In the morning, the three of them ate breakfast at a nearby restaurant. They woke up at daybreak and were one of the first customers that arrived at the restaurant. Lender was looking at his map as well as a journal.
"Listen up, Kid. From this moment on, our journey is only gonna get harder. There had been sightings of bandits and some monsters on the roads that we'll be taking," Lender warned him.
"Wouldn't it be better if we take back roads then to avoid such unnecessary battles?" Raza asked.
Lender sighed as he put away his journal and folded his map. He looked at Raza with a look that only showed how dumb the question was.
"The cargo has an expiration date, Kid. If we are so much an hour late, it could mean our heads."
Raza shook his head in understanding. Allura was an important figure, so it did make sense for her to be treated as such. Even then, being on such a strict schedule was unrealistic, especially for the distance that they were traveling.
On the other hand, Allura knew that Lender was using coded speech, but she didn't wish to be called cargo. It rubbed her the wrong way, but there wasn't much she could do. Her safety took top priority.
"Then wouldn't it be better if we were able to coordinate attacks? If we work together, then defending the cargo would be an easier task," Raza reasoned.
"Listen, Kid. My job description was only to be a driver. Therefore, I will do no more than drive," Lender shrugged. "Hope you'll be able to do your job.
Raza sighed. Lender wasn't the most sympathetic of people, but his attitude annoyed Raza. Especially when he was glowing blue like Allura. The good news was that Raza already did maintenance on his weapons, but he still had shop points to spend. His lack of decisiveness would become a crutch if he didn't act soon.
Either way, time doesn't stop for anyone. After breakfast, the small team returned to their carriage and prepared to leave.
While Raza was riding inside the carriage, he looked at his Reward Shop. He already ruled that armor and weapons would be a waste to buy since he could always forge his own. He was sure that they were better than anything her could make, but without a way to securely earn points, he thought it wasn't worth the purchase.
Summons were still too expensive at the moment, so Raza was left with Magic, skills, and spells. Skills were special moves and techniques that didn't require mana to use while spells did require mana.
Raza already developed a way of fighting and thinking, so getting anything that would force him to change would be counterproductive and time-consuming. He needed to get something that he could assimilate into his already existing move set. He skimmed through all of his magic, skills, and spells that were available to him.
"Someone is awfully serious," Allura teased him.
"I was simply lost in thought," Raza closed his shop.
He learned that no one could see his pop-up screens except for him. This gave him ease when he would look at his memory log or Reward Shop.
"You are too serious for someone your age. Don't you have a lover or anything?" Allura asked.
"I do not," Raza shook his head.
"That checks out. Perhaps you should find someone and loosen up. It does wonders you know," She smiled.
"I have no interest in entertaining you with my personal life," Raza sighed.
"Ah yes, of course. Someone as serious and narrow-minded as you must have a lot to talk about, to begin with," Allura mockingly said.
Raza ignored her statement as he opened his Reward Shop. He spent his points on one skill, one spell, and one magic.
The first spell was Air Step. It allowed him to make a platform out of magic to move midair. The mana consumption was so low, that he thought it would be useful for short and long battles.
The skill that he got was Coat. This skill gave him the ability to coat his weapons with any element that he could use. Raza planned to use this power to create bullets with special effects.
The magic that Raza bought was Black magic. He wasn't entirely sure of what it would do, but he did an extended amount of research on the different magic that was in his Reward Shop. Most of them were unheard of, but Black magic appeared in some historical texts. He was able to deduce that it was a powerful magic. Altogether, these things cost him 8,000 points. Raza was left with 2,280 points.
Allura's eyes widened as she sensed something about Raza shifted in front of her. She couldn't explain it, but it felt like he had just gotten stronger.
"Raza… did you just get… stronger?" She looked at him curiously.
Raza raised his eyebrow. He didn't expect Allura to be able to sense that he just bought a few items from the Reward shop, so his mind raced with an explanation. Before he could say anything, Raza sensed incoming danger.
"Allura, get down!" He pulled her arm.
The two of them ducked down as two spears broke through the wooden sides of the carriage. Raza was dead silent as he scanned the area around him.
'2… 4… 7 people. This is an ambush!' Raza's eyes widened with surprise.
Most of them were all red-level people. They were stronger than the succubi that Raza fought before.
"Kid, is the cargo okay?" Lender called back.
"It is. What about you?" Raza called.
"Weak attacks like that won't be able to harm me!" Lender laughed.
"Stay here," Raza told Allura as he stepped outside.
He climbed to the top of the cargo and looked around. They were in the middle of an open field, so there was nowhere to hide. The good part about it was that he was able to see all of his attackers. He sighed.
"Change of plans, Kid. Looks like I'll give you a hand," Lender stood up and cracked his knuckles.
"I have no intention of paying you," Raza coldly stated.
"I ain't greedy for money… most of the time. Look at their brooches," Lender pointed out.
Raza looked at one of them carefully. They were all wearing a brooch that looked like a blue rose on the left side of their chest. All of their faces were covered with scarves and headdresses, but they wore black robes with blue designs.
"These guys are part of the Single Order. They want to keep the kingdoms separate and avoid an era of peace. Especially between kingdoms that have the primary residents of a nonhuman race," Lender explained.
"That seems like an irrational goal," Raza sighed.
"Exactly. These guys are war freaks."
"However, since they are here, they must know what the cargo is," Raza reasoned.
"Yeah. Leave no survivors," Lender ordered.
"Understood."
Raza pulled out his pistol with one hand, and his sword with the other. The last time he fought, he didn't fight to the fullest of his abilities. He didn't want to make the same mistake twice. This would also be a good time to test his new skills, but he still had to be careful.
Most of the fighters had spears, but two of them had duel swords. These two were glowing blue, like Allura and Lender. Raza was wary of them, and if it was up to him, he would avoid fighting them for now.
"Did you get stronger since the last time we talked, Kid?" Lender briefly turned to him.
"Is now really the time to be asking that?" Raza sighed.
"You're right," Lender chuckled. "I'll take on four of them up front, and you deal with the other three. The swords dudes are strong, so be careful."
"Very well. I will come to assist you after I take care of my enemies," Raza nodded.
"Cocky brat," Lender chuckled.
Almost as if they were growing impatient, one of the spearmen threw another spear at Lender. He caught it with ease and threw it back twice as hard. The attacker didn't have time to react and was impaled through the heart.
"Hurry up, Kid! I already took care of one!"
Raza couldn't help but smile at this competition. He used Coat and Dark magic to modify his bullets. He aimed at another spearman and shot three bullets. He tried to deflect, but the bullet expanded upon impact and then imploded breaking his spear. The other two hit their target, repeating the same action as the first bullet. They left two fist-sized holes in his body, but not a drop of blood was found anywhere. The victim fell to the floor, dead.
"I also defeated one, Lender. It would be wise not to underestimate me!" Raza found himself excited.
'Was that Dark magic!?' Lender thought to himself. 'Whatever! I'll just ask him about it later. Right now, we need to take care of these Single Order guys. Knowing them, they should have backup coming soon.'