After walking for what felt like an eternity, Alport was finally in sight.
I say walk, but Toba and I each rode our wolves, while the rest of the group was on foot.
It might have seemed unfair to ride our mounts while everyone else was walking, especially since everyone was hurt to some degree, but it would be stupid to walk with injuries just to avoid their envy.
I'd rather be unfair than stupid, and so I ignored Goose's glare and complaints during the trip.
Besides, none of them could ride our wolves anyway, since they were bigger than us and were carrying a lot more equipment.
Still, we would've arrived a lot earlier if we didn't have to stay on their pace… The drinks better be worth it.
At least the trip was quiet, everyone was too tired to talk.
"Here we are… Let's do the usual." Owl wiped off the sweat on his forehead and grinned as he looked towards the town.
"Finally." Goose followed up, still frowning but apparently excited.
"The usual?" I asked Owl.
I can't be like Toba, if I just keep quiet, we'll get dragged into all sorts of things.
"Oh, I guess I should explain."
Owl cleared his throat before continuing.
"Usually, after a long mission like this, we have a certain procedure."
"I'm listening."
"You're probably wondering why the hell don't we all go straight to the church to heal our wounds, and then go to sleep, right?"
"Yeah, I was actually about to suggest we do this another day…"
"Hear me out first, you know about potions?" His face contorted into a mischievous grin, but one that didn't make me feel warry.
It was the kind of smile I had when talking about a new steroid or SARMs I found out about with my bodybuilder friends.
Toba and I nodded at his question.
"Well, turns out that if you don't have anything important to do tomorrow, it's actually cheaper to buy two or three stamina and health potions and down them with booze."
Three? I abused pre-workout before, but with my current body size I don't think I can take it.
Also, according to Luna, excess health potions only serve as painkillers, and don't accelerate the body's healing process like it should… Wait, could it be?
Now it was my turn to grin like an idiot.
"So basically, you're saying you fill yourselves to the brim with potions and alcohol, so you don't feel the pain and fatigue, and then you get to party right after a deadly mission?"
"And then you sleep for a day or two and wake up as good as new! Genius, right? Hahahah." He said proudly, as if it was the greatest idea in the world.
"It is a useful, albeit destructive practice. It should be employed with that in mind." Crane added with a composed smile on his face.
The rest of the group seemed eager as well, and Goose was impatient.
"Oh, it doesn't work on heavy injuries though, but you have demon blood, right? You should be fine." Owl added.
So, they drink themselves into a coma with stamina potions and alcohol, and that way they're able to recover without paying for the expensive healing spells, all that while having fun… Wait, demon blood?
"Wait, so demon blood does increase regeneration after all?"
If so, it would explain why the acid wounds from the tiger healed on their own, but why didn't Luna tell me? Also, I don't remember recovering any faster than Toba during our training.
"Also, how do you…"
"I did a lot of research some time ago, for personal reasons."
"Anyway, answering your question, being part demon can have innumerable effects, almost none are guaranteed. I just noticed you have it because I was looking at your leg wound."
"Huh?" As I looked at my leg, I noticed the bandages had come off, but the numerous teeth marks were a lot smaller than before I bandaged it up and were no longer bleeding.
"It's only a little, but the wound is smaller than it was when we were camping, and the wound on your rib stopped bleeding faster than normal too."
This guy… He's sharper than I thought. Also, why does he know so much about demons? He said he researched it for personal reasons, but it's strange.
"When I first saw you, I thought you just dyed your hair, but you really are part demon. And you brother is part beastfolk, right? You two are actually younger than you seem."
He was right on everything, and although he didn't speak in a threatening manner, I started to become a little warry of him. It was strange that he managed to figure out so much in such a short time.
I turned to check on Toba, but he was clueless as always. When I turned back, however, I managed to catch a glimpse of Goose, and his face was not pretty.
Good old racism, it wouldn't be fun if there wasn't any in this world, right?
Of course not.
Well, maybe…
…
These kinds of thoughts are probably the reason I didn't have many friends… Did my "autism" return because there are more people around?
"Cona?" Owl brought me out of my daze.
"Oh, sorry."
"Just so you know, we don't care about that, sorry for putting you on the spot." Owl placed a hand on my shoulder.
