Chapter 10
“I will need a mask if I fight in public. I don’t want the others to take me for a psycho just because of my face.”
“That would be a shame of you were to hide your face...”
“How about a mask that covers only the lower half of my face? I would put on it teeth-like thorns in order to make it frightening.”
“The unchanging smile of the child of love and hatred. Fufu, sounds both good and lame.”
“Spare me this edgy nickname. I’m already way too chuuni...”
“But I love this ruthless side of yours too.”
Kyle threw her a stunned gaze. “Do you really love the me that kills without remorse?” She gave a silent but convinced nod. “I see.” He smiled, an honest and wide smile. Yukina disappeared, her actual materialization time elapsed. She wasn’t powerful enough yet to take a tangible form but she was able to speak and be clearly seen for about fifteen minutes.
**
When he came back to the guild, he saw a disheveled guild master and a rather disappointed crowd of adventurers. “He came back so early, did he give up?”
Not minding them, Kyle headed straight to the counter. The receptionist spoke. “Kyle-san, how was the confrontation?”
“...Done.”
“What? Do you have a proof of your victory.”
“I don’t have a storage, so nothing on me right now but I think you will see the Salt Kraken’s corpse. Even a baby can tell that she is dead.”
“Why? And more importantly ‘she?’ It was a monster right?”
“Because all that remains are carbonized bones and half melted tentacles. And she was apparently a former humanoid, probably an elf looking at her features.”
The receptionist’s mouth went agape. The guild master butted in. “How about we go see it? Every adventurer can come too to assess the truth with their eyes.” Kyle threw him a knowing look, making him shudder.
“… Go if you want, I don’t want to go back and forth there, it’s kind of boring. I will be on the training grounds if you look for me.”
**
“What the heck happened here!” The A-ranked adventurer Galor shouted. “Even S-rank adventurers don’t leave this much damages after a fight!” The others witnesses nodded silently, a mild feeling of fear floating through their mind.
One of them, well known in Jaedes for his skill allowing him to take a glimpse of the past spoke. “He didn’t even bothered with a sneak attack. He simply overpowered a monster that can be considered a walking disaster.” His opinion was highly valued and thus, everyone trusted him when he said these unthinkable words.
The guild master concluded. “So he really did it.” He mentally laughed. ‘If they actually saw the fight, they would be frozen in surprise’.
**
After an hour or so, they came back to the guild only to find Kyle training. He was summoning with his mana clones of himself and fought them head on all the while changing -and protecting- the topography of the arena in order to train his versatility. When they stepped in the arena, he sensed them and stopped his mad training.
“That’s some amazing display of skill.” His words were welcomed with a silence. “*cough*, We assessed the battleground and concluded that you fulfilled your quest. Come to my office please, we will talk about the reward.” Kyle nodded and followed a tired looking guild master.
**
“So, about your wish to get intel about the black market, I have some things to tell you… Well I don’t know a lot since it is an underground group, and therefore a bit secret. But I can tell you the location and the date of the next slave market.”
Kyle’s eyes shined red in interest. “In a week, the Brook city’s black market will host a slave auction. You might find whatever you are looking for there.”
“Thanks.” Kyle started to stand up but was stopped by the hand of guild master.
“Brook is at about three days in carriage from here so you don’t have to hurry.” He paused an instant, faking being in thoughts. “How about you stay here for two more days? It would give us the time to give you a title and an S-rank card.. Your achievements are more than sufficient for this promotion.”
“What can I gain from this?”
Rowan chuckled to himself, this chat giving him a feeling of déja-vu. “Being an S-rank adventurer allows you to bypass the entrance fees in the great cities and to search through the archives of the different adventurers guild branches.”
“… Fine, but please no ceremony.”
“Then it’s settled!” The guild master made a gut pose inwardly.
*****
The otherworlders were setting off the capital. Some adventurers saw them off, asking them to tell the news about the Dusk’s Angel. After some lip service and shaking hands, the “newbies genius” got out of Swordhold.
They were walking at a quick pace without bringing horses. It was faster by feet. They had to reach Brook before the presumed otherworlder, the adventurer that held the same name as their lost comrade moves out and they also had to investigate the worrisome signs of the monster flood.
They only encountered a stray grey wolf, and other lower monster species that were quickly dealt with.
After a five days walk, they arrived at Brook. The city was strangely silent. Its shops closed, almost nobody walking on the streets. The few people the saw wore worried faces and weapons.
Lion asked a passerby. “Excuse me mister, what’s happening? Everyone seems tense.”
“Oh! You are the promised B-ranked adventurers from the capital. The monster flood is already announced. It will start in a few hours, before the dusk. Adventurers and soldiers are already gathering at the north gate. You should join them if you want to fight too.”
Gwyneth, the former teacher, butted in. “Have you heard of an adventurer named Kyle? His title should be the Dusk’s Angel.”
“Him? He arrived a few hours ago. He said he would take the north-east side and leave the north-west to the others. This guy is truly something. Earlier, I crossed him in the streets, he was wearing a scary mask and was already releasing some kind of fighting intent. Everyone was stepping aside, feeling that he wasn’t in the mood for frolicking.”
“Thanks a lot, kind sir.” Farah thanked the man. She appraised him and found out that he was himself fairly strong, event though not Gifted. They then parted ways.
**
A few hundreds of meters towards the north-east, Kyle was starring at the setting sun and the myriad of monsters beneath it. He cracked his knuckles and chuckled under his mask. A semi-transparent figure was hugging from behind. He patted his left shoulder, were the figure’s arm was but his hand passed through.
His expression grew a bit darker and he starred daggers at the monsters. The herd slowed down for an instant. “I can’t let the auction be canceled because of some stupid-ass monsters.” The woman at his side, the guild master of Brook stared dumbfounded at him, not trusting her earing.
Yes another chapter thanks!!!