The party led Kayden to a suitable spot to test his abilities, or well… that was the previous plan. The mage with the brown hat demanded that she and the healer needed to take a break somewhere to rest their legs while the party leader excused himself by saying he had a weapon that he needed maintenance at a blacksmith. Being the sole B-ranked adventurer in the party, nobody could really stop him.
Now it was just Kayden and the ranger.
Ezekiel led Kayden out of the city and headed southwest to an open plain, which gave some clues on what the ranger was planning to do with the test.
"Are you planning to pit me against goblins? I'm telling you, fighting them won't be a very good indicator of my abilities."
"There are goblins in this area?" The ranger asked. It seemed that fighting goblins wasn't actually his plan after all.
"Yeah. Do you see that? Those hills in the distance?" He pointed at a particularly tall and rocky cliffside. "The area you're heading towards is where a massive goblin nest is located, deep within those hills. Periodically, goblins are sent out of the nest to hunt, and us adventurers will come to harvest—I mean, wipe them out."
"Why hasn't anyone cleared out the goblin's nest? If it's as big as you said, a large group of B-ranked adventurers should be more than enough to wipe them out." The ranger spoke, his brows furrowed.
Kayden shrugged. "If I had to take a guess, it's because goblins are a steady source of income. Nobody wants to cut off the money from its source. They can also serve as good training for the rookie adventurers."
Ezekiel paused for a moment, before shaking his head. "Your people really surprise me. You would really let evil run rampant for the sake of power and gold?"
Looking at the dark skin tone of the man, Kayden ventured a guess. "I'm assuming you're from the south? I suppose with all those demons running about, your people would be less likely to tolerate this sort of thing." Kayden waited for a while but there was no reply, and they simply continued their walk in silence.
After an awkward few minutes, Kayden noticed that their destination doesn't seem to have changed and thought about the words he had heard earlier. The idea that had formulated in his mind didn't sound very good.
"Um… Azurekill? Don't tell me you plan to go wipe out the goblin's nest? It's not something just both of us can manage…"
Ezekiel finally turned around to look at him and slowed to a stop. "It's Ezekiel." He corrected, "And no, that would take too much time. Besides, the dungeon has skeletons, and skeletons are made from evil necromancers, so they take priority."
'So you're saying you would do it if you had the time!?'
Kayden had a stunned look on his face, and he gulped down the opinions that he had. Eventually, he spoke,
"Asskeel, may I ask why are we still headed for the goblins? What kind of test do you hand in store for me?"
Ezekiel's face contorted into a frown. One time, shame on him. Two times, shame on you.
"It's Ezekiel."
"Alright, Azquil."
"Ezekiel."
Kayden rolled his eyes.
"Look, do you have a last name or something? Your first name's kinda hard to pronounce."
"I do. It's Schwartz."
"Okay. Shwords."
"…"
"…What?"
They both stared at each other in silence.
***
In the courtyard of the Dragonsteel estate, a fleet of carriages and carts were preparing to set off. Right smack in the middle of the fleet was a carriage that looked more majestic than the rest of the bunch. It sported the colors of red and gold and the Dragonsteel insignia was painted on the doors. It had four lamps on the four corners of the carriage, and there were gold ornaments embedded in the wheels, handles, roof… it was everywhere!
It looked just like how you would expect a noble's carriage would feel. Peeking through the red curtains that were draped over the windows, Matou glanced at the fleet that would follow him, and let go of the curtains.
He asked the blonde maid that sat opposite of him, or rather, he wrote,
"Why is there a huge fleet following us?"
Annie, who had her staff lying horizontally on her lap, adjusted her glasses and replied.
"We'll be traveling together with the important merchandise that is supposed to reach the capital. Since there are plenty of guards to defend the goods, it'll be safer to travel with them," She explained in an indifferent tone. "We'll split off from them once we reach the capital of Arcadia."
'If we're traveling with guards, doesn't that mean…'
Matou looked over at the maid beside him. She was taking a nap while curled up on the seat, her ears twitching every now and then. If there were guards present on their two-week journey, it meant that Mia would laze about the entire time!
UNACCEPTABLE!!!
Matou was fired up. Ever since he recovered from his vegetative state, he had a new outlook on his situation.
'I have to get stronger!'
Even though he had lost his system, it didn't mean the end of the world. Like Kayden had told him, until he tried every possible solution, he cannot despair. If he can't fly, run. If he can't run, walk. If he can't walk, crawl. No matter what, he had to keep moving forward.
Speaking of Kayden, learning that he could speak Japanese surprised him, but he supposed that it had to be some kind of translation magic or artifact. After all, his parents had explained that they tried getting him one when they learned of his previous circumstance. They still were searching for it, but it was too rare.
Additionally, there was one issue that he had forgotten. That's right. His mission to save the world! He shouldn't have expected such a daunting task to have been so easygoing, and there are obviously going to be hiccups along the way. So what if he had lost his system? He was still the hero that had been chosen by a goddess!
He vividly remembered the last few notifications his System had left him with before disappearing for good. He had been targeted by a divine tier spell called Plunder Blessing, which meant the System wasn't lost, it was stolen! He vowed that once he grew stronger, he would take revenge on that meddling thief.
An audible knock snapped him out of his reverie, someone was knocking on their carriage. Annie dutifully stood up and opened the carriage, and seeing that it was Matou's mother, gave a polite bow.
"Do you wish to speak to Young Master, my lady?"
"A-ah Annie, let me speak to my son."
"Alright, my lady" Annie gestured for Matou to leave the carriage.