"It's fine, I'm just surprised about the regeneration thing is all. Besides, you're right on the money, no reason being angry about facts."
"I guess it started recently, then? I remember reading that some effects only manifest after puberty."
Puberty, huh… That doesn't bring back good memories at all. Thankfully, this time I'm prepared… Right?
Wait, is this the reason I was so infatuated with that demon girl? I normally would've been angry at her, I think. No, I'm sure.
Damn… It seems I already started thinking with my lower head.
"That would explain it, then. I'm at that age after all."
I was about to ask something else, but everyone other than Owl seemed like they wanted to get going already. The guy liked talking, but we could continue that at the tavern.
And so, I made my decision.
"Toba, you're not too hurt, right?"
"Hm! Toba is fine."
I then got closer to him and started whispering in his ear.
"I think I'm going with them this time to save some money, so you keep watch over the wolves, since you're allergic to misce and you can't drink potions."
I didn't distrust these adventurers, but I didn't want to reveal Toba's weakness to them.
I also felt bad about leaving Toba all alone, but he had the wolves to keep him company. It also saved me the trouble of finding a place to keep them in, at least for now.
"Well then, I think I'll take you up on your offer. My brother will stay at the inn with the wolves though."
"That's what I like to hear!" Owl was overjoyed.
"Try not to faint too quickly, kid." Goose had an evil grin on his face.
"I- if you die it's not our fault, ok? It's not."
"He'll not perish from this, rest assured."
"Just drink a few potions less, you're smaller after all." Nightingale, Crane, and Crow also joined in on the conversation.
I was about to tell them I would be fine, but I noticed Toba was waiting for me to look at him.
"Brother, can Toba sleep outside?"
"Hm? You want to camp out?"
"Hm!" He nodded enthusiastically.
It should be ok, right? Maybe he doesn't want to be alone with the innkeeper.
This area also feels safe enough, he can handle himself.
"Alright, choose a safe spot then, and be careful."
After I said that, I turned to Owl.
"Let's try out your poison."
…
"Heeey… What's up with these muscles, anyway…? Hic… I've never seen a kid like you…"
Owl was already completely drunk. Well, everyone was.
After we entered the town, we dropped the goblin ears at the guild along with a signed letter from Owl and went straight to the tavern.
The guild girl wasn't there at the time, and rookies had to complete the procedure with the same receptionist they started it, so we left the ears there, and Owl vouched for me and Toba just in case she didn't believe us.
The potions were also bough on the guild, and they didn't let me pay for my share.
"I told you… You need to train them! … Weightlifting!"
Looking confused, nightingale put his hand on my shoulder before talking to me.
"I don't get it… I'm skinny, right? I was always skinny, and Goose was always fat."
"WHAT?"
"Strong! Broad! … He was always strong… And I was always skinny… But he didn't do this thing you're saying… So why should I?"
"If you do it, you can get even stronger than him! It takes a while though…"
"Bullshit!" Goose was not buying it.
"That seems… Unlikely…" Crane didn't seem to believe me, either.
"Who taught you that, anyway?" Owl asked with a sharp gaze that lasted only a second before getting swallowed again by his drunken expression.
Shit… Should I tell them? If I say that I'm not from here I would need to explain a lot of stuff… I don't wanna…
I'll lie… Hehehehehe.
"Why the evil grin… Don't tell me you're a cultist, Cona…" Owl said while shaking me back and forth like a doll.
"No… I don't know any cultists… It was my master who taught me…"
"I knew it! for kids so young to be able to defeat all those goblins… You two had special training, didn't you?"
"Yes!" I said proudly and puffed up my chest for some reason.
"But… Hic… Where?"
"… Can't tell!"
"Come oooon… Tell uuuus…" Now nightingale was the one shaking me back and forth, but he didn't have as much strength as Owl.
"I- Hic. I won't… Tell…" I said with a slight grin on my face.
"Hey, if he doesn't want to sa-"
Crow had just started defending me, but suddenly went quiet.
The rest of the group also tensed up, and started all drinking in unison, like it was an excuse to look at their cups.
