Chapter 7. A howl within a lightning storm.
Luna invited me and the girls into her office, for comfort purposes i began to float the unconscious YunYun with telekinesis while everyone sat on chairs that Luna provided.
The girls and Luna did stare at the floating YunYun in awe and surprise but i just shrugged it off and began to explain what had happened during my first quest.
Luna listened intently to everything i told her and frowned upon hearing that the girls that came in with me, were hostages and that the bandits were planning to sell off plus the fact that the bandit leader was an ex adventurer turned rogue was very concerning "i see... no wonder all the beginner adventurers we sent never came back and this whole kidnapping of girls and selling them is new to us as well... were going to have to investigate this further".
I nodded in understanding and honestly i don't envy the guild, this whole situation seems like a big mess "well i left all the bodies and everything in that camp, back in that clearing so you can send someone to take a look for clues".
Luna nodded "yes that seems like a good plan, thank you Rean and I'm sorry this quest turned out to be more than we thought it would be".
I shook my head since i didn't mind plus i got a good skill out of it anyways "don't worry about it, honestly I'm just glad i was go there before the girls could be sold off, though I'm sure the unconscious girl would have taken care of them when she woke up".
Luna turned to look toward the still unconscious YunYun "yes... she a very good adventurer and a skilled Arch Wizard, she's just a little bit unlucky fufufu...".
I sweatdroped because that's an understatement if i ever heard one, after Luna finished giggling at YunYun's misfortune she then turned towards the gilrs "dont worry, the guild will make sure to get you back to you're homes, for tonight though, we'll let you take a room in the rooms upstairs free of charge".
The girls sighed in relief and smiled, i turned to look towards YunYun "what about her?".
Luna scratched her head in concern "well i don't know where she's staying... so i don't know what to do with her and i can't just give her a room, I'm already pushing my luck with these three girls...".
I frowned but then just sighed and looked up towards Luna "just use my winnings for this quest to pay for everyone's room and tobget them some dinner too, will it be enough?".
Luna gaped "are you sure? and yeah it should be enough and there would be quite a lot leftover money too".
I nodded, i don't really need the money since i got plenty from the badits drops plus these girls might need it more "yeah, I'm sure and split the leftover between them, I'm fine money wise right now, so it's fine".
Luna softly smiled and nodded while the girls teared up and began to profusely thank me but i just grinned at them and shook my head letting them know that it was okay.
After that i waited a bit to make sure the girls were okay and everything went without a hitch, YunYun was also put into a room so she could rest while Luna stayed with me in her office "so what are you going to do now Rean?".
I looked up in thought for a while "i think I'll go search for a inn and rest up, tomorrow I'm planning of waking up early and get myself familiarized with the town a bit ater that I'll leave to take care of another quest probably the wolf hunting quest".
Luna smiled and nodded "then i hope you rest well Rean and once again thank you for the good work!".
I smiled at Luna and gave her a nod, after that i walked around the town and found a good inn which wasn't too expensive either and rented a big room for the night.
Once inside i summoned some of my Pokemon and let them sleep around the room after we had some dinner.
We all went to sleep happy and excited to see what the next day would bring us.
Early that morning i toured as much of the town as i could and spent the next few hours adding a couple of new spots on my Mini Map.
Afterwards i decided to go and deal with another quest, the next one in line is the one with the giant wolf pack attacking the farms around Axel.
As soon as i decided that, my Mini Map began to point me to the location of the wolf pack causing me to grin and so i began to walk towards the outside of the town.
However i wouldn't find out till later that at this moment i had someone following me from a far and the fact that i didn't feel the need to use my Aura Sense inside Axel would allow this person to see me spread my wings and take off flying once i was outside the town without me noticing.
This person was shocked but decided to keep quiet about they had witness and hoped that they would see me around town again soon.
Soon enough i reached my destination which was a small mountain range not too far from the farmlands around Axel, i immediately see the pack of giant wolves enjoying a few dead cows that they must have gotten from the foremention farmlands.
