"Finally, we're leaving!" Joren laid his head on Derry's lap as the caravan left the village. It had been two days since Glenn, Derry, and Arnold absorbed the mana from the mana stone and it took almost two days for them to do so.
Glenn was back to being the strongest out of the group as he broke through to the 3rd circle mid-stage. But because he had a high-rank mana stone, he was already on the cusp of breaking through to the late stage.
Arnold also broke through to the 3rd circle but he was just in the early stage, and Derry broke through to the peak of 2nd circle.
"Now that we're done with our business there, our focus should be on delivering these goods. We're already a few days behind schedule. I don't want to hear Viscount Harold's voice when he shouts insults at us for being late." Pantera leaned out the window frame, basking in the sunlight, enjoying the nice cool breeze passing over her face.
"I agree. Unless it's unavoidable, we won't be doing any more side adventures." Glenn didn't want to run into trouble they couldn't handle. On top of that, he didn't want anything to happen to the goods they were transporting, so it was better for them if they stuck to their original journey without any deviations.
For the next few hours, they traveled along the road, took a few breaks to feed the horses, and stretched their sore bodies from sitting too much. When the sun started setting, they decided to make camp in the bushes close to the road, yet not so far from where they would be in the woods.
"I'll keep watch, I was sleeping on the road anyway. You all rest up." Lenny set up a campfire and asked Joren to come over to where he was. The other four set up their tents and relaxed.
"What's up?" Joren asked, unpacking his sleeping bag.
"Can you make some of that fried chicken again? It's been a while since I've had it and I craving it like crazy. I mean, I'm even having dreams about it man! I need it."
"It's only been a little over a week."
"A week too long!"
They looked into each other's eyes as if they were having a staring contest. Neither of them looked away nor blinked. Joren couldn't take it anymore and just laughed.
"Ight man, but you're helping me. I'll show you how to prepare it so you don't need to call me next time. I can already see you waking me up in my sleep just to prepare some damn chicken."
"Nice! Let's do it!" Lenny ran to where they kept the food and got out everything they needed to prepare the chicken.
What should have taken no more than 15 minutes took 45 to prepare the chicken. Lenny, as enthusiastic as he was, was not a good cook. And the worst part was that they weren't even really cooking, just seasoning and frying. Joren shivered at the thought of Lenny making their meals.
"Food's ready! Y'all better get some before Lenny eats it all!" At Joren's call, they all came running over like they hadn't been fed in months.
"It's fried chicken! Finally!" Pantera was salivating as the smell of the chicken invaded her nose.
"Yes! I've been wanting to eat this again but didn't want to bother you." Derry spoke as she got her share.
"Good food Joren. You should make it more often." Even the calm and composed Arnold was stuffing his plate with the chicken.
"You should tell me the recipe so I can have Lauren cook this back at home. I want to eat this every day! Ahem, I mean I'm sure Lauren and your Mother would like to try this delicacy." Glenn quickly grabbed his food and ran away.
"What the hell is wrong with you people? It's just fried chicken. I know it's good but come on, you don't need to act like hungry vultures." Joren threw his hands up before bringing them down. He took his share and then sat down.
"You don't understand Joren, this is food worthy of the Gods! Anyone would go crazy once they try this. I bet this is going to be a best-seller when Gus puts it on the market. You're going to be rich!" Lenny had four drumsticks in his hands and many more on his plate. Oil and grease stained his shirt and he had crumbs around his mouth.
"Well, I guess I'll just make something else to calm your tastebuds down." He spoke
Suddenly, everyone besides Joren stopped eating their food. They turned to him with eyes widened. "You have more amazing recipes like the chicken?!" Pantera asked
"I mean, there are a bunch of meals I know how to cook. A lot of them are better than fried chicken if you ask me." He said casually, taking another bite of his meat. [Lol]
They all turned towards each other and smiled sinisterly as if their minds were connected.
Hours later, everyone except Lenny was sleeping. Arnold and Glenn shared a tent while Derry and Pantera shared one as well. Joren slept nuzzled between the two women. Only the sound of fire crackling in the night could be heard alongside the singing insects.
Lenny was sitting with his legs crossed, both swords draped on his lap. He had his eyes closed, using his senses to survey the area when he felt the presence of two people walking over to where he and his companions were staying.
"Ahh! I knew I spotted a campfire! See dear, fellow travelers." A man who appeared in his thirties spoke. He was around average height and had typical black hair.
"Sigh, I guess you were right honey. Sorry for doubting you." A woman, also who appeared in her thirties replied back to her husband. She had black hair as well.
"It's okay. Who would have thought travelers would be out in the middle of nowhere?"
