"Aren't we going to take a quest today, brother?" Ash asked. He was so excited to take on a quest and fight monsters in the forbidden forest. It had been a week since the last time they had a quest.
He had been practicing these days, but he had made no progress at all. He wondered why he was given this power that he couldn't really manipulate. What'd happen to him if there was an enemy and he still couldn't use his power?
"How I wish I could master this skill soon." Ash sighed deeply. Whenever he summons the wind, it causes trouble. The amount of elements was always too much for him to control. How could he defeat the demon lord who killed his parents if that's all he can do?
"How about you, brother? Have you found out what your power is?" Ash asked.
"No, I don't have any idea about my power yet. But I hope I can find it out soon so that I can fight the demon lord along with those adventurers," Shawn replied.
"That's hard for you, brother. I may not know how it feels to have no power, but I know it's not easy for you," Ash said empathically.
"Well, there's nothing we can do about it, so let's not talk about it for now," Shawn replied. He looked out through the window of their room and was confused about what was happening outside.
"What's going on?" Shawn asked after seeing the people running back and forth in panic as if there was something going to happen.
"Let me see." Ash glimpsed through the window and saw the people in panic. "Why are they running?"
"I don't know. Let's get outside and ask," Shawn suggested. He shut the window and walked down the stairs. Then, he met some adventurers.
"What?" Leo screamed dramatically. He couldn't believe what he heard from Nelphim, Florence's trusted servant. "They are approaching the capital now?"
"Sadly, yes. They are too much for the towers to handle," Nelphim replied. "My master suggests leaving the capital now before it's too late."
As Nelphim mentioned, there were towers that served as defense against the invaders. These towers were classified into four: the canon towers, the archer tower, the mage tower, and the ice tower.
Each tower had its own unique capability. For example, the canon towers are strong against monsters on land but can't fight against flying monsters. The archer towers are good against flying enemies but cause less damage against armored and huge monsters such as ogres and golems. The mage tower is the only one that could cause heavy damage to both flying and walking enemies. However, their reloading process takes time. Ice towers, on the other hand, can only fight monsters with water. They can freeze the monsters, slow them down, and inflict damage at the same time.
"That's a bad idea," Leo remarked. "Even if the demon lord attacks the land of dusk, the people will never leave here because they have nowhere to go. As you've said, the enemies are coming from different directions, so there's no way to escape."
"Yup!" Shawn interrupted their arguments as he stopped in front of the adventurers.
"What are you doing here, boy?" Leo asked.
"I heard a rumor about the approaching enemies, so we decided to go here so you might have a meeting about what we should do," Shawn replied.
"You're right, guild master," Emma added. "The best option is to stay here and fight the monsters."
Aside from towers, the capital was also surrounded by a great wall. Most especially because it was the hometown of the emperor, who died due to the black plague eons ago.
After he died, the political structure of the land was never revived again. There were many people who aspired to become emperors, but no one was ever deserving, not even to be king.
"Our plan is to attack the monsters and to defend the land of dusk. It's a bad idea for us adventurers to disregard our agreement. It was written on that form that we are willing to get wounded to protect our homeland," Leo reminded them.
"Let's divide the squad into four. Each group will go to their designated areas and do what they need to do," the old man interrupted.
The adventurer's guild had more than 100 members. Most of them were masters and elites, while the rest were warriors like Shawn and Ash. So, it wouldn't be difficult for them to defeat their enemies if they cooperated.
"Let's consider this a quest. Those who kill many enemies will be granted one hundred gold coins," Leo added.
Everyone was shocked after hearing him. A hundred gold coins was too much; they could live in luxury with that much money, so they didn't hesitate to follow the guild's master's plan.
However, they knew that it wouldn't be easy because there were too many monsters along with their kings. There were also priests of death, sorcerers of protection, skeleton kings, kobolds, golems, and ogres.
Good thing that the guild master considered this a quest, or else no one would ever fight those monsters. The reward served as motivation for the adventurers to do their job.
Shawn and Ash didn't hesitate to take the quest too. Ash had been waiting for this time. Perhaps he could fight some strong opponents.
Shawn, on the other hand, wished to win the prize. He knew that with that much money, he would become one of the richest men in the world.
In that case, he wouldn't need to borrow some equipment from the adventurer's guild because he could buy his own. He can buy a new house, eat delicious food, and perhaps live in luxury with Ava.
