Chapter 59.

About an hour had passed since they departed, and Amber used the time to relax, but eventually she decided to ask.

“Why not just put everything into your ring and I can carry you?”

They were on a horse pulled cart.

Cecile, holding the reins from the horses sighed. “First, I’m not doing that again any time soon,” she said, her tone serious. “Second, I cannot fit all of this into my ring.”

Amber blinked and looked around the cart, there was a small space in which she was lying but everything else was filled with wooden crates. She could most certainly fit all of that into her ring but if Cecile’s was quite full it made sense to do that. Amber did entertain the idea of storing everything for Cecile and trying to coerce her to run but⁠—

Am I really in such a rush? I mean, I’m already heading to the Great Desert, and the spirit was seen like six months ago…? 

She was excited to go to the Great Desert, and she was happy that the journey was finally beginning, and that was honestly enough for her. To some extent, Amber felt free of a lot of responsibilities she previously had. Ax’thra was safe in Ill’hine, the demon worshippers had been chased away, and she had just visited her friends. 

Amber nodded to herself as she looked at the rolling mountains in the distance, she looked at the bright blue sky and the clouds, and finally she looked back to Cecil.

“So, how long will it take us to get to the Great Desert?”

Cecile pondered. “Well, we have a stop along the way, but once taking into account that we will use the horses without the cart after the stop.” She tilted her head. “Maybe three weeks to reach the edge of the Great Desert.” 

Amber tilted her head at that, she certainly didn’t expect that but she guessed it made sense. Reaching Cytel at a much slower pace still took about two weeks, so if two horses running took three weeks to reach the edge of the Great Desert⁠— it was quite the distance all things considered. 

Huh, I’d still take a week or a week and a half to get there running if that’s the case, Amber thought for a moment. But was the experience of traveling via being carried that bad?

Cecile did throw up, but surely she would adapt in due time, right? Well, Amber didn’t actually care about any of that; not right now anyway.

“So, I heard that you are the Demonkiller of Laria as well,” Cecile began. “How did that develop into tracking the entire organization behind and halting their plans at the core? Do you hate demons that much?”

Amber blinked. “Not really? I mean, I did have the experience of killing the exact same demon twice, but…”

“But?” Cecile glanced back, raising her brow.

“It was kind of a coincidence that their plans were exposed?” Amber answered, somewhat unsure if to share. “Let’s just say I wanted to get two noble families arrested for working with the demon people and somehow that translated into that entire operation.”

Cecile blinked and smirked. 

“That is interesting, and here I labeled you as a cunning and dangerous individual when I first met you.”

Amber raised her brow. “I was carrying a literal monster in my arms, how do you get that impression?”

“Your level,” Cecile answered simply looking ahead.

“Fair, I guess?”

It was indeed true that people seemed wary of her when she was dressed in armor, though oddly enough when she wore Liz’s dress it was a lot more different. She got looks of reverence instead? She thought about it for a few moments and realized that as an armor, people thought she was an adventurer⁠— and given her level she could do whatever she wanted.

Meanwhile, with the dress⁠— people probably thought she was a noble. 

At least, that’s what Amber concluded; though both assumptions from the people were true, minus the potentially dangerous part. Although, none of these things mattered right now, she was just traveling with Cecile now, well-versed and experienced merchant. All to meet the Primordial Spirit and get to the bottom of things. 

Of course, Amber was introverted but⁠— it was way too awkward to just travel with someone without actually trying to get to know them for her. So, she made it her mission to befriend Cecile, which considering they were well acquainted, it was just a matter of time.

And so, she started conversation. 

 

* * * 

 

The conversation on the first day innocent enough, but the conversation on the second day turned into Amber sharing details of her life; things that she had done, what she had experienced⁠— and the Cecile was left to listen in horror. She was appalled by her actions, appalled by the fact that she had ridden monsters to death, that she had fought for weeks on end just because, and that she had gone so much time without sleep. 

And by the time Amber was done, Cecile was looking at her with wide eyes. It was as if she had seen a ghost. 

“Are you even human?”

Amber chuckled at that, it wasn’t a reaction she hadn’t gotten before, but it was still something amusing to her. 

“I am as human as you are, minus being from another world,” she teased. 

“So you are a freak, I understand.” Cecile nodded to herself. 

And Amber smiled at that, but a moment later she raised her brow as she saw a stampede of monsters. There were hundreds of them, and Amber recognized them. They were the jackal-like monsters she had seen long ago. 

 

[Ackal Aureus. Lvl. 40]

[Ackal Aureus. Lvl. 43]

[Ackal Aureus. Lvl. 39]

…

 

Amber didn’t want to deal with so many so she raised her hand, and at the sight, Cecile panicked. 