*hmm those are some really big wolves.. they're bigger than a full grown man but i don't see the pack leader either*.
I took a minute to think about how to handle this, i can't can use the Stun Spore tactic here since this is a big open area and the wind might accidentally blow the Stun Spore into a farm or a house.
*looks like I'm going to have to go in hard and fast, the commotion might also attract the pack leader out so its a win, win situation*.
Deciding to go ahead and attack hard i put away my wings and let myself drop from the sky "Flare Blitz!".
My body was suddenly engulfed in deep blue flames as a fall like a comet towards the eating wolves who didn't noticed me until it was too late, i slammed against the ground right in the middle of them, the ones closest to me get were immediately cremated by the deep blue flames of my attack, those were the lucky one that died instantly.
The few that were too far away from my collision with the ground were sent flying and crashing againts the ground and set a blaze by my deep blue flames.
As soon as i landed i shook my head from the recoil damage of the skill and drew my Tachi " Second Form: Gale!".
To the outside perspective i seemed to have completely disappeared but in reality i was moving at a extreme speed, the wolves who were trying to get up and recover froze for a moment until i reappeared back in the middle where i had landed and slowly sheathed my Tachi.
As soon as my Tachi was fully sheathed the wolves exploded in sprays of blood and gore and fell apart "boy do i love doing this!".
[You do look cool while doing it Rean!.]
Mentally i thanked Astrea for her comment as i took a look around and saw that i had gotten all the wolves "how curious.. there were a good twelve or fourteen wolves here, even for a pack that seems a little too big...".
Suddenly a very loud howl echoed through the clearing and soon a wolf way bigger than the ones i just killed jumped out of nowhere with two more wolves following it behind, the pack leader howl once again but this time a surge of electricity shot out of his body.
I jumped back avoiding the attack and ignoring the notification i just got, as soon as i landed i noticed how the pack leaders attack didn't affect the two other wolves besides him but instead they seemed to be buffed by it "shit... he can buff his allies".
The wolves growled at me but i glare back at them *I'm going to need some help, i need to focus on the pack leader who knows what other surprises it might have and i know the two perfect Pokemon for this battle!* "come Flygon! Ampharos!".
Both Pokemon appeared behind me in flashes of white and immediately roared towards the wolves causing the mutts to take a step back but the leader growled and the other two wolves seem to recover their confidence.
I grinned happy that the wolves didn't try to run away "okay guys, I'll take care of the pack leader you guys take care of the other two!".
Both Flygon and Ampharos nodded and took off to face their opponents while i drew my sword and launched my self at the pack leader.
The pack leader easily dodged my first strike and pounce at me but i let myself dropped to the ground and the giant wolf soared past me.
I took a quick look towards my Pokemon and watched as Flygon hit one of the wolves with a Dragon tail to the snout and then blast him with an Earth Power, the wolve whined and growled in pain.
Meanwhile Ampharos Fire punched the other wolf on top of his head causing a small explosion which bounced the wolf into the ground and then into the air, a few moments later the wolf then crashed against the ground where Ampharos proceeded to blast him with a Thunderbolt causing the wolf to howl in pain.
The pack leader growled drawing my attention back to him he them roared and shot an orb of lightning towards me at high speed, i received a notification but one again ignored it and quickly resheathed my Tachi "Fourth form! Autumn Leaf Cutter!".
With a quick draw of my blade i cut the lightning orb in half causing both pieces to fly by my sides and crash against the trees far behind me, suddenly i jumped up and a dragon tail made of Aura grows out of my back side "Iron tail!".
My Iron Tail attack hit the pack leader right on top of its head flipping it over, i sheathed my my sword and i prepared a Aura Sphere, then i let it loose right on top of the pack leader's back as i jumb back.
The wolf growled in both pain and anger and roll into his feet, he then pounce at me again, this time his claws where engulfed in lightning, i easily dodged his lightning slashes as i got another notification but ignored it too.
Suddenly Flygon appeared out of nowhere engulfed in his Dragon Rush attack, he slammed himself into the pack leader making the giant wolf fly back from the impact where Ampharos was already waiting for it.
