"Haaa…. Haaaaa… everything.... Hurts." In an empty field was Dillion lying down spread eagle breathing roughly. A metal spear was at his side while another boy was standing looking down at him. Of course that boy was Aldrich. Right now he had his hair tied up into a ponytail and had a wooden sword in hand.
"You did good. You're rapidly improving and you're utlizing your mana so you don't waste it all pointlessly."
"Haaa... I-I ..... still can't even..... hit you."
"Of course you won't be able to hit me. I've been training in swordsmanship since I was 5. It'll be a cold day in hell if someone like you were to be able to hit me."
"What….. is... hell?"
"Nn? Don't worry about it."
"Oh…. Ok." Dillion, too tired to keep asking, started to regulate his breathing. It had been 5 days since Aldrich had gotten Dillion to reveal his true emotions. True to his word Aldrich trained Dillion in spearmanship.
Aldrich knew some spearmanship due to him needing to understand how to fight someone with a spear. Aldrich was at a massive disadvantage due to him using a katana. A spear would win almost every time. So he would be able to teach Dillion the basics and other skills.
On the other hand Aldrich was training him in mana control which was far easier. Dillion didn't properly control his mana and so whenever he used body enhancement magic he burned through mana.
"If you're so strong why didn't you beat Asmodeus?" Dillion had asked after the first day of training.
"Why would I do that? It's not my fight, it's yours. I'm not going to be there to always protect you from Asmodeus." Aldrich replied to him. Aldrich could've easily beat Asmodeus but that would do nothing for Dillion. If Dillion wanted Asmodeus to stop messing with him Dillion would need to show Asmodeus he won't allow Asmodeus to harass him.
Asmodeus was the typical bully character. If he met someone stronger than him he'd back down. Dillion just needed to be stronger than Asmodeus and that would be the end of his harassment.
"Alright, go take a bath and I'll have your food ready."
"Ok. This is the only thing I look forward to after we're done with the training." Aldrich had teleported them back to Aldrich's inn and had Dillion take a bath in their public bath space. While Aldrich went to the inn's kitchen.
"Heya boy. Cooking again?"
"Yup. Thanks again for lending me your kitchen, Mr. Eustace." Dillion replied to the middle aged handsome man. Eustace was the chef of the inn and wife to the innkeeper. He had a muscular build and a mustache with brown hair and brown eyes.
"Haha. Don't worry about it boy. The ingredients you gave us is a big enough reason to allow you to use the kitchen."
"I found those ingredients quite easily. Are they really that expensive now?"
"Yeah, those damn merchants are charging quite a bit due to the nature of the Forest now."
"What's going on with the forest?"
"You didn't hear? Recently the monsters are all heading towards the entrance of the forest."
"Isn't that troubling for the townsfolk?"
"It is but we're lucky we have a lot of adventurers here so they can protect us in case the worst comes to fruition."
"Monsters are driven by instinct, so it's weird that they're all ignoring each other and heading away from the deepest parts of the forest."
"Hopefully the adventurers find out the problem. We shouldn't be worried though. Not only do we have the Valkyrie's here to help, but we got several Silver rank adventurers."
"The Valkyries?" Aldrich said questionly.
'That group of women I saw on my first day here? They were pretty strong but I felt only a few of them were Silver rank.' Aldrich thought to himself. Aldrich in the few seconds he saw them estimated only 4 of them fit the silver rank.
The ones he thought were Silver rank were, The orc which is the captain, the human which is the vice captain, an Arachne, and a fox woman. The rest must've been red rank.
"Wow. You must've been living under a rock if you don't know who the Valkyrie's are."
"They must be really important if you're speaking about them with such esteem."
"They're one of the top parties in the world, only beaten by two other parties! Plus that party leader is beautiful!" Eustace said with excitement.
"Anyway don't worry about it boy, I'm sure the adventurers will handle whatever problem is arising." Eustace patted Aldrich on the head and left the kitchen. Aldrich, seeing Eustace leave started to prepare food for Dillion.
'I know that some people on earth had a fascination with tall and muscular women. Is Eustace perhaps one of them?' Aldrich thought while cooking chicken. From what he saw the Valkyrie leader was quite lean, not exactly like a bodybuilder from earth but she was still pretty muscular.