"Hmmm? Why are you all weird… Also, I need my second stamina potion already, I'm getting tired…"
"Take it, but don't make a fuss." Nightingale handed me a glass bottle with a light green liquid inside.
Still confused by why everyone was so serious, I started looking around the tavern while downing the bitter potion.
"Hey, don't stare too much. You don't want to get her an-"
"OH! Erkh… Cough, Cough." I shouted in surprise but started choking as a consequence.
If the tavern seemed a little quieter before, now it was almost completely silent, and everyone was looking at me.
The reason for my surprise was none other than the blonde demon girl I confronted earlier in the day.
Ignoring everyone's gaze, I got up and walked over to her. Owl and the rest were completely pale.
"Hey, I didn't expect to see you again today!"
The girl had her back turned to me, and she seemed to be walking over to the counter.
She was wearing tight fitting clothes, with a lot of leather parts spread around specific points. It looked like armor made to emphasize mobility, but there was now a slightly out-off-place poncho over her, covering from her shoulders almost to her waist. Weird as it was, it seemed extremely well made.
She stopped when she heard me, but still didn't turn around to face me. It annoyed me quite a bit, but for some reason I was putting up with it.
"… What do you want?" Her tone was cold, and it was made colder due to the fact that she still didn't turn around.
"Not much… Hic… I just didn't want to let things end like that, you know?"
Finally reacting to my words, the girl turned around and put both her hands inside her little poncho.
Whoa… that's the look Luna had when she killed those bandits… Wait, why is she looking at me like that?
Also, is her arm healed already? I guess healing magic really is efficient.
"So you came here to die… Fine by me." She slightly bent her legs, but kept her hands hidden. It made for a weird fighting stance.
She quickly glanced around the tavern before continuing.
"Everyone here saw it, right? He started it." Her vertical pupils stopped sweeping around, and she focused her gaze on me.
"Huh?"
Die? … The fuck did I do this time?
"… What do you mean 'Huh', you want to settle the score, right?" Her pure killing intent from earlier gave way to a hint of frustration in her voice. She seemed confused now.
"Hm? I just didn't want you to hold a grudge, that's all. I don't want to be on bad terms with you." I said nonchalantly.
Why is everyone so tense… I feel like I'm the only calm person in this entire bar…
"WHAT? Are you making fun of me?" Her face contorted and a vein in her head almost burst.
Her expression went from a predator about to slaughter prey to a person looking at their worst enemy. It was hard to tell which was more intimidating, but for some reason, I was still calm.
Maybe it's the alcohol… Nah, she's just cute, those blonde ponytails can't scare me.
I don't want another bite though.
Unless…
"I'm not… Look, I'll go straight to the point: Sorry for breaking your arm, I didn't mean to."
"… What?" She said in a low voice, and as if someone had stopped pulling the strings of her face, she stopped grimacing and looked completely taken by surprise.
Why does she look so confused? I haven't said anything weird… I think.
"I really didn't, ok? Hic. Your bite just caught me by surprise and made me jump a little, I was holding you tight, so I accidentally broke it."
"…"
"I know it was none of my business, but it felt like you were about to kill that guy, so I had to do something."
"…"
She was now looking at the ground. Her bangs didn't let me see her face very well, but she seemed to be ashamed.
"You could at least talk back, you know? I'm new in town, so I don't want to make any enemies for now, especially not a cute girl like yo- Argh…!"
Before I noticed, she had quickly closed the distance to punch me in the stomach.
Her face was red, and her brow was furrowed, seemingly in anger, but she couldn't hide the bashfulness in her expression.
The punch was strong, but it didn't knock me down. I managed to turn around and watch as she stormed out of the place in frustration.
People in front off her moved fast out of her way, it was like she had a force field around her.
Ugh… If she went a little easier on the punches, I'd say it's cute that she's embarrassed.
Everyone in the tavern was still looking at me, but I was too drunk to mind it.
"What the hell…" Goose muttered while staring at his mug, and that was my queue to sit down again.
"Hehehe… I knew a punch was coming, so I contracted my abdomen just in case." I said with a stupid smile in my face as I dragged my chair to sit.
"Anyway… I'm hungry, how do we order food here? Building muscles takes a lot of eating, you know?" I said before finally looking up at Owl, who was already my guide at this point.