"What do you want?" It wasn't surprising for Lenny to see people traveling along the road trying to make camp. Sometimes, different groups of people would set camp together to make things more convenient.
"Ahh, sorry for not introducing ourselves. Were travelers from the Larvel Kingdom. We're on a journey to travel the world and see all the amazing sights. We were going to rest up when I happened to spot the smoke from your fire here. So, I was wondering if we could rest here for the night?" The man asked
Lenny assessed the two people standing in front of him. His weapons sat clearly visible on his lap, yet they didn't look or seem nervous at all. 'They could have seen their fair share of conflict' Lenny thought.
"Sure, take a seat right here. Feel free to relax, it's cool seeing people from another kingdom, can you tell me about your travels?" He asked
"I'd love to! One time ran into a dragon and..." They engaged in conversation for about an hour until it was time to go to sleep. Lenny saw that the couple was now sleeping so he made his way to the girl's tent to switch watch for the night.
"Ready?"
"Yeah." In a low voice, the couple spoke and slowly sat up without making any noise. From their sleeves emerged two hidden daggers, one for each hand. Moving like a cat, they slowly and quietly walked to Lenny whose head was poking inside the girl's tent.
The couple looked at each other and then nodded. They lept over to Lenny, aiming their daggers at his back, attempting to kill him in one strike, but a gust of wind blew them into the air sending them flying into a tree.
"Arghh!" The man cried out in pain as his back collided with a tree. He quickly got up, grabbed his daggers, and took a fighting stance. "How did you know?!"
"I could sense your bloodlust idiot. You guys suck at being assassins." Lenny grabbed his swords and dashed towards the woman who was still trying to get up, preparing to chop her head off.
"No!" The man quickly reacted and blocked his attack.
"Good! I've been itching for a fight since I broke through! You better entertain me well!" He pushed the man back and kicked the woman on the ground sending her colliding with a tree once more.
"Batard!" The man rushed at Lenny, aiming his daggers at his vitals but was parried effortlessly.
"Don't tell me that's all you got." Attack after attack, Lenny kept parrying his opponent. It was so embarrassing that he started smacking the man in the face and even put away one of his swords.
"Stop smacking me!!" The man fired two aura slashes from each dagger, they crossed forming an X as it flew towards Lenny.
"Weak." Lenny sliced the energy in half and extended his free hand sending a burst of wind, flinging the man into a tree once again. But he didn't stop there. Using the wind, he blew the man towards him and delivered a gut-wrenching blow to his stomach.
The man dropped his daggers, coughing up blood as he dangled in the air, still captured by the wind.
"Let's have some fun, shall we?" Lenny slammed the man to the ground and watched as he bounced back up. He followed up by kneeing him in the back which sent him hurdling through the air. Flying up to catch him, Lenny appeared above the man and punched him back to the ground.
Beaten and battered, the man still tried to get up but his limbs felt heavier than normal. Just then, spinning balls of turquoise energy surrounded his arms and legs, lifting him up and extending his limbs as if he were about to give someone the biggest hug ever.
Lenny used his wind to put the man in that position and as soon as he was propped up, he delivered a flying kick to the man's stomach sending him flying. As the man was on track to collide with another tree, Lenny threw his sword towards the man and grabbed the other.
When the man hit the tree, a sword implanted itself into his belly, pinning him to the tree.
"Arghhhh!!!!" He cried out.
"It's over." At blinding speeds, Lenny quickly appeared next to the man, slicing his head clean off with so much force that he cut the tree in half as well, watching it topple over crushing the man's body.
"Damn, you must really hate trees. Well, I don't blame you, my first rival was a tree after all." Joren stepped out of the tent with Derry and Pantera following behind. Glenn and Arnold also stepped out as they heard the commotion.
"Some idiots tried to assassinate us but they suck as doing their job. I wanted to test my strength but it seems I went overboard." He scratched the back of his head and laughed dryly.
Just then, an explosion occurred in the sky. Looking up, they all could see that it was some form of flare, one to alert others. Once the light died down, they all heard maniacal laughter off in the distance.
"Heh, heh, hahahahaha!!!! You're scared now!! Do you think we came alone? You'll regret doing what you did! I'll watch as they gut your-". The woman couldn't finish her sentence because her head exploded. Joren used his mana force to crush her head instantly.
"Joren!" They all cried out
"What?! No point in keeping her alive. We have better things to worry about." On cue, many individuals appeared one by one in the area. When it seemed like there were no more people, one more would pop up. It went on like this until 100 people surrounded the six of them.
"Ametures. Can't even handle a single mercenary. They deserved to die. And you-" A man in black with a red bear symbol on his shirt spoke, "You will all die tonight."