A month has passed since I met Lady Beatrice. I am now traveling down the Burman Road in the Great Forest of Pirah, heading for the city of Briwood, home of the Kartoffel family, followers of the Nature Goddess Euthalia. I chose to go after Reginald Kartoffel first because not only is he head of agriculture for the Leonine Kingdom, but he is also the weakest of the family heads, according to Master anyway.
I plan to stop at Redwen Village briefly, to register as an adventurer and gain some funding, before setting off to Briwood. The trip through the Great Forest of Pirah takes about a month and a half on foot. I have been in the forest for about three weeks and have another three weeks left.
I look up to the sky, it's sunset, I should find a place to set up camp before nightfall. I begin to look around as I walk, searching for a place to set up camp. As I'm choosing red words appear in the air, it's a message from Lady Beatrice.
{Ryuma}
Lady Beatrice is watching me from the Realm of the Gods. Gods stay up there most of the time, they speak to their consorts by writing words in the air. But when it's needed they can appear in the human realm, whether it be to assist their consort or something else. A god coming to the human realm causes their Consort to become much stronger, However, the energy cost is exponential thus it is not possible for more than 30ish minutes. Luckily gods assisting their consorts is free so me and Lady Beatrice can speak as much as we please.
{Something is coming}
I stop walking and look into the forest. I sense the 'something' that Lady Beatrice is speaking of charging towards me, it seems to be quite large. It's almost here so I won't be able to escape it, not at the speed at which it's moving. I don't know what it is but I have no choice but to stand my ground. I pull out my sword and face the coming beast. I hear loud noises as something crashes its way through the forest.
BSCHKK!!!
I see it now, a giant bear-like creature that has orange fur and beady yellow eyes. It has fire going down its back, along its spine.
"A Flame Bear"
An adult Flame Bear is classified by the Adventurers Guild as an A-rank threat and is fully capable of wiping out a party of B-rank adventurers. There have been tales of small villages being wiped out by some particularly strong Flame Bears. In short Flame Bears are not to be underestimated.
{It seems to be a juvenile, it's too small to be an adult}
Lady Beatrice's words give me a little bit of confidence, but even so, it'll be a difficult fight, juvenile Flame Bears are still classified as C-rank monsters. I get ready as the monster crashes onto the road. It's giant, over 6 feet tall and 400 pounds. If what is standing before me is a juvenile then I can only imagine how large the adults are. I look up at its snarling, rabid face, its claws and teeth are stained bright red. We stare at each other for a moment.
It takes a swing at me, its large claws swinging in my direction. But something is wrong, why is it so slow? Surely a C Rank beast is faster than this. I easily dodge its swipe, the claws hitting a tree and knocking it down. It is quite strong, that would have hurt if it hit me.
RAGHHHH!!
The bear gives off a mighty roar, the vibrations shaking the trees. It's so loud that I reflexively cover my ears. That's when it chooses to attack. Its right paw slammed down toward me, and I dodged up into the air. Its left paw comes in for a follow-up slash, one that I am unprepared for, I can't dodge so I block and brace for the impact. I'm thrown into the forest, my back slamming into a tree. I stand up and take inventory. No bleeding, no broken bones, not even a scratch.
"What the hell?"
What's going on, the creature that attacked me is a C-rank monster who hit me with an attack that can bring down a tree, so why am I completely fine? Yes, the attack was heavy but I most likely could have taken it without blocking and would have been fine.
"oh"
I see now, I realize what I forgot to take into account. I'm a consort now. Of course, I'd be stronger with the blessings of a god. Still, this power jump is unreal. I wasn't weak before however, I would have stood no chance against a Flame Bear of any age, but now I can easily kill one.
"Lady Beatrice, what rank do you think I am now?"
{At least a mid-level A rank, more likely to be stronger}
I see, at this level, even a full-grown Flame Bear would fall to me.
BSSHH...KRSHH...
There it is, plowing its way through the forest, still believing I am the prey. I turn and face the oncoming threat. It Jumps at me trying to bite, I step to the side and effortlessly cut off its left leg, causing it to land incorrectly and fall on its face. I walk up to its head and it attempts to bite me, I kick its face, pushing it back a bit. I wait for him to sit up and as he does he meets my gaze, the ferocity and hunger that was once there is gone, now replaced by fear.
I slowly walk towards him and raise my sword, as I approach it opens its mouth. No noise comes out. Is it not doing its roar attack? Then a glow comes from his mouth. My eyes widen as I realize what it is doing. It's going to use its fire breath.
"OH SHIT"
The fire spews out in a cone shape, I'm too close to avoid it. I raise my sword to try to defend myself, closing my eyes, and preparing for the blast of flames. But the flames never come, just a bit of warmth. I open my eyes.
"Woah"
A wall of blood blocks the flames from hitting me. Lady Beatrice has intervened.
{Are you alright?}
"Yes, thank you. I can deal with it from here".
Once the flames stop the wall of blood falls and I'm faced with the Flame Bear, Its face now wearing a look of shock and fear. I walk up to it. It makes a desperate slash with its remaining arm, which I easily stop by cutting the limb off.
I stare down at the creature all I can think is how pitiful it looks. A beast that, since birth, reigned at the top of the food chain, is now bowing down to me. I raise my sword and bring it down, cutting its head off and killing it.
