~3rd Person~
Daybreak arrived, and Lorne had awoken. He stretched himself and got dressed in his clothes he had bought from the blacksmith. He finished rather quickly, and it helped that Morgan awoke while he was getting dressed. It only meant that they would be leaving earlier, which was what they needed to do.
Morgan put on her clothes, and when the both of them were ready they headed out. Lorne had told the inn clerk that they were leaving and then they left.
They walked out of the town rather easily using their guild cards and they were let through with bows. Once the two were far away enough, Lorne spoke.
"It's time for us to change into humans for a while. You ready?" (Lorne)
"Yeah, let's get this over with." (Morgan)
After Morgan's semi-nonchalant reply, Lorne used [Transmutation] on the both of them, and they turned into humans. After some stretching to get used to their forms they stood still, and Lorne used [Mass Teleportation] to teleport as far as he could see in the direction of human territory.
He teleported 3 times, then resorted to picking up Morgan and jumping since it would be easier. Slower, but easier. They flew through the wind for a while and time passed by. They saw some towns, but ignored them since they were looking for cities. They eventually saw a city and their interest was drawn to it.
Lorne stopped moderately far away, and told Morgan to wait so he could scout ahead. He activated [Hide Presence] and dashed forward. He confirmed that they were all humans, then teleported back before being seen.
"It's a human city. This isn't the capital, but we should find it eventually. For now, let's make a pit-stop and eat breakfast." (Lorne)
Lorne received a nod from Morgan, and they both walked towards the gates. Both people were above average in looks, so they received eyes from the guards. The minority - females - stared at Lorne, while the majority - males - stared at Morgan.
Both walked up to the gate and the guard began to speak.
"ID please." (Guard)
"Here you are." (Lorne)
With a smile on his face, Lorne brought up his guild card, and Morgan did the same. The guard's eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets before bowing and apologizing.
"I'm sorry, please, pass. I am sorry for keeping you!" (Guard)
This scene obtained some stared from cityfolk and guards alike, but this didn't bother Lorne too much. Mostly because he was used to stares all too much.
"Don't worry. Now then, we'll be on our way." (Lorne)
With that said, the both of them continued their walk into the city. They admired the scenery, but mostly were on the lookout for any restaurants that they could get breakfast at. Lorne had heard that guild cards are somewhat like credit cards since they can store money from Tammy, so he had all his money in his card.
On him was only his gear. No weapons or anything of that sort. After all, he can't just walk around with a fear-inducing scythe everywhere.
Their walk lasted a few minutes before they found a restaurant to go in. Both detoured in and began ordering.
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The training on the Heroes' side had been going well. Josh's team had kept killing the monsters near the Atriarc Dungeon, and his team had leveled up significantly for their 2 days of work.
Josh - 34
Connor - 32
Jason - 32
Susan - 29
Kyle - 28
They had been killing higher level monsters, but the fact that the experience was distributed between the entire group lowered the production. They had only gone up some 10 levels. All of their stats were around 400-550. At least their main stats were. A warrior's strength for instance.
The team had left the capital and moved on without guards, consisting of only 5 members. They would have liked to have had 7, but the soldiers that had previously accompanied them were just about useless.
The team was currently looking for any SS+ ranked people to join their group. Josh had planned to pay them initially, then stop paying once they obtain the glory of doing things with heroes. They wouldn't have a right to complain after being showered in gifts.
So, the group of 5 went up north. They passed a town but were heading upwards to get to the main outside city besides the capital called Zycon. It housed one of the 3 major Adventurers' Guilds. Of course it was the human side's. The 3 were the Human Guild, Demon Guild, and Omni-Guild in which contained both demons and humans and was located at the border. The city was half and half in the two territories.
Their trip took a day with the birds they used to travel. They were impressed with the speed of the animals. They were equal to cars. It truly was a fantasy world.
Upon arriving at Zycon, they were immediately recognized and welcomed in. The people crowded the streets to see the heroes and the crowd similar to a parade was formed.
The 5 of them entered the guild, obtained their cards which ranked them S and SS ranked adventurers. They deposited their money into their cards and walked out, only to once again be greeted by the people lining the streets.