"…"
"Hm? What's wrong?"
Not just him, but the entire table was silently looking at me in shock.
"D- dude, how are you still alive?" Nightingale was the one to break the silence.
"Well, she was looking kinda scary for a moment, but I can defend myself one on one if I need to… Probably."
"That girl is trouble, Cona. She almost killed nightingale once. We had to gang up on her all at once to make her back away." Owl said with a serious face, it seemed my little interaction with her had sobered everyone up.
"Whoa… Is she that strong?"
"Yeah. Not even I can beat her, almost no adventurer in this town can."
"So that's why everyone is looking at me?" I said out loud and twisted my head around, meeting countless gazes. Some turned their heads away, while some kept staring into my eyes, trying to analyze me.
"What is surprising is not your courage nor your ignorance, but the very fact that you are unharmed. Many people got beaten near to death by making the same mistakes you did." Crane regained his composure surprisingly quickly.
"Mistakes? There was another then?" Owl asked Crane, but he didn't seem surprised.
"Indeed, you remember him apologizing for breaking her arm, do you not?"
"So it wasn't just nonsense… Cona, when -"
"Owl, I don't think he's unharmed…" Crow interrupted Owl just before he could ask me something, and everyone suddenly stared at my torso. Specifically, my ribs.
"Huh?"
I moved my head to look at it too, only to find all my bandages soaked with blood, and a piece of bone sticking out.
"This drinking game really does take away the pain…"
Thump!
Those were my last words before passing out.
…
"Urgh…"
The inn? Guess I was brought back here then…
Shit, I didn't even get to eat anything. And my wound is perfectly closed, so a bunch of time must have passed.
I needed to eat something quick. I had been neglecting my bodybuilding ever since we set out from the tower way back then, and if I didn't at least eat properly, all my gains would vanish.
Or so I thought… But surprisingly, neither I nor Toba were losing any muscle or strength.
Still, I was far from big. I had a long way to go before I could catch up to my old body.
The room was completely empty, and so I opened the door and staggered towards the reception. The sunshine going through the window told me it was probably the middle of the day.
"Auntie… Good morning."
"… You woke up… Earlier than I expected." The innkeeper said in her usual tired manner.
"Really? I feel like I slept for days."
"No… They brought you here yesterday… They also handed me this… He he." She grinned as she handed me a piece of paper, but somehow, I got the feeling that she was laughing at something completely unrelated.
She still remembers that? Well, at least I wasn't out for too long. That explains why Toba isn't here yet.
I took the piece of paper and started reading it immediately.
"Don't worry about the cleric fee. Look for us at the two-story house near the stables when you both get yellow rank.
- Owl."
Cleric fee… That's why I'm already healed then. Now that I remember, I'm pretty sure there was a piece of my rib sticking out of me, that certainly would not heal with potions.
"I hear you got done in… by that demon girl, no less."
"Yeah, she seems to be a bigger deal than I thought. Everyone is saying how I was lucky to not die."
"No… She wouldn't kill you." Her grin turned into a sad smile as she said that.
"She wouldn't?"
"That girl is complicated… But she wouldn't kill you…"
They seem to know each other…
"Well, she certainly does her best to validate the rumors about her. I've only met her for a day and she knocked me out twice, and almost killed a guy."
"She -"
"Still, I also never got the feeling she would just kill me like that, or people in general. Not sure why, maybe I'm just overconfident."
The innkeeper nodded and gave a satisfied smile.
"That girl, she is absurdly violent… But the times she actually killed were in self-defense. She's just… Too brutal. That comes with being part demon, I guess…"
"The girl goes too far, that's for sure. I can see why people think she's a mindless killer if she goes around stomping people's heads after their out cold."
"But it's sad… Right? She has no one." Still with her smile, the innkeeper kept probing me for more of my opinion.
"Well, yeah. I guess."
I know too well what it's like to be on edge all the time, being hated or feared by everyone. At some point, you start wanting to feed their hate. Give them reasons for it.
But I only try to empathize with her because she's a cute, petite demon who fits all my preferences. If it were a random dude attacking people, I'd say off with his head without skipping a beat.