Ampharos then used Take Down catching the pack leader on mid air and slammed him into the ground, Ampharos shook himself as he got the recoil damage from her attack.
The pack leader wasn't out yet and tried to get up but then i decided to use one of my new spells "Pow Hammer!"
A toy hammer materialized above the head of the pack leader and then suddenly dropped on its head letting out a cute squeak, the wolf whined from the unexpected attack to his noggin and seem dizzy and disoriented.
Me, Flygon and Ampharos sweatdrop and both of my Pokemon turned to look at me with judgment in their eyes "hey! it's a legit spell plus it has a chance to confuse opponents!".
Both Pokemon huffed and then turned back to the enemie traitors!" but they ignored me and launched their next attack as i got ready to finish off this mutt.
Flygon and Ampharos fired off a Dragon Pulse together and blasted the still confused wolf sending him crashing against the nearby cliffs.
Meanwhile i was charging holy light into my Tachi and then i swung down my sword "Hollowed slash!" towards the direction of the pack leader who was trying hard get up.
A wave slash made of holy light flew off from my swing and hit the wolf leader splitting him in half, both halfs then fell to the sides.
I got a new notification letting me know i had cleared the quest so I relaxed knowing iwas done with this quest "phew... stubborn bastard, he was a tough one right guys?".
Both Ampharos and Flygon nodded and began to walk back towards me "great job guys, you were fantastic!".
My Pokemon smiled while i began to pat them and rub their chins causing them to let out chirps of delight, i took out a few Sitrus Berries and gave them to them as snacks and for them recover a bit, while i checked my notifications.
[Ding!
Due to the perk Mimicry you have learned the following Alpha Howl! Thunder Cannon and Lightning Claw.]
[Ding! you have cleared a quest and have obtained the Reward Skill Orb: Shadow Striker.]
*interesting those first three skills seemed generic but Shadow Striker looks promising, lets check them out*.
I immediately pull out the information on my new skills.
Alpha Howl is that first skill a saw the pack leader used when he appeared, according to it's info the buff differs depending on which element i used in conjunction with it, for example fire plus Alpha Howl gives everyone in my party a strength boost or Water plus Alpha Howl grants a small regen boost, however it doesn't work on my Pokemon since they're my familiars and not considered party members.
Thunder cannon is just a projectile skill that allows me to shoot a condensed orb of lightning, it helps that i can charge it to increased damage and area of effect.
Lightning claw is just a slash with lightning engulfed claws, they have a small chance of causing paralysis but it's dependent on my luck.
Lastly Shadow Striker, this perk allows my physical attacks to cause spiritual damage which allows me to bypass a target's physical defenses as an extra, this perk allows me to damage spiritual bodies meaning i can now hurt enemies without a physical body, like a Ghost or spirit.
This perk was amazing and i was glad that i now have it in my arsenal.
My Pokemon finished their snack and bumped their jead into my belly causing me to chuckle and pet them "all done?".
Ampharos and Flygon nodded and i smiled at them, i took a look towards the sky "hmm it's still a bit early, how about we walk back to town and enjoyed the day?".
Both Pokemon nodded and chirped their name, i nodded and them "alright! then let's go!".
With that said me and my Pokemon walked back to town enjoying the beautiful sunny day and taking down any monsters who were too stupid to attack us.
After having walked back to town and returning my Pokemon to the Pokemon box i immediately went to the guild to report that i had completed one of the quests.
It was already getting dark when i arrived and as soon as i got into the guild i saw both Aqua and Kazuma eating and drinking.
Of course I've seen this happening in the anime but it was still annoying to watch them being like this but it wasn't my problem so i ignore them and immediately headed towards the guild counter where Luna was sitting and waiting.
She smiled at me the moment she saw me "Rean! welcome back are you here to turn in a quest?".
I nodded "yup! i finished the wolves kill quest a few hours ago but I got to tell you, that was a big pack and the Alpha was extremely powerful too".