Josh had felt like he was truly in heaven. Any human woman would sleep with him, and if he picked out one he liked the best, walked up to them, and tried to get in bed with them not one of them would say no. In fact, since he was a hero they would be honored to.
As he had those thoughts, he browsed the crowds as his eyes caught a bright color that surprisingly faced away from him.
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Lorne and Morgan had both exited the restaurant after leaving a rather large tip for their services. Not because they were generous, but just because they didn't have anything smaller than gold coins at the current moment.
So, instead of paying a few silver for the meal, he ended up giving 100 silver. This didn't really matter to Lorne, but money was still money.
He exited the restaurant only to be greeted by a wall of people. He couldn't even see who they were looking at. He shrugged it off as some big-shot adventurer and moved on.
Followed by Morgan, they continued to the south side of the city. They only managed so many steps before they heard the crowd getting louder and the stomping of what sounded like chicken feet.
Morgan turned around, and nudged Lorne's shoulder getting his attention. His eyes went from an annoyed state to one filled with absolute rage. The urge to rip them apart and devour their souls was enormous, but Lorne shook his head and regained his composure to some extent.
He then turned his head to look at those in front of him. They consisted of Josh, Connor, Jason, Kyle, and Susan. Susan seemed to have some nice priest-looking robes, most likely given to her by the pope, and the rest adorned flashy heavy armor. The one with the most armor was Connor, who had an extra large bird and a hammer as a weapon. He was also the largest, so most likely the tank.
Josh, Kyle, and Jason all had moderately weighed armors that were also obnoxiously shiny. They were the damage dealers of the group from the looks. Josh had a sword and shield, and the other two had longswords. Then, Lorne heard their voices speak up as the crowd died down.
"Hello lady. Would you mind accompanying us? You seem like a capable woman and we would love to have another team member." (Josh)
Morgan's face turned to one of surprise. She didn't seem to have expected that. It was about to turn into one of disgust before Lorne spoke up.
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"Ah, hello. You must be the heroes everyone has been talking about, correct?" (Lorne)
Josh's attention was now drawn to Lorne, and this time Connor spoke up.
"Yes. And you are?" (Connor)
"How rude of me! My name is Ben. This lady next to me is named Morgan." (Lorne)
Lorne at this point had put on his best gentleman-like speaking manner and suppressed his killing intent as much as possible. After all, his current objective was becoming part of Josh's team.
Josh looked at Lorne, then back at Morgan.
"So, how about it, do you want to join us?" (Josh)
He seemed very confident, thinking that there would really be no reason that she would refuse, however he would have never expected what he heard next.
"L- Ben had been traveling with me for a long time. I won't just leave him. If you win against him, I'll go with you alone. However, if you lose then he accompanies me with you." (Morgan)
Everyone was shocked at hearing this. Josh's team for seeing the confidence in her eyes, and the fact that they would get seven if they somehow lost. Either way, they would get another member.
Lorne since he had not expected Morgan to say something like that whatsoever. Even the pedestrians were shocked since they would have thought Morgan wouldn't have hesitated to say yes.
After a brief pause, Josh smiled and accepted. Upon his acceptance he said to follow him to a more clear area to fight. Josh's party moved with Lorne and Morgan following. The growing crowd also followed to see the fight.
The went to a park that was in the city where Josh and Lorne branched off to face one another alone.
"How do you want to fight? Bare handed or with weapons?" (Josh)
"Just use your sword. I'll use my fists." (Lorne)
"Quite confident, aren't you?" (Josh)
Lorne had to hide his abilities for this fight, and limit himself to being an SSS ranked adventurer. Based on the one guy he fought previously, he was shit out of luck since he one-shotted him. He just decided to always act one step ahead of Josh. He couldn't get carried away either. Josh would lead him to the others. Then the fun would begin.
"Well, you'll see." (Lorne)
Morgan walked up to them, staying a good distance away, but still the closest to the two of them.
"On my mark." (Morgan)
Josh tensed up, and Lorne calmed himself.
"3"
Josh gripped his sword and took a stance. Lorne stood slouched, which confused Josh but didn't seem threatening so he ignored it.