"Before I go, what's this about being part demon? I'm part demon myself, but I don't get fits of rage like her. Well, not usually."
Sorry Toba…
"It depends on the person… And the amount of demon blood in them."
"Hm." I nodded for her to keep going.
"To put it in simple terms… Demons have exaggerated and intense emotions, with each demon having one human emotion as their defining emotion, which is the strongest they feel." She paused for breath before continuing.
"Phew… That's regarding regular demons, but part demons share this trait in a lesser way."
Wait, if she's already like that… Just how intense is a pure demon?
"The reason you don't feel it as strongly is the same reason you don't have any obvious demonic traits besides your hair… You probably have very little demon blood in you."
"And since that girl has a lot of demonic traits…"
"Exactly, she has a lot of demon blood... She's almost a pure demon."
So, the crazy murderous personality is the price I must pay for the horns and sharp teeth…
I'm in.
"Thanks for the info auntie! But how do you know all this about her anyway?"
Not just about the girl… this is the second person I find here that is oddly knowledgeable about demons in general.
"I tried getting close to her once… I pity her."
"What went wrong?"
"She didn't trust me; she doesn't trust anyone… But with you being part demon, maybe you can do better than I did. Hell, your hair is probably the reason she hasn't beaten you into a pulp anyway."
"Hey! I can handle myself in a fight, you know? I may be small, but I have good training."
"I'm sure you do… Fu fu fu…"
Now she's laughing at me…
Am I really being overconfident? I really do have a lot of training one on one, and if that girl uses daggers like Luna did, even better.
"Anyway, I need to get going. If I try talking to her and she kills me, I'll blame you, auntie!"
She waved her hand slowly, as if to save her words.
"My hair, huh? That makes sense."
…
"Hey, is that normal? Is it a competition or something?"
"No idea, all I know is these two arrived yesterday. Maybe they lost a bet."
"Wait, isn't the green haired one the kid that fought with that demon and survived?"
"No way…"
All around the tavern, adventurers were eating their lunch while stealing glances from a specific table.
Some whispered, and some talked out loud not bothering to be discrete, but they were all in awe.
In that table, where two kids with weirdly chiseled physiques were sitting, was a mountain of food.
More specifically, poultry and potatoes.
The beast boy was hiding his face as he ate, but the other kid paid no mind to the stares while they distended their muscled bellies into something that resembled a turtle shell.
…
"Brother… Can we go?"
"Don't mind them, we paid good money for this food, so we'll eat everything we can while it's hot. I'll package the rest so we can eat it after our workout." I said while proudly displaying the round pot I had bought from a shop on the way.
Sight… I miss plastic, but these clay pots will do for now.
I would no longer neglect our training, and we had to make up for all the days we spent eating light. Lack of fridge was an issue, however, and we wouldn't stay put in a base all day like we used to.
To accommodate a new routine of adventure, I needed a way for us to minimize the time we spent looking for or cooking food, but we couldn't just keep going to the tavern five times a day. Like I said, we wouldn't stay put.
That's why we started intermittent fasting. Or rather, 'shove everything you eat in a day into two meals and try not to puke'. Which is the bulking version of intermittent fasting.
"Burp… Anyway, I think we're halfway done. We can store the rest and go train."
"Y- yes…" Toba said as he grabbed one last potato.
So proud… He has the appetite of a true bodybuilder.
It took some effort to pack everything and walk out, but the half-hour walk to the woods helped digestion a little bit.
By the time we were done chopping the trees for our bench press, we were ready to go.
It's been a while, my beloved… You might not be in your best form, but you're still elegant as ever.
It wasn't tough finding a clearing we could use as our improvised gym, and we were far enough from town to avoid curious onlookers.
Two hours later, our first proper workout in ages was complete.
"What do you think, Toba? It's a good routine, right?"
"Hm! Ish good…" Toba answered while biting into a chicken leg.
"We can alter it a little bit, but if we keep it this way, we can adventure well into the night, and then sleep till lunch time."
Basically, we would wake up, eat, workout, finish eating, and then go on missions for the rest of the day. Night missions meant we could adventure without running into other people, and we were also somewhat used to it.