Luna tilted her head in confusion "huh? but it was reported that only five or six wolves were seen attacking the farms otherwise we would have sent a party of adventurers instead of just one... ".
I narrowed my eyes "hmm... there were more that sixteen wolves, they were big too, at least the size of a grown man and the pack leader was even bigger and had the ability to use lightning".
Luna gaped at my report "w-what? but those weren't regular wolves then... those were king Lupus and that alpha sounds like it was a Storm Fang Wolf!, can i see you're adventurer's card?".
I nodded and took out my adventurer's card and handed it to her, she took it and began to look at the information of the monsters i have killed.
Sion enough she got the information she was looking for "incredible... you really did fought those wolves and even took down the alpha but how?, it should have taken party of at least twenty adventurers to take down this type of enemies... the fact that we sent a single adventurer and didn't even know how many monsters you would be facing is a most grievous mistake, I'm so sorry Rean".
I raised an eyebrow at her "it's okay Luna as you can see, I'm fine it must have been a miscommunication, in fact I'm sure that the ones who issued the quest only saw a glimpse of the wolves and didn't know what they were dealing with plus those mutts were pretty smart so I'm sure they were sending a small group of wolves at the time so don't worry about it".
Luna nodded but still frowned "but still, we should have investigated this further, what if another adventurer would have taken the quest before you? they would have died... I'll make sure you're compasated for this Rean, it's the least i can do".
I just smiled and nodded, I could tell she was going to be stubborn about this so i just accepted it "okay, anyways how are the girls? were you able to get them home safely?".
Luna's frown turned into i smile and she nodded "yes! i was able to get them escorted to their houses and YunYun woke up early in the morning and i explained everything to her, the poor girl was very frustrated about knocking herself out and being rescued".
"I see, I'm glad that they were able to go home safely and that YunYun is okay, that bump on her head look big".
Luna giggled at the reminder of YunYun's bump for a bit "so what are you going to do next? if i remember correctly you still have the mine quest, that mine is pretty far from Axel and it's quite large on the inside so it might take you a week to get it done".
I closed my eyes, while I think for a bit *Hmm it wouldn't take me to much time to get there since I can fly but if the mines are really that big it might take me a while to clear them out*.
I opened my eyes and i smiled at Luna "well I think I'll spent a couple of days in town and check out the shops, see if i find something useful i can use, after that I'll head to the mines and finish that quest".
Luna nodded and then stood up and left to get my reward, i waited a few minutes until she came back and hand me a heavy sack of coins, i took it and the sack immediately disappeared adding to my in game money, Luna raised an eyebrow at that but i just grinned and shrugged.
She huffed but still grinned at me, i then waved at her and left to go back to my rented room.
Meanwhile hiding under a table completely nervous and shaking YunYun stared as the adventurer who rescued her left the guild, she turned to look at Luna but jumped when she saw her grinning at her.
Luna then spoke to her "if you keep hiding every time you see him how are you going to ask him to join his party? you couldn't approach him in the morning either right YunYun?".
YunYun came out from under the table and fidgeted with her skirt "i-i just didn't want to bother him, he seemed busy in the morning...".
Luna sighed "... look if you don't make an effort you're never going to find a party YunYun, Rean seem like a nice and dependable guy so if you don't hurry some other adventurers might beat you to the punch plus you still want to thank him right?".
YunYun flinched and looked down "y-yes, i still want to thank him... but i just get some nervous and i don't want to make a bad impression...".
Luna sweatdropped "well... i don't think you need to worry about making a bad impression with him.." *not after he found you knocked out like that...*.
YunYun perked up "you think so?".
Luna laughed awkwardly "y-yeah! I don't think Rean cares about stuff like that...".
YunYun then seemed to gain confidence "t-then I'll try to talk to him tomorrow! i just have to get up early and wait for him outside his inn and get him while his distracted!".
Luna couldn't help but sweatdropped after hearing that comment *she sounds like she's going to ambush him or rob him... good luck Rean!.".
