"Alright then, let's go pay the Reaper's Pit a visit." Hinata declared happily, as scary as it appeared to be the fun part of the mission had just begun.
"I'll go with you." Reo instantly offered.
"Absolutely not!" Tunlop exclaimed, he was totally against the idea of Reo putting his life in immense danger.
"Your grandfather's right Reo, it's just too dangerous for any of you to be up there right now. And like the chief said, for now you're the only successor." Hinata who had fallen for Reo spoke in support of Tunlop.
"But Grandfather, they need guidance to the Reaper's pit and whether you like it or not. I'm the only one who's fit to do so right, and I can take care of myself just fine." A fiercely determined Reo stood his ground.
"What assurance do you have you can take care of yourself out there?" Renji cut through the tension, seemingly agreeing to the idea of Reo coming with them.
"What are you saying?" Tunlop exclaimed.
"Are you insane Renji!?" Hinata chimed in out of her own selfish reasons.
"Our village affinity for the magical prowess is very low which makes the villagers turn to the Reaper's Pit, they desired strength to make up for having little to no magic." Tunlop added.
"All the more reason for my question, what assurance do you have that you can take care of yourself Reo?" Folding his arms gently, Renji proceeded with his interrogation.
"That's because, unlike my grandfather and the rest of my villagers..." He said raising his right palm above his abdomen. Within a few seconds, a ball of flames manifested on his palm displaying his affinity for flame magic. "I can use magic pretty well." He added.
Tunlop eye's expanded in disbelief, he was utterly dumbfounded as he discovered his grandson could use magic. "R-Reo, since when could you-"
"I've always wanted to tell you, but I couldn't because you knew if the villagers found out I had magic they'd push me to fight. I wanted to spare you the burden of fighting that." He said dispersing the flames before anyone could see.
"I see." Renji muttered.
He had begun suspecting Reo to be the individual the system had referred to as [The One] as nothing added up, but if he followed logic it fell to another suspect.
"Alright then, if you're coming along we best get going now, by the way does your village has swords?" Renji asked, he never entered into any battle without his go-to weapon.
"Swords do not work against the Drakons, why should we have one? They are the only threats to the village." Reo replied.
Sighing heavily, Renji turned around and began leaving. "Alright then, let's go." He said as he made his way out of the house.
"Take care of yourself chief." Waving the child goodbye, Hinata said as she followed behind Renji.
"Reo." Tunlop called to his grandson who turned to face him. "Be careful out there." He added as he wished Reo success.
"I will grandfather, take care of Raymond while I'm gone." With a nod of affirmation, he left the house and walked behind the two mages.
They went up the stairs that brought them underground and with the pull of a lever, the lid that hid the secret entrance to the underground bunker opened and they all walked out.
"The fog that surrounds the village has significantly increased since I last came up here." Reo whispered silently to the two mages, they couldn't afford to be seen or heard by the Drakons.
Like most reptiles, the Drakons possessed a keen sense of sight, smell and thermoreception.
"That means the activity in Reaper's Pit is increasing." Renji who is well versed in the act of silent movements whispered back.
"We must destroy whatever's beneath the pit quickly before it's too late." With a nod of affirmation, Reo peeked from the side of the building to determine if it was safe to move. After a careful observation, he signaled for them to move quickly and they all ran east from the building besides them.
As they ran swiftly besides each other, Reo couldn't help but notice how quiet Renji's footsteps were. "Are you a samurai?" He asked with a low tune.
"A samurai? No, what made you assume that?" Renji became slightly frustrated, Reo was officially the second person who assumed he was a samurai because of his skills.
"I can hear the whooshing of the fog more than the sound of your footsteps and you are right next to me. Only a highly skilled individual can do that and in this kingdom they all belong under the Shogun's order." He replied as it became evident the concept of ninjas was truly unknown in this kingdom at the very least.
"Let's just say my history wasn't a fantastic one, but I guess one could say I'm similar to a samurai."
[Hostile threat has been detected]
[Eliminate threat: 0/1]
"What!?" It hasn't been up to five minutes since they emerged from underground and a Drakon was already hunting them. Just like before, the fog blocked out an individuals sense of sight and smell, making it highly difficult to battle within it.
"Something's coming." As Renji spoke, they all retaliated swiftly not wanting to risk the chances of him being wrong. They all hid besides a building and stared forward at the foggy road.
"How do you know something's-" In a matter of seconds, they picked up the sound of someone's footsteps approaching from their right side. It wasn't hard to hear the slight growls of the Drakon that hunted them down.
Due to the fog, they couldn't risk a battle with this Drakon but at the same time it was also to their advantage, the fog which contained strong magical properties within it blocked out the reptiles sense of smell and sight leaving only one worry, its thermoreception. The fog weakened it's thermoreception greatly, however it was still able to track them as it happened to be close by.
The growling noises and footsteps were heard no more. "Has it gone?" Reo said within his thoughts as he stretched his head out to confirm.
Almost immediately, the fog that circulated the air in front of them split into two as a loud roar echoed through the air.
The loud roar was followed by the razor sharp teeth of the reptile as it emerged from the fog, the Drakon spotted them with its thermoreception and launched itself at them in order to feast.
"Reo!" Hinata exclaimed as the Drakon targeted the head of Reo first, and the distance between them was very close allowing no chance for evading. "Shit! I won't make it in time!" He exclaimed in his thoughts.