Since we would workout just after lunch and start adventuring before noon, however, it meant that we wouldn't become freaky nocturnal creatures. We could start with easy missions while the sun was up and save the exciting stuff for later into the night.
This routine also meant we could sleep a lot, since we only needed to wake up around lunchtime, and we needed lots of sleep.
Luna didn't let us sleep much, so I planned on taking back all my lost Z's from back then. We were still growing after all.
After our daily macros were met, we stopped by the guild so we could finally get our ranks.
"I was waiting for you two… Honestly, if it wasn't for Owl, I wouldn't believe it."
The guild receptionist had an impressed, but slightly annoyed look on her face.
"Hehe, well, I was a little surprised myself… I didn't expect the wandering goblins to be that weak. We did take a little beating from the regular ones though." I said as I slapped my ribs a couple of times.
"What did you expect? None of you are wearing proper armor! Especially you, this tiny fur vest won't protect you from anything!"
Damn… I wasn't expecting to get my drip checked like this.
"Weapons are more important, but I'll get something made for me when I get some spare money."
I was about to mention that Toba's cloak was made from a fire aspect boar, but my Brazilian instincts told me it wasn't a good idea.
"Anyway, since both of you decided to skip the first steps, you'll get both the rookie tag and the pink rank magic circle. But I guess the tag is pointless now."
"No worries, I'm sure you end up doing this for a lot of adventurers."
"This kid… You know that's not even close to being true, right? Almost no one completes their request in a single day like this."
"I know, I'm just messing with you!"
"Honestly…"
Come on, you can't fault me for wanting a little praise, right?
Despite her grumpiness, I could tell she was worried about us.
It must be hard, managing adventurers like this… I'm sure she's witnessed a lot of deaths.
"Where do you want the circles to be engraved? It costs money to have them redone, so pick it carefully."
"Hmmm… Can you do it on a spell scroll? I don't want to keep engraving and erasing circles on my sword. As for my brother, you can carve it on his cloak."
"Spell scroll? Don't tell me…"
"Hehe… I have a few tricks on my sleeve."
I gave her the spell scroll I had with minor water repel on one side, since my only other scroll had the earth and fire counterparts on each side.
This is all that's left from all those scrolls and circles that vanished along with the tower…
I feel like crying.
"Sight… Ok, I won't ask." Still in disbelief, she reached under the counter to get a hefty box, which she put on top of the counter with a loud thump.
"Your fingers, please." She looked at both of us expectantly, but ended up resting her gaze at the timid wolf boy at my side.
"A little shy, aren't we? Your brother here could use some of your charm." She then reached her hand inside Toba's hood and gave him a brief and gentle head pat.
What the hell? He hasn't said a word yet, and yet this little autist gets all the praise?
I extended my index finger towards her, ignoring her comment.
Toba followed after me, and, like I had guessed, she pierced both our fingers with a needle, drawing a few drops of blood and gathering them in two separate glass discs.
She then took out a metal contraption from the box that looked like a tiny waffle press, placed my scroll on the side, and started mixing my blood with some magic ink.
Nice, I was wondering how they manage to mass produce so many magic circles.
She poured the dark mixture carefully on the bottom portion of it, and after waiting for the ink to spread around all the grooves, placed my scroll inside the press and closed it.
"That's impressive! How come they don't make one of these for each of the most popular spells?"
All that came to mind was the image of Luna painstakingly copying spell by spell at the tower.
"It's impossible, the pink rank magic circle is the only one simple- or rather, unique enough to be mass produced like this, it has barely any function besides proof of identity."
"Wait, can't you guys use spells to know if we're alive or something like that?"
"Not with this one"
"Oof, that's harsh."
So, pink rank adventurers just die without anyone knowing… Not that it makes much of a difference anyway, but it's still grim.
Following our short talk, the receptionist opened the machine and took out my scroll, now with a faintly glowing pink magic circle on one of the sides.
"Here you go. For you Toba, I'll press it onto a piece of scroll and sew it on the inside of your cloak, ok?"
She remembers his name? Well, I guess she had to know since she was just handling his rookie tag…
"… Thanks, Sophie…"
He remembers HER name?
Ok Toba, you win this one. You deserve the head pat…
…
"Get behind them!" I shouted to Toba as I avoided two blows and parried a third.