“Wait this is bad! Warriors don’t have skills to deal with this many monsters!”

The Cursewelder appeared on her hands, and the merchant turned to her. 

“Please, Amber⁠—”

“Flamethrower.”

And a red blast of flames consumed it all. A wide cone that engulfed all of the monsters at once and laid them to rest in a single moment. Nothing but ashes remained after the flames swept through it all. It happened so fast that all Cecile could do was stare at Amber, and then turn to the charred road.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were also a mage?” she asked, shocked. 

“I’m many things,” Amber smirked. 

And just like that, their journey continued. 

 

* * *

 

The days ticked by as Cecile grew more comfortable with Amber, who engaged in casual conversation learning a bit of the City of Torl, like cuisine or other things, but aside from that, all Amber did was joke around with Cecile. And eventually, she got Cecile to actually joke back. Which made the journey all the much enjoyable, but unfortunately, the travel feeling came to an end not too long after. 

While, it was a stretch to say unfortunate, Amber was back to civilization and⁠— 

“What is your reason for entering,” the guard stated, getting in the way.

She was back in civilization and people were back to being skeptical of her just due to her level. Which was fair enough. She didn’t know if it was normal for high level individuals to live a life of crime or something, but she did hope that with time, the experiences would diminish. In fact, she hoped that it was something exclusive to the Kingdom of Cytel rather than a universal experience. 

“I’m accompanying her,” Amber gestured to Cecile who was standing behind the guard. 

The man frowned. “You’ll have to be more specific than that⁠—”

“She’s the hero of Cytel, just let her through,” Cecile said with a sigh. “I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

At that, there was a pause from the guard, and he called another guard over and told him to go find the picture of the hero. A minute later, Amber was met with sincere apologies and was let go through without problem. 

Do they really not have a better way of identifying me? Amber inwardly sighed. I should have asked king Octavius for some kind of identification form or seal to prove I’m a noble… 

After that, they got back onto the already inspected cart and continued onto the city, which Amber took in its full glory.

It had a similar architectural style to Laria but the colors and shapes of the buildings were a lot more varied. Maybe it was because she had already seen a lot of things in Vir, but she wasn’t particularly impressed with anything. In the past, she had appreciated Laria, and she had also admired Cytel, but this time around⁠ it just felt normal. 

After that, Amber left Cecile who had a very important meeting to attend to, and while Amber wanted to tag along, she couldn’t. So, instead, she decided to explore the City of Loris; as Cecile had called it anyway.

 

* * * 

 

The first thing she did was try various kinds of food; they were good. But then again: what food had been bad since coming to this world? Proper food anyway. Amber spent an hour on that, the next thing she did was ask around for what tourists did in the city which was met with weird looks. 

Apparently, no one saw a point to visiting any city for sightseeing other than the capital, so aside from being recommended some bars or more restaurants, she kind of had nothing to do. Though, the city did have a lot of great alchemists so that was something that it had going for it? 

Unfortunately, Amber had no need for potions anymore, so instead, she decided to do the only thing she had left to do. 

She stood in front of the Guild, the place where adventurers were made⁠— or whatever. In her mind, it was just the adventurers guild. She was finally replacing the platinum badge for a mithril badge. 

The passersby gave her weird glances, but Amber was already used to that. And so, she walked into the building. And just like the Guild in Laria, this one too had bar, tables, a board with missions⁠— the works. And of course, it adventurers resting and chatting, some were drunk as well. But after just a couple of steps, more and more stares were sent her way.

“She’s so high level.” 

“Do you think we’ll finally get to see what kind of payment Mithril Ranked adventurers get?” 

“But she looks so young…” 

Amber of course, ignored it and walked to a receptionist who smiled at her with all the professionalism in the world. She was a woman with her hair neatly tied into a bun.

“What do you need?”

“I’ve come to upgrade this badge,” Amber said, sliding over the platinum rank badge. 

The woman blinked and nodded, but as soon as she picked it up she frowned lightly.

“This badge was issued in Laria, so to corroborate I’ll have to ask some questions.”

Amber blinked. “Sure?”

“What rank were you when you first became an adventurer?” the woman asked. “And how long did it take you to advance to the next rank?”

“Gold, and uh… like two days or three?” Amber pondered. “I went into a dungeon alone and killed a demon and I got it from that.”

The receptionist blinked. “You⁠—” and she stopped herself, shaking her head. “How long did it take you to go from that to Diamond rank and from that to Mithril?”

“A month or two for Diamond, four months for Mithril,” Amber guessed. “Is this really necessary?” 