I give the beast's corpse one last look, and seeing it I realize how far I've come. Maybe, just maybe, with Beatrice's help, I can get my revenge. I return to the road and continue down it, searching for a good spot to set up camp and rest for the night.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next week of travel is fairly uneventful. A couple of weak monsters attacked me but nothing that gave me any trouble. The battle against the Hell Bear reminded me that I now have control over blood and that I need to train that ability.
Midday, on my 29th day in the forest, I came across a carriage under attack. Surrounding the carriage were about fifteen brown wolf-like monsters with silver eyes and black rocky spikes protruding from their back, its a pack of rock Wolves. Alone a rock wolf is only a D-rank monster, however, they almost always come in packs. Due to their numbers, Rock Wolves can be a high C-rank to low B-rank threat, depending on the number of wolves.
Surrounding the carriage are a large amount corpses, some of warriors and many of wolves, It must have been a large pack.
"IN THE NAME OF THE FIRE GOD IGNITUS, I SHALL KILL YOU! FIRE BALL!"
BCKFF...FWSSH
I hear a scream then an explosion comes from the front of the carriage, it seems there is a survivor.
{Help him, maybe he'll give you a ride}
"I was thinking the same thing"
I charge towards the battle, unsheathing my sword. A couple of the Rock Wolves notice me, but I kill them, with a quick slash to the head, before they can alert the others.
"Blood Blades"
Many dagger-sized blades made of hardened blood appear and fly into the wolves, killing all but one instantly. The one that remains is bigger than the rest and its coat is a darker brown, it's the pack leader. It howls and rocks form in the air and shoot toward me, I slash them down easily, but as I do that the wolf jumps at me. I sidestep it and bring my blade down on its throat, decapitating it.
I look around, checking for any surviving monsters. Once I finish confirming my victory I turn to the carriage. On top is the surviving human, he looks to be a bit younger than me and both his eyes and hair are fire red, he's wearing a cloak with flame patterns on it.
"Well, is it safe"
I hear a voice from inside the carriage.
"yes, it is" I reply. The carriage door opens revealing a short old bald man and a young woman, who is holding a baby, sitting inside.
The boy jumps off, he is sizing me up, trying to intimidate me, but its obvious that we both know I'm stronger. "Who are you?"
"My name is Ryuma. I'm a traveler heading to Redwin Village" He silently looks at me, studying me.
"Thank you for the assistance young man", it's the old man who speaks next. He gets out of the carriage and walks up to me. "My name is Albus, and I am a merchant", He holds out his hand, I take it and give him a handshake, there is surprising strength in his grip.
"Ryuma"
"That's my daughter Lorelai, and in her hands is my granddaughter Jasmine"
"Sir, is it really ok to be so friendly with this stranger, what if he wants to rob or kill us" the boy speaks up, still not trusting me.
"Silence boy, If it wasn't for Ryuma we'd all be dead, just like your friends. Stop being rude"
"I-... yes, you speak the truth, sir Albus" the boy faces me. "I apologize for my rude actions"
"It's fine, I understand"
He offers me his hand. "I'm Blitz, a follower of the Fire God Ignitus, and a D-rank adventurer"
I shake his hand then I face Albus.
"I take it that you hired his party for protection? Seems like a rather weak party for traveling through Pirah"
"Yes, I had never had an incident on this path and decided to get a cheaper party, clearly it was a mistake"
"Yes"
"You said you were heading to Redwin Village?"
"I am"
"That's a couple of weeks travel away on foot"
"Indeed"
"Why don't you travel with us? We are also making our way to Redwin Village and could use the protection. Of course, we'll pay you for protecting us"
I had planned to ask for them to let me go along, and offer my protection for a spot on their carriage, free of charge, But if he was offering to pay me for it then I had no issues with traveling with them. "Sure, I'd be happy too".
----------------------------------------------------------
And that was how I came to Redwin Village with Albus and his entourage. My previous two-week journey was now completed in three days. For the most part, we went undisturbed, only attacked once by a group of goblins. Once arriving in the village, Albus paid me, 5 gold pieces, and told me to stop by his shop if I was ever in need of anything.
As I turned away Blitz walked up to me. "Hey, I just wanted to thank you. If you hadn't Intervened we would have died, I am in your debt. how can I repay you"
"Don't bother, it was nothing. I simply killed some monsters, saving you all was just a coincidence"
"Even so, you saved us"
His eyes were full of determination and adoration. He won't take no for an answer, what a stubborn person.
"Then do you know of any good Inns around here"
He takes a moment and thinks, his face lighting up once he has an answer.
"The Holt Inn is the best in town, its pricey but the service can't be beat"
"I'll go there then"
"I'll lead you there"
"Thank you"
Blitz leads me to the Inn, telling me that its run by a retired adventurer named Raymond Holt. It's designed to be a place for adventurers and is placed right next to the guild. He also informs me that Holt Inn is in the section of Redwin Village that is designed for adventurer use. There is a tavern, smithy, and other shops that adventurers would frequent all on the same street, at the center sits the guild building.
Once we arrive I say farewell to Blitz. I go inside, pay for a room, 2 gold pieces for a month, that is pricy. I go to my room, its relativity small with a table with one chair, a not too small bed, and a coat rack. There is also both a closet and a restroom, most inns don't have those, and usually one must use the communal restroom. I sit on the bed, its of very high quality. I'm beginning to see why this place is costly.
I take off my gear and go wash myself, Once done I go to bed. It feels so good to bathe and lay in bed after traveling for so long. I haven't been so comfortable in far too long. I yawn then drift to sleep.