," I said to nobody as I got up and headed to the gate.
The same guard from when I entered glared at me and my new attire. "You steal those?" He asked me with a scrunched nose as he stood in my way.
"No, it was a reward. I hunted down the thieves that live here," I informed him. He grabbed me by the collar, and onlookers gasped, but kept their distance. "Demons are allowed in here, you know?"
"I know, but liars aren't. Where are they then, if you're not lying?" He asked me as he lifted me slightly off the ground. I raised my empty hands defeatedly. "Tell me."
I activated 'Wind Manipulation' and hurled him out of the gate as the gust hit him like an uppercut. I dusted off and pretended to not know what happened as I looked at the crowd.
I hastily exited, then went beside the guard and smirked. "Not out here," I teased him before I made my way towards Asmode, who I could see had fallen asleep against the tree.
"Wake up," I said as I poked his huge arm with my foot. He jerked awake, and I held out the healing potion. He took it in two fingers, then bit the cap off and swallowed it all in one mouthful with ease.
"How long was that?" He asked with a smirk. I shrugged then offered him a hand up. He took it, and nearly pulled me to the ground as I assisted him. "Felt like days."
"Two hours," I told him. "Roughly," I added, and he laughed heartily as he stretched every possible muscle in his body, some of his bones cracking as he did so.
"What's the plan now?" He asked, and I handed him the quest sheet that would occupy us on our way to Ravenport. He unfurled it and read it quietly. "These are weak," he argued as he handed me the paper back.
"I'm only a C-Class adventurer," I told him with a hint of annoyance in my voice even I didn't mean to portray. "This is a C-Class quest. If we do this then the next C-Class one, i'll be B-Class."
"All these rankings," Asmode mumbled with the same annoyance I had. "I'll never get stronger against these things," he mumbled as i began heading towards a sign that had Ravenport written on it.
"I hope I will," I replied. "Also, we might get a new teammate along the way," I told him as an afterthought.
"Might?" He asked as he walked directly beside me. "Are they going to be strong?"
"Strong?" I repeated, trying to think how best I could explain Ava's skills. "Maybe not strong, but she's good. Really good," I iterated as I rubbed my hand on my sword's handle.
[Name: Envy (Levi Elbrus)
Species: Leviathan.
Level: 18
Magic Skills: Devour, Electric Discharge, Electricity Resistance, Water Manipulation (+5), Web Secretion, Vine Control, Wind Manipulation.
Physical Skills: Transform, Night-Vision, Thick Skin.
Innate Skills: Mountain-Splitter Style Swordsmanship (Advanced), Ancient Blood (Not Manifested) ]