Orc's were a Matriarchal species with most women being 7 tall while the men were 6 ft. The females tend to be battle driven, finding joy in fighting strong opponents. Their strength was only rivaled by the dragon-kin in the far East. The males on the other hand mainly did physical jobs like construction or cleaning jobs.
Well to be fair to Eustace She was indeed very beautiful. From Aldrich saw she wielded a great sword that was Aldrich's size. Not even a minute was needed for Aldrich to see she was an amazing swordswoman.
'Though she's still far from being the best swordswoman. That title will always be held by my mother.' Aldrich thought to himself.
He plated the food he made which was a food he often made for his sister, chicken Karaage.
He had been making food for Dillion everyday since they started training. Dillion wouldn't be able to continue if he wasn't given a big meal so Aldrich decided to cook for Dillion to not strain Dillion's family's financial state.
'Well just as expected he's doing good. Dillion has also mellowed out somewhat. It's better than having a rage filled Dillion. At least I won't have to worry about him killing Asmodeus; he'll probably just beat Asmodeus within an inch of his life.' Aldrich thought while setting the food down on one of the inn's tables.
Aldrich didn't care if Dillion killed Asmodeus per say. Asmodeus was a pathetic human being but he was valuable to the guild. Blue rank adventurer's were above the average rank of the average adventurer which was pink rank.
So if Dillion killed Asmodeus he would be in trouble with the guild and Aldrich couldn't help him with that. The guild was a vast organization spanning over 12 kingdoms and 1 empire. The emperor could not interfere due to their power.
Aldrich could fight even the top adventurer's but it wouldn't be an easy fight where he would be lucky to take all of them out without losing his own life. The guild took its memeber's deaths very seriously if they suspected they were murdered and not killed by monsters.
"Well it'll be fine. In the visual novel Dillion was a kind boy so I'm sure he'll be the same." Aldrich murmured. Just as he was thinking about Dillion, Dillion came fresh out of the bath and hurriedly dug into his food like a starving animal.
.
.
.
.
.
"Alright old man hurry up and out with it! You called us all here for a reason and it sure ain't about some puny monsters!"
"I agree. There is no need for all of us if it's just some Silver rank monsters or red rank. Please tell us the reason already, guild master."
"Can't you two idiots piece it together? It's obviously a demon. Most likely the guild master couldn't get the Gold rank adventurers so he called all of us."
"Bullshit! There's no way a demon is here! Demon's are monsters driven by instinct they would have already annihilated this town!"
"There's no other explanation, you simpleton. Monsters are the same as demons, only less powerful. Yet none of them are attacking weaker monsters for food, only running from something deep into the forest."
"Look here you dumb bitch! I-
"Enough already!" In a room that was decorated with weapons and drawers sat 4 people. One was sitting behind the desk which was the guild master Cyrus. Cryus was an old muscular man who by physique alone could pass off at 30 years of age. He already had grey hair due to his age.
There were three people sitting in chairs that were placed in front of the desk. The first being a cat-man with a soul patch and dirty blonde hair. He looked to be about 27 and had a cloak and dagger strapped to his side. It was clear he was an assassin. His name was Larke.
The second being a beautiful human woman with revealing clothes and light blue hair. She had similarly light blue eyes and had a petite frame not even a comparison to the woman next to her. She had a wooden cane that was decorated with magic enchantments at her side. Her name was Lazuli.
The third was an orc woman with blue skin and long black hair. She had ruby eyes and towered over everyone in Cyrus's office. She was a half orc with a human father and orc mother. Even though she was a halfling she was almost as tall as normal orc women. Her name was Akako.
The two who were arguing were Cyrus and Lazuli. While Akako was just sitting back, staying out of their argument. The three of them were leaders of extremely strong parties. Akako was the leader of the Valkyrie's, which were women who wished to fight to protect others from monsters.
Valkyries usually went to villages who had been overrun by monsters or bandits and adopted young girls who had lost their families. It was up to the girls if they wished to fight and if the girls said yes they were taken under the Valkyrie's wings. There were more than 12 Valkyrie's as most weren't strong enough to qualify for that position.
The other Valkyrie's did small jobs that helped villages or towns and took care of monsters that were gray, or green rank. The 12 who were the strongest went to battlefields and fought monsters and demons.