The woman seemed to be staring in shock before looking down at the tag. And then she closed her eyes sighing. 

“It is unmistakable…”

“What is?” Amber asked.

“You are the hero of Cytel… the Demonkiller… Amber.”

She paused and then spoke. “So, can I get my new badge or…?”

The receptionist hesitated before looking at the people present. And after a moment of deliberation, she spoke up. 

“Has anyone seen the hero of Cytel in action? I wish to confirm her identity!”

At that, a few people piped up:

“I recognize her!” 

“Amber, looked just like that woman when I saw her fighting. She defeated a demon with just her gaze!”

“I heard that her mere presence can turn monsters near her to ash.” 

 

* * * 

 

It took sometime, but 10 silver coins and a lot of glances and open mouths later, she got the Mithril adventurer’s badge. 

After that, Amber killed the time until she met up with Cecile again, who no longer had the cart full of goods, but did bring around the horses. They stood at the town gates, ready to depart. In the end, neither of them wanted to stay overnight. Cecile too wanted to reach the Great Desert soon. 

Though, there was a small problem. 

Amber stared at Cecile on top of the horse, and then turned to the other horse. And that’s when she realized something crucial. Cecile looked at her weirdly, and Amber turned to the merchant.

“I don’t know how to ride a horse.”

The purple-haired woman blinked and then her eyes widened for a moment. 

“You what?!” 

 

* * * 

 

In the end, they only took one horse, which Amber didn’t care about. She wanted to learn how to ride a horse, but according to Cecile it would take too long. 

“Still, can’t you just run along?” the merchant asked, somewhat bothered.

Amber shook her head. “No, I’m lazy, and the wind feels nicer this way.”

Cecile shifted. “If you are going to cling so damn tightly at least take off your armor, it’s hurting my back.”

Amber blinked and pulled back for a moment, she met the gaze of the woman that was glancing back at her, she was quite horrified.

“Are you implying I should ride without protection and risk my life should we fall off?” Amber asked in disbelief. “I don’t want to have all my bones broken.”

Cecile scoffed. “You are level 125, just how are you going to have your bones broken?” 

“Yes, but I’m also a delicate lady, so it’s only natural that I have to be careful,” Amber replied nodding to herself. 

And in response, the merchant groaned and Amber laughed. 

The journey towards the Great Desert was just beginning, but Amber knew she was about to have a great time joking with Cecile. 

 

* * * 

 

Cecile sometimes was glad to have met Amber, and other times she wanted to smack her head against the wall. Amber was immature and silly, stupid at times in her opinion too, and yet somehow she was endearing like a lost animal⁠— all while being strong enough to demolish any normal threat that Cecile could encounter. 

It was just weird. Amber’s whole existence was weird to her. 

For starters, Amber didn’t know all that much about the world, or at least seemed ill-informed. Which made her ask way too many questions. Of course, Cecile didn’t mind answering to a child, she really didn’t, but at the same time it did make her question from what kind of place Amber had come from⁠⁠— and why was Amber so insane. 

Had she meant being from a different world literally or what?

Of course, that thought was ridiculous, but Cecile just had no answers. Not only did the warrior wore a very expensive storage ring, but they were also incredibly strong. And based on their tales, they must have seen countless deaths, and faced an innumerable amount of tribulations to get to where they are now. 

And yet, even after experiencing so much she remained a bit oblivious to the world and just as cheerful as ever. 

In all honesty, Cecile didn’t get it. She did enjoy the warrior’s company but at the same time, she did have all those feelings about her. 

There was also something that she had come to realize about her, and it took her witnessing it a second time for Cecile to kind of get a grasp for it. The first time it happened, it was about a week after departing Loris; she rode a monster to the death while forcing it to continue following the horse. And the second time it happened, it was two weeks in. 

Cecile stood on the grass ground and surrounding her, were a bunch of adventurers, they were frightened, but not because of the monster that had been attacking them previously⁠— no they were frightened at what they were seeing. 

“Come on, sit.”

Amber said, the tortoise like monster roared and a moment later it was smacked on the ground. It hit the dirt and its skull cracked. And finally, a sigh left Amber. 

“You never learn, don’t you? Do I have to carry you in my arms so you listen? No, you can’t compare to Deer, and I can’t do that.”

It was a level 90 monster, which had impressive regeneration capabilities, and Amber had been smacking it for thirty minutes getting it to listen to commands. As for why? Cecile could only surmise that it was due to the fact that she had joked with Amber about being unable to replicate what she had done with her pet monster. Especially, not without doing what she did.

“Get up.”