Meanwhile as Rean was walking towards his inn he unspeakably felt a shiver go down his spine "what the hell was that!?".
Back to the guild a determined YunYun fist pumped and then ran out the guild to go to sleep and wake up early.
Luna just stared at YunYun as she ran out of the guild "i-i think i just might have unleashed something bad on Rean... ".
The next couple of days i spent my time looking through the shops around Axel Town, i didn't find anything interesting or cool within the weapons shops or Armor shops.
But i did find a lot of good, delicious and cheap food to buy and put in my inventory for later, i also took advantage and copied a couple of useful skills from some beginner Adventurers showing off, those skills are Trap Detection, Disarm Trap and Lurk.
I was very glad to have these skills in my arsenal and the moment i learned them they changed a bit, now thanks to Trap Detection i can see traps both within my vision or on the Mini map, the same goes with Disarm Trap, i can just click on a Trap on my Mini Map and Disarm it remotely even if I'm far away from it.
Lurk was a perfect match for my shadow Striker perk and it will allow me to catch my targets by surprise and caused a lot of physical and spiritual damage.
After those couple of days of checking out shops i decided to finally check out Wiz's shop and see what she has for sale.
It didn't take me long to get there and as soon as I stepped in i found Wiz on her counter fast a sleep which honestly made me sweatdroped but i really should have expected this.
She's the same as in the anime, a very beautiful and curvy young woman in her twenties, i didn't want to wake her so i looked around the shop for anything cool or useful to buy and well all she has is pretty much garbage from Megumin's father or very expensive end game weapons and armor.
However i did find a very beautiful necklace and bracelet which had very powerful enchantments, the necklace had a Mana Regeneration and Magic Empower, one doubles the regeneration rate and the damage output of Magic spell of whoever equips the necklace.
The bracelet gives the owner immunity to holy and fire elemental damage plus a Minor healing enchantment, they were expensive accessories but i was planning to give these to Serafall as a souvenir plus they would be very useful for her too.
I grab them and walk towards the still sleeping Lich as soon as i approached her, i began to poke her cheek but she would just grunt and ignore me.
I sighed and decided to charge a little bit of holy light on the tip of my finger and then poke her forehead, the poor Lich reacted right away "Kyahhhh!".
Wiz literally jump a foot from the sudden holy poke and then landed on her butt holding her forehead and tearing up a bit from the pain "ow.. what happened?".
She looked up on to me, i smiled and wave at her "sorry to wake you up like that, it seems like my holy light is a little to intense for a Lich".
She tensed up the moment i mentioned she was a Lich but i just shook my head "it's alright, i don't care what you are and I'm sure you're not an evil Lich otherwise my instincts would have let me know you were dangerous or something".
Wiz seemed to relaxed and stood up "umm then what do you want with me?".
I just raised an eyebrow "well this is a shop right? i wanted to buy a couple of things but you were deep asleep so I had to wake you up somehow".
Wiz looked confused for a minute until her eyes widen in realization "your here to buy something!? really? your not lying to me right?...".
*Damn woman! don't hit me with the puppy eye technique! * i put the necklace and bracelet on the counter "err.. yes i want to buy this necklace and bracelet please".
Wiz was literally glowing with happiness and she looked at the accessories i chose to buy "hmm okay the necklace is 50,000 Eris and the bracelet 35,000, it's not too much right?...".
She seems to be worried that i would regret buying them but i have a lot of money since me and Serafall grinded a lot during the week before i jump to this world, so i took out the 85,000 Eris and handed them to her "here, I'll take them".
Wiz's face lit up with a big bright smile and practically squealed at having finally sold something since she opened her shop "thank you so much!".
She then bagged my purchase and handed it to me, i took the paperbag and immediately put it in my inventory, Wiz tilted her head in curiosity but she didn't ask anything about it and just continue to smile.
I nodded at her "thank you miss Lich, this will make the perfect gifts for someone very special to me".
Wiz nodded and continued to smile "umm please call me Wiz! i rather not have the townspeople know im a Lich".