Shawn woke up from his daydreams when the guild master divided them into groups of five members each. It was a good thing that Shawn, Ash, Ava, the old man, and Alice were all in the same group.
"It's nice to work with you again, Alice," Shawn said. His words sent annoyance to Ava.
Alice smiled. She didn't want them to think that she was so close with Shawn just because they had taken a quest together last time. In her eyes, he was still a stranger, but what captured her heart was his kindness towards those dangerous creatures.
"It might not be suitable for you to take this quest, Shawn," Alice remarked. "I doubt you'd hold yourself back again with those orcs."
"That won't happen," Shawn replied while slightly scratching the back of his neck. He didn't know when it started, but ever since he met Shriek, he was able to hear those monsters' voices.
He wondered if it was his power. Well, he wanted to know if his assumption was true, so he had to please them to let him join the quest.
"All right!" Leo shouted. "Let's attack the monsters and protect our homeland!"
Everyone left the guild and continued to their designated areas. Some went east, west, and south. Shawn and his group, on the other hand, went to the north, where huge monsters were waiting.
Ava reflected on how fortunate it was that Leo had allowed her and her brother to be in the same group. This way, she can protect him if dangerous monsters attack.
Shawn was silent, thinking about him. Will Ava protect him too if he is in danger? Well, he wouldn't know that until he tried.
As usual, it was inconvenient to travel using teleportation with the five of them, so they decided to use a broomstick to fly. They learned to use a broomstick with the help of Amalia Earhart, a witch who died many years ago.
Amalia Earhart was the first master of the adventurer's guild. Despite being a witch, he never hurt innocent people. Her mother was a witch who lived in the Spade Kingdom, while her father was a hunter.
Her parents's love story was quite tragic because people in those days wouldn't allow such relationships. But they followed their hearts amidst the obstacles and eventually established the adventurer's guild.
Unfortunately, Amalia died fighting against the demonic dragon. Nobody has ever defeated that dragon.
Going back to their mode of transportation, Ash didn't have to use a broomstick or any equipment that could fly because he could summon the wind and ride on it. He knew he wasn't good enough with this, but it would be a good practice for him.
His sister was actually against his plan. Doubting that he would only put himself in danger because he couldn't control his power yet.
"Sister, please allow me this time," Ash begged. "I promise, I won't make any trouble."
Ava sighed. Everyone was staring at her as if she were so cruel to her brother. She wondered why they were always on her brother's side, even though he wasn't that cute after all.
"Okay, okay," Ava agreed. "Just don't go too far," she reminded him. Every time her brother would ask a favor, her face would display her worries.
"Don't worry, Ava. You'll look like Jessica if you keep worrying about your brother," the old man said.
"You!" Ava wanted to say something, but the old man suddenly disappeared. His magic was really something that he could teleport in just a blink of an eye.
Ash and Alice also took their leave. Meanwhile, Shawn was so amazed to see Ash flying. Even though he wasn't so good at controlling his magic, he still managed to ride with the wind.
Ava noticed Shawn gawking at her brother and Alice. She remembered that he didn't have any power to send himself there. What a pathetic stranger, she thought.
"Hop on, mister Strange!" Ava had no choice but to give Shawn a ride on her broomstick since the old man and Alice wouldn't take him as their responsibility. She was wondering if they did it on purpose.
Shawn was quite afraid of heights. He was so scared that he didn't notice he was hugging Ava so tight. He couldn't even look downward. He had never rode on something like this before.
Ava was blushing. She felt uncomfortable with his arms around her. She remembered that night when Shawn got drunk with the old man. He was hugging her; their bodies touched, and he even squeezed her breast. She couldn't explain what she felt at that time.
"Ava, your face is red," Shawn said. Although he was at the back, he could see Ava's face through the side. He didn't know what she was thinking, but he was sure that could be embarrassing.
Ava felt annoyed by Shawn's innocence. All this time, he treats her like someone else. Perhaps he had someone in his heart, and it would never be possible for her to have him.
"Hang on!" Ava said in an annoyed tone. Their speed suddenly increased like a bolt of lightning.
Shawn was shocked. He couldn't stop himself from screaming, as he felt like his spirit was going to come out of his body. He wondered what Ava was thinking about doing that. Perhaps she just wants to arrive at their destination quickly.