The monster let out a pathetic growl and⁠— died.

While Amber seemed slightly offended at the topic, Cecile didn’t exactly think that the warrior would go out of her way to try a different way to tame a monster. But it seemed that she had taken it as a challenge. That was when she had realized: Amber had more than just a screw loose, she must have had two or three— or a lot. 

The adventurers were still staring and Amber turned to them, which made them flinch, but all she did was head back to the horse. 

The adventurers had left momentarily to take care of their wounded before returning; so maybe Amber was a bit too caught up with her antics to notice that, though there was no way for Cecile to know. 

In the end, she said nothing and with a sigh, left the appalled adventurers. She didn’t feel like explaining that Amber was weird to them, and they had already thanked the two of them for being saved before Amber mercilessly beat the shit out of the monster, so there wasn’t any reason to stay around. 

It was agreed that both wanted to reach the Great Desert soon, so any stops were considered mostly unnecessary, but Cecile wasn’t worried about stopping for this or to save those adventurers. Instead, she felt the need to point something out.

“You wondered why I thought you were a dangerous person, and that’s the reason why,” she said simply.

“What? All I did was beat up the monster, sure it was a bit cruel, but come on,” she protested. “The only weird thing was doing it in front of the adventurers, but I’m somewhat used to those reactions by now.” 

Cecile rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t matter. You spoke to the monster as if it were a pet, were affectionate with it, were rough with it, got angry at it⁠— in fact I saw you go through all the emotions in the spectrum.”

Amber blinked before frowning. 

“And that makes sense: if a method isn’t working why not try a different one? Granted, I didn’t try to feed it or level it, like Deer, because I couldn’t.”

Cecile glanced back, confused. “But where is your common sense?” 

Amber scoffed. “That’s not in my dictionary.”

Cecile wanted to sigh, but instead the part of her that had gotten used to Amber’s antics won out, and instead she chuckled. 

“Yes, I can see that, you are a very special person.”

“Thank you.”

She shook her head with amusement, in the end, it was better to just enjoy Amber’s company rather than question things, so she did. 

And by the end of the third week, they reached the border of the Great Desert, something that amazed Amber but they didn’t stop for long. Instead, Cecile traded the horse for a worm-horse ⁠— as the locals called them ⁠— the fastest method of transportation across the desert. 

Then, they set off again.

 

* * * 

 

Amber had been in the desert for two days now, and when she arrived, she didn’t know what she was expecting instead of a horse. She figured they’d get something akin to a camel, but instead, they got a gigant worm with seatings on its back. And Amber hated to admit it, but it was comfortable and fast⁠— in fact, it was just as fast as her sprinting at full speed. 

She had admired the monster for quite a while, but once she got used to it, she just accepted that it was part of the fantasy world she was in. Eccentric gods existed, so why couldn’t worms replace camels?

So instead, she admired the vast golden landscape, the myriad of sand dunes in their surroundings almost looked the same to her regardless in which direction she looked. It was all uniform; it had been uniform for the past two days, and Amber couldn’t help but ask. 

“If there are so many kingdoms why can’t I see any?” 

Cecile shook her head. “The space between them is quite large, that’s why, plus we are taking the most direct route to Torl, so we won’t be seeing anything, that said…”

The merchant paused narrowing her eyes, and Amber couldn’t help but raise her brow.

“What is it?”

“We’ve been in the desert for days now and have yet to see a single caravan or another traveler,” she said with a small frown. “Not something I’ve seen before.”

“Well, when is the last time you were here?” Amber asked.

“A year ago, but it’s still too much of a sudden change for that,” Cecile said, scanning the surroundings. 

Amber nodded at that, but still thought the merchant was being skeptical for no reason. Though, she didn’t tell Cecile she was being paranoid for reason or anything, instead, she chose to remain silent. But Cecile spoke just a mere minute later. 

“Wait, I see people!” she piped up. “So many of them”

She made the Worm-horse speed up, and Amber turned. There were dozens of armored figures ⁠— knights ⁠— they were traveling with their own worms towards a direction they were heading. And as they soared over a sand dune and got a better view, Amber couldn’t help but frown.

“Wait, that’s not right…” Cecile spoke. “Why are they…” 

The merchant trailed off and Amber saw knights, and there were more encroaching upon a mass of people.

And the knights were attacking them. 

Amber frowned and stood up, and at that Cecile spoke up, her voice displeased. 

“We shouldn’t intervene⁠—” 

And Amber dashed already wielding the Cursewelder, leaving a shocked Cecile behind as she called. 

“Wait!”

But Amber ignored her. 

She was going to put a stop to this.