"She can still be used." Said the mysterious man.
He carried the corpse on his shoulder and began to chant some gibberish words that no one knew.
< Shadow Walk >
In a spectacle of black smoky fog, the man disappeared from the scene, he had become one with the shadow, using some sort of a black magic.
The man moved through the dark tunnel with his constant aura spewing out from the shadows, after reaching the end, it was revealed that the tunnel is actually a cave.
It was located near the castle, and have always lack supervision from the guards since there are no valuable things inside of the room except that magic crystal, they thought that no one would want to steal it, also not mentioning that there is already a dependable person that is managing the room, which is that woman corpse from earlier
'Perfect.'
The outside world were covered in gray clouds, it seems like another rain will be coming soon, this was a perfect chance for the man to escape, the gray clouds had blocked almost every light from the sun, the whole city is basically inside of a giant shadow for the man to traverse in.
***
Next day..
At one of Penrough's inn named Silvercarp Inn..
"Hnghh.."
Meiryn woke up that morning inside one of the inn's room, it is quite similar to how a bedroom would look like, she stretches her hands for a few seconds before standing up.
"Mmhh.. seriously? it's still raining?" She said angrily as she heard the vague and fuzzy drizzling sounds above the roof.
'It's been raining since yesterday, i can't take on a quest in this weather!'
'Huh? Hold on, what about Arcsen, he said we're going to search for a dark organization or something..'
After equipping herself with her sword and wore her adventuring robe again, Meiryn was about to step outside of her room, when suddenly..
Clack!
The door opened, it was Arcsen, he immediately walked inside and didn't see Meiryn that is right infront of him, they both collided onto each other.
"OW!"
"AH!"
At the unexpected moment, Meiryn found herself on the ground as she was pushed by Arcsen.
'That hurts! what the fuck, is his body a rock or something!? i thought he was supposed to be a mage!!'
"Im sorry! You're fine right?"
"...I wouldn't be an A-Rank adventurer if i got injured by just that."
"Ohh? You're an A-Rank Adventurer? That's neat, i knew you're strong." Arcsen smiled, his tail swayed briefly.
"Whatever, why are you suddenly barging into my room! atleast knock the door first! what if i were changing my clothes at that time!"
"Well, i guess you're right, i already said sorry alright, anyway, i went to your room because i have something urgent that needs to be said."
"Huh? what now?"
"You see, a crow arrived at my window this morning, and it brought a message for me, it was from Airi, she's also one of the Celestial, and in that message, she told me to meet her, it seems like its not just me, but other Celestials are also invited."
"What?! T- Then what about the plan?"
'Shit! if Arcsen left and doesn't come back, that sweet Large Gold coin will also be GONE!' Meiryn thought.
"Hmm, you're right, there is still that organization, to be honest, they seems to be just another weak demonic cultist that is trying to reach their impossible goal of world domination"
Arcsen shrugged his shoulder.
"Sooner or later, the knights will make their move and get rid of them, it would even be more nice if a skilled Adventurer does that way sooner than those knights— After all, Adventurers like to go to unknown places, so they might just one day stumble upon their base accidentally."
"But–
'MY COIN!!!'
Meiryn tried to suppress her emotion, her face outside might look like she doesn't care about Arcsen leaving, however inside of her mind, she is doing everything she can to think of a way for Arcsen to stay.
'AAGGHH!! NO MATTER WHAT I SAY I CAN'T BEAT A MESSAGE SENT FROM ANOTHER CELESTIAL!!'
"What's wrong?" Arcsen asked, he tilted his head in confusion.
"Well, if you want to leave, i guess it couldn't be helped, speaking of leaving, i don't think i'll be able to leave this inn anytime soon, because of this constant rain, doing a quest in the middle of a bad weather is not the smartest idea."
Arcsen looked up to focus himself on the rain sound that is coming from the roof, it wasn't loud, probably because the rain wasn't that heavy, it's just a light drizzle.