Maybe parry wasn't the correct term, since the Shoreling's arm was now flying throw the air after being lopped off by my sword.
A month had passed since we arrived on Alport, and we were now fighting Shorelings on the beach. They were fearsome creatures, smarter than the usual goblin and taller than us.
Basically, they looked like a Sahagin.
They fought either with their claws or with tridents, but the lower Shorelings found here rarely held weapons.
It wasn't a huge setback, since their scales and fast movements prevented them from being harmed too much by most adventurers.
Besides, using conventional weapons would slow them down too much in the ocean, and bladed weapons would turn useless being exposed constantly to sea water. Their claws were also way sharper than the rusty weapons goblins favored.
Their only problem was: We weren't conventional adventurers.
Toba quickly positioned himself behind the three Shorelings I was keeping occupied, and struck with his greatclub at full force, sending two of them flying.
Doing my best to not let the sand that had just flown everywhere into my eyes and mouth, I stabbed a creature in the chest as it was falling towards me.
We quickly finished off the other two after that.
"Blech! I'll end up going blind if you keep splashing sand everywhere! I don't remember including it on our diet, either."
"Did brother see? They flew further this time!" Toba excitedly shouted as he supported himself with his club.
Combat was tiring, but we were adapting our skills in order to fight against monsters. It wasn't our specialty, but slowly but surely, we were getting efficient at it.
"I saw it, sometimes your strength scares me a little bit, you know?" As soon as I finished saying that, I extended my finger towards a group of five Shorelings and two giant crabs that were slowly getting near us.
The movements for Minor Firebolt were second nature to me, but I still couldn't do it as fast and smoothly as Luna did.
"[Ignis.]"
A fist sized firebolt exploded from my fingertips and collided against the group, killing a giant crab and three of the scaly Shorelings. The rest were injured and started fleeing immediately.
"I think brother is the scary one…" Toba looked wide eyed at the explosion site.
My precision with minor firebolt was getting better and better, and since it had about the explosive power of a grenade, it was a deadly tool.
The problem was… It was an unneeded tool, I kept using it only so I could practice.
Unlike our fight with the tiger, we hadn't managed to find a proper challenge within the quests available to our rank.
More specifically, as pink ranks we could only target F and F+ ranked quests, and those were usually way easier than our time in the goblin cave.
We could just wander around looking for stronger monsters of course, but that way we wouldn't get paid.
To put it bluntly, the guild was holding us back.
"Let's pick up the remains and go… Our quest asked for five Shoreling fins."
"Hm!"
When we finished cutting off what we needed, I clapped my hands, and our wolves began feasting on the rest.
When was the last time I had to use a spell to protect myself? My senses will dull if this goes on.
…
"What are those kids eating? They keep getting bigger."
"Well, they order three whole birds at the tavern every day, but I'll just get fat if I do that."
Fighting monsters was of course not the only thing we were improving on; we were also progressing a lot on our training.
Granted, most our money went to food and stamina potions, but I managed to get a discount with the tavern keeper, and our lifts were going up fast.
Way too fast, in fact.
Ever since we began our routine a month ago, I started to have trouble keeping my training aligned with my strength.
Every week my sword swings felt different, my weight was different, the power I had to adjust to was different.
Complaining about it was ridiculous, though. being able to cut a Shoreling's arm in one swing was not something easy to do, and it was only possible because of the muscles and strength I was cultivating.
It seems bigger muscles aren't just for show after all, Luna sensei. I doubt my strength would have progressed this quickly if it weren't for our bodybuilding.
"If it isn't Cona and Toba! How are you two doing?" While on our way to the guild, we bumped into Owl and Crow.
"We're bored. Why won't you let us join up on missions already?"
"I told you; it wouldn't be a good look. Taking pink ranks as helpers on dangerous missions is already frowned upon, and if you two return injured on top of that, our reputation would collapse."
"I get that you two are strong, but why the haste? It shouldn't be long until the next rank. The guild has a system that rewards a perfect score, and you two are on a roll." Crow joined Owl in his attempt to calm me down.
"I get it… But I'm getting rusty. Remember when I said I was a spellsword? What good is it if I never even need to cast any spells?"