"Oh! so it's a secret?, sorry about that Wiz, I'm Rean so please feel free to call me that".
Wiz smiled "of course and thank you for your purchase and do come back soon!".
I smiled back "I will, it was nice meeting Wiz, take care and I'll see you some other time".
With that said i walked out if Wiz's shop while she waved goodbye to me, once outside i stretched my body and enjoyed cracking my back a bit *she really is as nice as she seems in the anime, I'll make sure to buy more things from her later to help her a bit*.
[ So what's next Rean?.]
I began to walk towards one of the towns entrances while i mentally spoke with Astraea *I'm going to start heading out towards the mine, canon is close to starting and there's a couple of events i want to be in town for, so i better get that last quest over with, plus I'm close to reaching level 85 and I'm excited since it's been a while since i have been stuck on level 84!*.
[Hehe well the monsters and bandits you vanquished did give you a lot of experience points plus the experience points you got for completing those quest was pretty large too, overall this world seems perfect for you to grow and reach level 100!.]
*Yeah i can't wait for my race to evolve into Heavenly Dragon! in Highschool DxD the Heavenly Dragons were so powerful that it took the three Judeo Christian factions to take them down and they took heavy losses!*.
[Fufufu you seem so excited Rean! I'm glad you're having fun with your second chance at life.]
*Its all thanks to you Astraea don't forget that this is both of our chances at a second life*.
[ :D]
*D-did you just use an emoticon?*.
[yup! pretty cool right!.]
I just chuckled and shook my head, more than likely she picked that up from mine and Serafall's texts since Serafall likes to sent emoticons all the time.
Suddenly a very nervous voice caught us by surprise "umm excuse!".
We couldn't help it, we were so distracted messing around that we didn't notice this girl come up to us and suddenly speak to me, obviously she scared scales off my back "sweat merciful Astraea!".
[Kyahhh!.] poor Astraea was startled as well.
I even felt Excalibur jump up in fright inside my soul and wasn't that a very weird sensation.
My scream also scared the nervous girls who had called out to me "eep!" she literally dropped on her knees and covered her head in fright.
I had actually grab my chest in fright *holy shit... that jumpscared so bad! made me broke out in a cold sweat too... i should really pay attention to my Mini Map or at least leave Aura sense on, even if I'm in town, she completely took me by surprise...*.
I looked down towards the girl who almost just gave me a heart attack and immediately recognized her "wait... You're the girl that was unconscious when i attacked the bandit's camp".
YunYun looked up and nervously smiled, i knew who she was of course but to her I'm not supposed to know her yet "y-yes.. my name is Yunyun".
I sighed and nodded to her "nice to meet too YunYun I'm Rean but don't sneak on people like that girl...".
YunYun teared up a bit "i-im sorry, i was trying to talk to you but you weren't responding to me...".
I kind felt bad now, it wasnt my intentionto make her feel bad "oh.. I'm sorry i was just lost in thought, so what do you need YunYun?".
[Urgh... that scared me really bad...]
*Yeah i know but she didn't meant to do it and it was kinda our fault for being so distracted haha...*.
[Yeah.. let just forget about this.]
*Agreed* YunYun stood up and fidgeted with her skirt for a bit "i-i wanted to thank you for saving me and the other girls...".
I nodded "oh? well you're welcome but really we were just lucky that i took the quest but I'm sure you would have been able to handle those bandits once you woke up, you seem strong!".
YunYun blushed "err not really, I'm just good with magic dnd that's pretty much it..".
I smiled and patted her head causing her to let out a small eep "don't say that, i have a visual skill that allows me to see how powerful someone is and you're definitely strong!".
YunYun blushed once again but smiled this time "t-then would you like to form a party with me! i-if you want to that is.. i promised to be really useful and not get in your way".
I was surprised, YunYun is most of the time a very nervous and shy girl so I'm impressed that she had the guts to ask me to form a party with her, the problem is, i really don't need to form a party but i can't just abandon her, i know how horrible loneliness can be and i definitely didn't want her to keep feeling lonely.
*What to do? what to do?.*