- I guess, giving you this is the right choice. You only needed a few more seconds until you evolved once more. says Karasu
*POP*
Fenrax put Abel and Gancelot down
- FENRAX! yells Foivos
- On it. answers Fenrax after leaping toward Karasu
Karasu opens the flask and just as he is about to pour it into the goblin general mouth gets attacked by Fenrax. Karasu jumps back on the tree branch he was standing on
- Too late. says Karasu
Everyone looks at Karasu's hand and notices that he doesn't have the flask in his hand anymore. Therefore they look at the goblin general and see the flask in the air, falling into the goblin general mouth.
- WATER MAGIC; WATER WHIP! yells Foivos
A whip made of water appears in Foivos's hand and he tries to destroy the flask with it but unfortunately, he is too late. The bottle enters the mouth of the goblin general but nothing happens
- This is weird. Did it fail? says Karasu
All of a sudden the goblin general body starts shining.
- As expected. says Karasu. There is no way that the blood from our king would fail.
The light that the goblin's general body was emitting slowly fades until it is completely gone and there is a hole at the place where the body was. Out of the hole, a hand comes out. A green hand with black nails. The hand is used to support a person to come out of the hole. The person that comes out of the hole is a green person who is the size of a bodybuilder with a brown mohawk on his head. Karasu jumps down off the tree and lands next to the green person.
- How do you feel? asks Karasu
- Strong. Extremely strong. says the green person
Karasu smiles
- Do you remember who you are? asks Karasu
- I am one of the seven monsters that belong to the strongest squad of monsters created by the Monster King, the Paragon squad. I am the seventh paragon, the Paragon of strength, Groburk.
- Anyway, who killed you? asks Karasu
Groburk grabs his head
- I... I... can't remember. All that I remember is a black fire that wouldn't stop burning me. says Groburk
{Karasu}
" A black fire?"
{Noah}
" Monster King? What is he talking about? And what was that liquid? How did it make him evolve? More importantly, what is that form of his? This is my first time seeing a goblin with the same physiology as a human."
- Fenrax, this is dangerous. says Foivos
Karasu turns and looks at Noah's group
- Oh! You don't need to worry. says Karasu. I only came here to bring this guy back home
- Who are you? asks Noah
Karasu seems surprised by Noah's question
- I already told you, my name is Karasu
- Let me rephrase then. What are you? asks Noah
Karasu smiles
- NOW, THAT'S THE RIGHT QUESTION! says Karasu
Karasu takes off the hood of the mantle that he is wearing revealing his face to the group.
- Wha... What is going on? says Noah
What they see is a person with black eyes and black feathers for hair.
- You are not human, either? asks Foivos
- I am not. says Karasu. I am the leader of the Paragons and the right arm of the Monster King. I am the Paragon of Hatred, Karasu
Fenrax and Foivos immediately take a fighting stance
- Calm down. says Karasu. I am not here to fight. Like I already told you, I came here to bring Groburk back home.
- The experiment failed. says Groburk. None of the goblins were able to survive long enough to evolve.
- Experiment? says Foivos
- Groburk, we have people in front of us. It's not the time to talk about things like that. says Karasu
- Sorry, Leader. replies Groburk
- It's fine. As long as you understand what you did wrong. says Karasu
- Are you not gonna kill us? asks Noah
- Why would I kill you? asks Karasu
- Obviously, when we get back we will report it to this to the king. Intelligent monsters have a humanoid appearance that was never seen before, and the monsters have created a hierarchy. These are all things that never happened before and that never happen in the future.
- Never happen in the future? asks Karasu. You are talking like you know what is going to happen in the future
- It's a figure of speech. replies Noah
Karasu chuckles
- I see... Well, even if you tell your king about our meeting, there is nothing that you guys can do. You don't even know where our kingdom is located. The only reason why I didn't kill all of you is that it would have been more troublesome to deal with the aftermath of your dead than dealing with the aftermath of what is currently happening. says Karasu while putting his hood back on and turning around to leave. Let's go, Groburk
- Yes, leader. says Groburk while turning around
- WAIT! says Noah.
Karasu turns around
- What is it this time? asks Karasu
- Was the mutated monster you guys's doing? asks Noah
- Mutated monster? What is that?
Karasu disappears and reappears right in front of Noah, shocking everybody except Groburk
{Foivos}
" I couldn't see him!"
{Fenrax}
" What was that?"
{Noah}
" This speed is the same as when I use Body Of Speed; Lightning!"
- What is a mutated monster!? asks Karasu with a creepy expression on his face
{Noah}
" It wasn't them? I definitely can't let them learn about mutation."
- It's Nothing. replies Noah
Karasu backs up, disappears again, and reappears next to Groburk
- You are no fun, Noah Arcadios. says Karasu with a smile
A tornado made of wind and black feathers surrounds them. When the tornado subsides, Groburk and Karasu are nowhere to be found.