He stepped down from the carriage, only for him to be tackle-hugged by his mother. Her height was nearly the same as his and she rested her chin on his shoulders.
"Matou! Are you sure you don't want to celebrate your leave? Your father was looking forward to it, and the preparations were already nearly finished."
Matou could hear his mother speak but couldn't understand her words. He supposed that he had to learn a new language before beginning his journey to becoming stronger. He gently tapped his mother on the shoulder and pulled her away from him. By forming water snakes in the air, he wrote,
"Was there something you needed to tell me?"
Elaine nearly teared up when she realized her son couldn't understand her, but she held it back. She took out a letter that she had prepared and passed it on to Matou, before shouting into the carriage,
"Annie! Take care of my baby! Make sure to send letters now and then and try your best to pass the entrance exams!"
Annie nodded respectfully and began hauling Matou back into the carriage. Elaine gave him a final hug and kiss on his forehead, before letting him go.
Once Matou got onto the carriage, Commander Zenoth, who had recently been demoted to the commander of the caravan guard, shouted into the air,
"All forces! Move out!"
"All merchants, you mean!" His subordinate who had been demoted with him, called out, bringing about laughter from the rest of the fleet. Together, they whipped their horses and began moving out, leaving the commander to seethe in his anger.
Watching the group of vehicles move out, Elaine waved enthusiastically and sighed. She turned around to look at her husband, who didn't even say goodbye.
"You could've given him some words of encouragement. You are his father after all."
Max shook his head. "He does not need my encouragement, for he is a Dragonsteel after all. Listen, there's something important I have to tell you."
"What is it, dear?" The urgency in Max's voice worried her.
"If our son had been speaking with the help of a blessing this entire time, it means he had recently lost it. A blessing cannot simply disappear on its own, there must be a valid explanation for this, and I suspect that he was targeted."
"Targeted? By whom?"
"I don't know. But there are many noble houses that would like to see the downfall of the Dragonsteel family. For now, I've sent someone powerful enough to protect him."
"Powerful enough? You can't mean that!" Elaine was starting to sound horrified.
"That's right. I have asked for the help of our guardian," He looked over at the tallest tower of the castle, where the Dragonsteel insignia was carved. The insignia was a black semi-oval shape with a simplistic depiction of a red dragon with its wings spread apart. "Edna, the dragon that taught us the Dragon Dance Style swordsmanship since the very beginning. Hopefully, she would be able to protect him."
"H-how did you even get in contact with a dragon? And why did a dragon even agree to your request in the first place?"
Dragons weren't some beasts that will come at your beck and call. All of them had their distinct personalities and goals, and it was rare for any of them to interact with mere humans.
"Ah! Don't misunderstand. The dragon's only sending a small part of herself, I think. And it was the dragon that offered to help in the first place.
"W-why would she do that?" Elaine was finding it hard to believe her husband.
"I don't know. She simply avoided the question when I asked. Besides, I don't think that I could stop her even if I wanted to," Max noticed the horrified expression forming on his wife's face. "Don't worry. Our family records say that our guardian dragon will never hurt a Dragonsteel."
"Oh… Okay…" Elaine was feeling lightheaded. Her son had just gone through so much and now a dragon with dubious intentions was looking over him. She prayed that her son would be able to integrate into his new life well.
Matou looked out the carriage window as the distance between him and his home grew longer and longer. With the castle looming behind them, Matou saw his parents arguing about something and strangely felt homesick.
'This is the last time I'll be seeing them for a long while. Man, I'm even beginning to miss their quarreling.'
Annie, who had been observing Matou's face all this time, spoke up. "Young Master, like I said before, you'll still be able to visit them next year."
Disturbed from her sleep, Mia sat us and stretched cutely. She looked over at Matou and rested her head on his shoulders. "Besides, Young Master has us!"
Once again, Matou was shocked by their perceptiveness of his feelings. He gave a small smile, and wrote in the air,
"Only if you pass the entrance exams!"
"Ahh!!! Why did you have to remind me? You just ruined the whole moment!" Mia began pounding his shoulders with her fists, which only served to make him laugh. Annie also revealed a rare smile.
Matou looked out of the window again, this time with eyes full of determination. In a language that no one but he could understand, he muttered.
"Just you wait, I'll become powerful enough to save the world, then I'll beat up the person that stole my system until his mother won't be able to recognize him!"
***
"Achoo!"
Ezekiel raised his eyebrows at Kayden. "Did you catch a cold?"
"Nah…" Kayden rubbed his nose and hugged his sides tightly. "I just felt a horrifying chill run down my spine. Somebody must be out to get me…"
"Or… it could just be your instincts telling you to brace yourself for my tests."
"Will it really be that difficult?" Kayden gave a skeptical look. They had already left the boundaries of civilization and were traversing the plains where adventurers came to slay goblins. Ezekiel looked around the area before coming to a stop.
"This is a good place to test your abilities."
Kayden scanned his surroundings and found absolutely nothing but grassy plains that stretched to the distance. There was absolutely nothing to do here, unless…
"Hehehehe… I see what's this about," Kayden got the hint and was getting pumped. He was still feeling a little bit upset about his fight with Matou and defeating an adventurer of equal rank might just be the thing to make him feel better.
"I see that you've noticed," Ezekiel said calmly, as he began to remove his bow from his back.
Kayden giggled to himself once more.
"Hehe. In that case… Let the battle begin!"
"What? No! I'm making a trap and you're disarming it."
"Oh."
The two stared at each other once again for a long time.