"Hmm, that's true— But that means i will be able to easily find you when i came back, so i guess just stay here forever haha– UGHUUKK!!"
Out of nowhere, Meiryn punched Arcsen on his stomach, the punch was relatively stronger than a normal human would have, because Meiryn is an Adventurer afterall, so even Arcsen wasn't able to take it so lightly.
"Do you want me to target your head next?" She said menacingly.
"That, was unexpected– Guh, what a punch, are you sure you're not a man in disgui—
Meiryn almost punched Arcsen again, she was preparing herself to hit his head, however she held back after seeing Arcsen already anticipating her punch.
"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! Don't take it seriously, come on!"
"Urghh!! If only you're not Arcsen, anyone else other than you and i would've sent them flying through the wall!!"
"Well well well, having a short temper is not good for you, you know, what if you can't get a boyfri–
Suddenly, Arcsen's tail began to wags uncontrollably, and his face were showing signs of fear.
"W- WELL, THAT'S MY QUEUE TO LEAVE! IF YOU DON'T HEAR ANYTHING BACK FROM ME IN A WEEK, JUST ASSUME OUR PLAN IS CANCELLED!"
SWOOSH!
As if his body was a cartoon character, Arcsen sprinted away from Meiryn's room and into the first floor of the inn, he left her with a feeling of frustration.
"...sigh, Is he really in his 30's.." She said.
It took Meiryn a while to calm her emotion down, and when she finally calmed down, she also went down the stair and into the first floor of the inn, even though more than a minute had passed, Meiryn was surprised to see Arcsen still at the inn, talking with the inn owner infront of the counter.
"What the fuck!? WHY, are you still here?"
"Huh? Ohh! You're also coming down, come here, i forgot something." Arcsen said while signaling her to come closer.
Meiryn walked and got closer to Arcsen, she is now standing right beside him.
"What is it?"
Arcsen rummages through his satchel and grabbed a few gold coins, which then he gave to Meiryn, as a form of appreciation for her company all this time.
"I remembered that i should probably give you some coins since you can't take on a quest in this weather."
"H- Huh? O- Oh.."
With a sense of confusion, Meiryn unconsciously accepted the gold coins.
"T- thank you– i guess.." Her face blushes for a split second.
"Don't mind it!— Mister! Thanks for the beer! I have a gold coin here, take the change!"
Arcsen then stood up from the chair and goes to the exit door, where he would be stepping into drizzling world.
"Huh? AH! THANK YOU SO MUCH SIR! HAVE A SAFE TRIP! COME BACK NEXT TIME WHEN YOU ARRIVE IN THIS CITY AGAIN!" Said the inn owner as he watch Arcsen slowly opening the door, his face shows a wide joyous smile.
"Yeah!"
And with that, Arcsen left the inn, Meiryn and the inn owner saw Arcsen from the door's window, the wondered why Arcsen was standing still after stepping outside, only to be shocked after seeing him fly upwards using his magic.
"WHAT!?"
"H- haha, that's a 8-Star mage for you.." Meiryn said.
"8-STAR MAGE!? That demihuman man!? don't tell me—
"Yeah, he's Arcsen Riela.."
"Oh my god, no wonder i felt like i've seen him before.. He's that demihuman who joined the Celestial and is the first of his kind to achieve a 8-Star title right?.."
"You don't need to tell me all of his achievement."
"Ah, sorry– I was just surprised.."
The two of them stared at each other, until eventually they just started to talk and have a conversation, it was already way too awkward, so to lighten up the mood, they have a small chat.
***
West Latricia, Timbervas Village..
Shlack..
Shlack..
It was the location of the destroyed village that previously were attacked by the robed assassins from Highlios, a wet footstep sound can be heard coming closer to the now abandoned village..
"Was there a disaster happening here?" Said someone with a curious tone, from a small glance of her, a brightly shined white hair was waving in the wind.