"2"
Josh tensed his legs and got ready to sprint off.
"1"
'Here we go... Calm down Lorne...' Lorne thought to himself.
"GO!"
Josh dashed off towards Lorne, and the crowd watched with excitement on their faces. They would get to see their hero fight. Josh was after all the most renowned hero out of them all for his stats and the king's favoritism.
Josh grew very confident as he drew nearer to the unmoving Lorne, but just as he was about to step within 2 meters, a terrifying chill ran up his spine. He felt as if death itself had lightly run its finger down his spine. He stopped in his tracks and stared at Lorne.
Lorne on the other hand was swearing at himself for letting out that drop of his soul-lust as he now calls it. He had no idea why he had this, but it was both convenient and inconvenient. The latter was the worst. A positive was that it sent fear into his opponents, but the con was that it sent fear into his opponents.
There was a standoff between the two, and Connor and the group only grew confused as to why Josh had stopped. Morgan on the other hand was very anxious. She knew that if things went wrong then all the plans would be ruined. When she suggested the fight, it was because that was the only thing she thought of at the time. She trusted the will of her master to hold out in killing everyone. Trust was still trust, not a guarantee.
Josh was slowly regaining his composure, and Lorne sensing this took an opportunity.
"Something got your tongue?" (Lorne)
With a taunt and slight laugh, not mocking, just a taunt as if saying 'snap out of it', Josh regained his composure. He took several steps back and restarted his charge. This time, Lorne was calmer and wouldn't let any soul-lust leak out.
The crowd once again anxiously watched as Josh was within 1 meter this time. He had swung his sword at the two meters, and everyone thought that the foolish man that challenged the Hero was done for, however that was merely foolish thinking.
From what Josh saw, Lorne was standing there. He wasn't moving, and his sword was drawing closer, however the next moment was very surprising. His speed suddenly increased to more than double of his own and he easily dodged the sword, punching him in the ribcage and sending him flying across the field.
Everyone had only seen that one moment Josh was about to finish him, and then he was sent flying by the now repositioned Lorne, or Ben. Josh's team was astonished at this, and a tinge of fear was implemented into their very beings after seeing Josh get ragdolled so easily.
Josh skid across the ground and after regaining his breath, stood up a bit slanted.
"What the hell...?" (Josh)
It wasn't loud enough for all to hear, more like only meant for self reassurance, but Lorne heard it with his heightened hearing.
Just as Josh was regaining himself, Lorne took the initiative this time. Dashing very fast, barely giving Josh time to block he hit his shield. Lorne didn't want to severely damage Josh, and it was very hard to hold back to this extent. He was getting better at it though.
Lorne hit Josh's shield this time, but he used a bit less strength and speed. He only sent him back a few meters this time, and Josh landed on his feet.
Josh shook himself out of it and charged. Lorne did the same, and as Josh swung he put up his shield to defend from frontal attacks, but this was at the cost to his vision. A rookie mistake. Lorne darted to the side and once again his Josh in the ribs at the same spot.
He was sent flying several meters and hit the floor this time. He didn't get up right away, and Lorne darted to his location, bringing a fist to Josh's face as he was just about helpless to defend on the ground, and just before Lorne's soul-lust gushed out:
"STOP. THE WINNER IS: BEN" (Morgan)
Upon hearing this, the whole crowd broke out into a commotion. Josh also had a look of relief on his face. Lorne wanted to kill him, but took this chance as a perfect opportunity. He had overdone it, but it worked out in the end.
He bent down and stretched his hand out to Josh, and Josh only looked at it for a few seconds before grabbing it. Upon lifting Josh up, Lorne spoke.
"Hey. The name's Ben. An SSS rank adventurer." (Lorne)
Upon hearing this, Josh grinned. He believed that he had gained a good underling, as well as a beautiful woman.
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Feel free to let me know of any spelling/grammar mistakes. I didn't reread this so there is probably a few errors.
PS: There will probably be a lot of 3rd person chapters. It's just much more convenient since you can see multiple viewpoints at once with the heroes and Lorne with Morgan.