Larke led a party of assassins. Their main job was to scout battlefields and strike monsters killing them in one strike. They also helped by poisoning enemies. Unlike the Valkyrie's who ran straight into battle they waited patiently for their enemy to show weakness and attacked while they had the chance.
Their group wasn't as popular as the Valkyrie's due to flashy weapons and armor of the Valkyrie's while Larke's party was dressed in all black or camouflage to blend in with their surroundings.
Lazuli led a group of mages who explored dungeons and labyrinths. The main focus of her party was to further the knowledge of magic and create magic to improve the livelihood of people. Lazuli mainly recruited people from the magic academy in the capital.
Her group mainly had party with a group of swordsmen due to mages being best in the rear guard while swordsmen were vanguards. But recently Lazuli has been recruiting magic swordsmen and isn't relying on random solo adventurers as much.
"It's just as she said Larke. We think it's a demon." Cyrus said with a grim look on his face.
"What the hell! A demon would've already destroyed this town! Why is it staying back in the forest?!" Larke yelled loudly.
"We don't know. We can't send any one in at the moment due to the demon's that are attacking the Theocracy. All Gold rank adventurers are at the theocracy helping push back the hoard."
"So you wish for all of us to work together to investigate if there truly is a demon in the forest?" Akako asked Cyrus.
"Yes. All three of you are Silver rank Adventurers with multiple other silver rank adventurers. If all three of your parties work together you guys should be able to exterminate the demon."
"Like hell I'm working with these two!"
"I agree. I don't want to work with them as well."
"I don't mind working with Larke and Lazuli."
"Haaaaa. Why can't you two be like Akako and be nice to each other? Either way you two won't be able to refuse anyways. This is a quest unable to be refused."
"How annoying. I'm assuming it was an order from the lord governing this town?"
"You would be correct to assume that Lazuli. Do not Worry, there is a generous reward." Cyrus said and got up to one of the chests in his office and pulled out three pouches. He dropped them down on the desk and a cling sound was heard.
"In all 3 of these bags are 50 gold coins. All of you guys will get this reward if you complete the quest."
"Wha!"
"50!"
"A-Are you sure about this guild master?"
"The situation is dire. We normally wouldn't do this but we have no other options. We can't wait any longer for gold rank adventures." Cyrus said. It was clear he didn't want to give such a lavish reward but he was sending all of them into a dangerous battle.
A demon was said to be equal to a Gold rank adventurer. A gold rank adventurers and silver rank had a big difference in strength. 20 silver rank adventurers would be equal to a single gold ranked adventurer. Of course there were weaker demons that were silver ranked but a demon that forced monsters to leave the forest was not a silver ranked one.
So to equal the risk would need to be an enticing reward. Most people wouldn't even see 10 gold coins in their life but there were 50 offered to the 3. Naturally they were stunned as the most they've gotten from a single quest was 1 gold coin.
"So will you accept or be expelled from the guild?" Cyrus said in a serious tone. The three leaders looked at each other and agreed on their course of action.
"""We accept the quest!""""
.
.
.
:
.
"Why can't we go and kill all of them already? It's getting annoying waiting here."
"Calm yourself. We're waiting for the go ahead from our leader. He is currently in battle so we have to wait."
"This is boring though. We could easily kill all of these human's."
"Remember we're not only here to kill but we're here to capture someone."
"You mean the sword saint?"
"Yes. Our leader placed a curse on the sword to tell if it was in use."
"You mean to tell me it's in this town?"
"Yes. Recently the sword has killed a few animals. Our leader has sent some small monsters to help us in case she proves to be too much of a challenge."
"Gyhahahahh! Fine I wait! But I wanna hear that bitch scream after what she's done to our comrades!"
"It's fine if your torture her. But don't kill her. Our leader desires for her to be alive."
"Yeah yeah whatever. At least I'll get a good fight out of this." In the dead of night were two figures sitting on rocks both had white hair with blood red eyes with similar red veins on their face and arms. One had horns protruding from his head while the other had long ears reminiscent of an elf.
The two were demons. Surrounding them were broken trees and piles of dead monsters.
"This time we won't lose. Our leader gave us enhancements though they only last for a minute make sure to use it when you need to."
"Yeah yeah. I just wanna have fun!" The male demon said with a carnivorous grin as if looking beyond the trees to see the person he desires to fight.