- Til next time, Noah Arcadios. is what they all hear but they can't see where the voice came from
After confirming that there was nobody in the area, the group sits down on the ground
- What was that? asks Foivos
- We were lucky. says Fenrax. If we had to fight them, in all honesty, we would all have died.
Foivos, Fenrax, Juliana and Noah all sigh
- Why are these two so quiet? says Fenrax while getting up and going to check on Abel and Gancelot
- How are they? asks Foivos
- They passed out. From the pain, I guess. says Fenrax while rubbing his beard
- Is a car coming for us? asks Juliana to Foivos
- Yeah. I called one before that Karasu guy arrived. It should be here anytime soon. answers Foivos
Just as Foivos finishes his phrase a group of adventurers comes out of the forest
- Branch Head! yells an adventurer
Foivos raises his hand
- We are here! says Foivos
After seeing Foivos, the adventurers rush to Foivos's side. They help put everybody into the car and the car departs from the Eucerin Plain.
- Stay on your guard! says Foivos. The reason we don't bring cars to a place like these is that they are easily noticeable and we can't defend ourselves while being stuck in the car.
- We already know, Branch Head. That's why we have people protecting the car outside. replies an adventurer
[50 minutes later at the city's gate]
The car arrives at the city gate
- In the end, we ended up meeting a few monsters on the way here. says Foivos to Noah
- We were bound to meet some anyways. replies Noah. Completely avoiding confrontation is impossible if we are riding a car.
The car gets stopped by a guard and after confirming Foivos's identity, enters the city.
[After arriving at the guild]
The adventurers help Abel and Gancelot, who are still out, get out of the car and carry the, to the infirmary inside the guild. Noah and the others get out of the car
- If their injuries are treatable by our healer they will be able to stay here, otherwise, they will be transferred to the hospital. says Foivos
- Can't your healer heal broken bones? asks Noah
- He can but not completely. If you want them to completely recover immediately then you better head to the hospital. They have more competent healers there.
- So he can't heal their bones but he can replace them so that they can heal naturally? asks Noah
- Yeah but you guys are going back to school today, right? I don't think that you should wait to get them healed then. says Foivos
- It's fine. says Noah. Letting the body naturally heal is better than healing it with magic. mumbles Noah
- Ok. answers Foivos
Foivos leaves and heads to his office. Juliana grabs Noah by the shoulder
- What do you mean it's fine? asks Juliana. We have the pointers exchange with our upperclassmen in a week!
- A week is enough for them to heal. says Noah while walking toward the receptionist
- What can I do for you? asks Atille
- Don't act like you don't know what I want. says Noah. Send me my quest reward. says Noah while taking out his phone and shaking it in front of Atille
- The Branch Head said that he will personally send you the quest reward. says Atille with a smile
*DING*
A notification pops up on Noah's phone screen. Noah looks at his phone screen
[Notification]
Received 200 000 Nols from Foivos
Noah walks back to Juliana
- I got the reward. says Noah. Stay here with them, I am going to the bank.
- Why? asks Juliana
- I am going to create an account for the squad so that every quest reward goes straight to that account. says Noah
- What do I do when they wake up? asks Juliana
- Call Roan, he's gonna take you guys back to my house. says Noah while leaving the guild
Juliana heads to the infirmary
[At the bank with Noah]
Noah walks up to a receptionist
- What can I do for you? he asks
- I want to open a bank account. says Noah
The receptionist gets up from his chair and looks around. After confirming that there was nobody around Noah, he sits down
- Did you come here alone? asks the receptionist
{Noah}
" What the hell? Why is he treating me like a child?"
{Bright}
- Maybe because you currently are a child?
- Yes. answers Noah
- You need to be at least 15 years old to open a bank account by yourself. says the receptionist
{Bright}
- But why doesn't he recognize you? You are the third son of the noble with the highest authority over all the cities located in the eastern part of the kingdom of Fayrak among the nobles in the eastern region.
{Noah}
"I never revealed my face to the world before the coming-of-age ceremony. That's why even those who live in Arcadios city don't recognize me."
Noah takes out his adventurer card and shows it to the receptionist.
- Why are you showing me this? he asks
- Just read it. says Noah
The receptionist starts reading the adventurer card but the first thing he notices is Noah's adventurer rank
- WOW! A BB-rank adventurer at such a young age!
Noah shakes his card. The receptionist read the name written on the adventurer card
- "Noah Arcadios". he says
The receptionist gasps
- YOU ARE NOAH ARCADIOS!? THE THIRD SON OF DUKE LUKE ARCADIOS!? yells the receptionist
- No need to make so much noise. says Noah
The other receptionists and the people that are inside the bank start staring at Noah. Someone starts approaching Noah
- Well Well Well! If it isn't my dear younger cousin, Noah. says a person with red hair and dark red eye, the same height that Jynn has, a robe with the Arcadios crest, and black shoes with a butler accompanying him
- I didn't expect to see you here, Blego. says Noah while turning around to face him
Blego Arcadios is Noah's cousin and the son of Luke Arcadios's younger brother, Rektor Arcadios.
- I have heard a lot about you these days. says Blego