"I have fun…" Toba said almost in a whisper.
"That's just part of being a spellcaster, most of the time you'll cast a spell as practice while saving your mana for emergencies. Even I start to forget I'm a pure mage sometimes, since I'm always swinging around a sword." Crow slumped his shoulders as if he was trying to convince himself of his own words.
"You do get to use them though; I didn't get to use my only spell in actual combat yet."
"You mean only minor spell?" Owl furrowed his brow lightly and held his signature sharp gaze.
"Huh? Oh, yeah… That's what I meant."
Close call… Not even Toba knows about Darkness yet.
"Anyway, keep it up and you two might even ask for a rank skip one day. It'll take some time but it's worth it."
"Sight… I guess."
I need a rank skip right now, not later… What's the point of staying in pink rank all the way, and then skipping ahead? Or even worse, going through yellow and only then skipping a rank. The skill disparity is happening now, not in the future.
… I'm probably being unreasonable; it's only been a month.
…
"Cona, Toba! Here to deliver the Shorelings quest?"
"Yeah… We also killed an extra six as collateral damage."
"Collateral damage huh? We'll run out of low ranked monsters if you two keep that up!"
"Brother, should we take less missions?" Toba tugged my vest with a worried look.
By this point, Sophie had complete control over him, and she used him to get me to behave.
"No, we need the money. And besides, it's the guild's fault for not ranking us up."
Moreover, running out of monsters was a bluff. Even if we intentionally tried to, we couldn't dwindle their numbers on our own.
What we did cause, however, was a shortage of F+ ranked quests. And other adventuring groups were already pissed at us.
Normally, a group could take on three or four easy quests a week, and if it was a difficult quest, it would be only once a week. That was because spells were important, and mana took the whole week to recover.
Injuries were also common, so adventurers had to rest as well.
This made it so that most pink ranked groups usually took on two F ranked quests a week, where they would conserve their energy and resources, and one F+ ranked quest in which they would give it their all.
Toba and I took on two F+ quests a day.
Not a week, a day.
They were also pissed because we were supposed to be "rich" and loaded with expensive weapons and armor, but we spent our money on absurd quantities of potions and food.
If only they knew how much these stamina potions help with my lifts… Pre workouts on earth don't even come close, not even dianabol comes close.
I do feel bad that Toba can't take them, but even without it he's still a little stronger than me. It just helped me close the gap.
"I wonder if there'll be a day you don't mention it. Just ask another group to take you on as helpers if you're that eager."
Yeah, I wish. The one group that I talk to won't do it, and the only other adventurer I know avoids me at all costs. I could try being more sociable, but I have my hands full right now.
But wait, she's suggesting it herself, and she clearly knows we don't intend to stand by as only helpers.
Maybe…
"That's exactly why we're here! We'll help Owl and his group."
"Brothe-?!" Toba tried to speak, but I wrapped my arm around his neck and pressed it against his mouth.
"You'll go with them on a quest?"
"Yeah! They sent me to get one they were eyeing earlier, and started preparing. Can I apply it for us?"
"You would need his signature for this…"
"I already have the one from that time, right? Owl's our friend."
"Hmm… If it means you'll stop complaining every single day…"
"Come Toba, let's get it done." I slammed the Shoreling fins on the counter and went straight to the quest board.
"Brother, we get in trouble…."
"Relax, the rules aren't that strict, it's about time we get a good challenge. Besides, I still have two minor spells left."
My eyes travelled all over the board. Looking for quests other than F+ rank had gotten my blood pumping.
What rank should I pick? Owl's group never revealed their rank to us, but it's probably green, which means they can take D and D+ quests.
As much as I want to get a D+, it would be four whole ranks higher than what we're used to, and we're a duo, not a group of five...
"Let's get this D+ one." I grabbed the only one available on the board without even looking at it.
"Brother…"
It might be risky, but we have tons of skills and tools at our disposal that we're not using yet.
We also didn't prepare at all for our quests so far, so we can manage it if we give 100% of ourselves.
"Brother it's dangerous…."
Time to buy that cool breastplate I saw at the armor shop.
"We're going to die…"
Some new throwing knives would be nice too…
"Fufufufufu… Finally!"
"W- what?"