“Titan Apes,” Brian hummed, “What are they like?”
“Pathetic creatures that rely solely on their strength to do anything,” Karen spat as the party headed out of the town in the direction of the report they’d been given, “They shall be no match for any of us, even you, Mage.”
“Great,” Brian nodded, “In that case, do you two mind if I take this one by myself? I want to see if I can level up once or even twice.”
“We shall stay back and protect you should you need it, Master,” Grisha nodded.
“Grisha,” Brian groaned, “You’re doing that on purpose. Why?”
“Because you bought Karen items, and me nothing,” the girl replied automatically, slapping her hands over her mouth a moment later as her cheeks darkened.
“Is that all?” Brian sighed, “I’ll get you some magical accessories once we get back from this Quest then. Maybe a new robe as well, the research one you’re wearing probably isn’t very comfortable.”
“It is fine,” the girl muttered, trying to hide the happy smile on her face, “But I would appreciate a new one, all the same.”
“Especially if it came from your love, am I not correct, brat?” Karen cackled, making the young girl blush even harder.
“I am not in love with Brian!” she huffed, looking away, “I just greatly appreciate him for saving me from the living Curse.”
“Sounds like your mortal love to me,” the Dragon shrugged back, “Thankfully Dragons have no need for such a thing, simply mating for power.”
“M-mating?” Grisha somehow managed to blush even harder, “T-there’s no way I could do that with Master! We aren’t even the same race!”
“Then you could simply enjoy yourselves without risking the repercussions,” Karen continued to cackle, “How lucky for the two of you.”
“She’s a child, Karen,” Brian sighed, “There’s a twenty-year age gap between us, so that’s never happening.”
“Only a couple of decades?” the Dragon chuckled, “A blink of the eye for a True Umbral Dragon such as myself. I am already several centuries old; I have even had my first hibernation.”
“That means you’re essentially in your late twenties, right?” Brian asked, “At least, it looks that way in your human form.”
“This form is simply the one I take to lure unsuspecting mortals to their demise,” the woman replied, “They see a helpless female of breeding age, and often come running.”
“I see,” Brian sighed, “Well then, enough of that, let’s just get to the location marked on the map, I want to kill these Titan Apes as fast as possible.”
------
“Found them,” Brian sighed as they hid at the edge of the large clearing, piles of trees scattered around the place after having been ripped out of the ground by the ten-foot-tall apes mingling in the centre, “Finally.”
“We lack a suitable tracker,” Karen replied, “While my sense of smell was able to direct us towards these filthy monsters, we cannot solely rely on it in the future.”
“Yeah, but where are we going to find a suitable Ranger or Rogue to join our party?” Brian grumbled, “We aren’t exactly a normal group.”
“Perhaps the gods will provide?” Grisha chuckled, stopping as Brian gave her a tired look.
“Anyway,” he said, “I’m going to go fight these things now.”
“There are over twenty of them, though,” Grisha said, “Will you be okay? Do you want us to weaken them first?”
“I’ll be fine,” Brian hummed as he stood, gripping his staff in his left hand as he drew his rapier with his right, “I need the practice, anyway.”
“Of course you do,” Karen nodded, “And the Experience Points. It shall only make you stronger, and thus your heart more delectable when I eat it.”
Brian chose to ignore the words of the Dragon, strolling between the piles of trees as he approached the group of Titan Apes. It didn’t take long for one to notice him, immediately grunting loudly and slamming its fists against its chest before charging him. The beast slammed into the ground as Brian paralyzed it, the rest of the troupe already rushing towards him as they howled. A moment later, all but one where frozen on the ground, the last remaining member still blindly running at him.
“Right, first up,” he said, pointing his staff at the approaching monster, sending a stream of darkness from the gem that slammed into the Titan Ape’s chest, binding it, and causing it to howl in agony, Brian feeling his usual high mana regeneration being supplemented by something, “Huh…so that Spell also steals mana?”
The beast fell still a minute later, the darkness fading away, leaving deep burn-like marks wherever it had touched the Ape’s skin. Shrugging, Brian released the next Titan Ape, which immediately scrambled to its feet and charged him. This time he didn’t cast any Spells, rather relaxing his body as he assumed the stance the training instructor back at the palace had drilled into him. Brian allowed his blade to guide him around the frenzied strikes of the Titan Ape, just barely avoiding each as he dodged and weaved, only serving to further infuriate the monster. After a few minutes of this, he stabbed forward, catching the Ape in the arm, making it immediately stiffen, before he felt a slight rush of power to his head. The feeling immediately vanished as the beast collapsed, dead.
“So, the sword can inflict Curses,” he muttered, “But I suppose that was the Mental one, and these Apes are pretty stupid, so no big bonus there.”
Shaking his head, he released the next Ape from his Ability, once again watching as it charged at him recklessly.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
------
“And that’s all of them,” Brian said as the twenty-third Titan Ape collapsed, blood dripping from its eyes and nose as foam gathered on its lips, “Better stop that before it melts the whole corpse. We need it as proof that they’re all dead.”
Brian focused on his sword, mentally commanding it to stop the poison, feeling a slight resistance for a moment before the blade acquiesced.
“Good to know I can still manage that,” he muttered, turning to see Grisha and Karen walking towards him, “All done, just let me put all the bodies in my storage bracer and we can head back.”
“What level did you achieve?” Karen asked immediately, Brian blinking at the straightforward question, “These beasts, though pitiful, are worth quite a lot in terms of Experience Points to you mortals. What level are you now?”
Brian just shrugged as he opened his Status Screen, nodding in appreciation at what he saw.
Name: Brian Andrews
Level: 10
Class: Dark Mage
Job: Scribe
Skill Points: 250
Titles: [Holder of Forbidden Knowledge] [Marked by the Darkness]
“Ten,” he smiled, his eyes lingering on his newest Title once again, before he shook his head.
“Still weak, but much more acceptable,” Karen nodded, “Come, let us return to the town and collect the reward.”
“Right, just give me a second to collect the bodies,” Brian nodded, walking around as he touched each corpse, storing them in his bracer, “Right, that’s done, let’s go.”
“At last,” Karen sighed as they headed out of the clearing back to the town.
------
“You have reached level ten, so you are automatically upgraded to Tin Rank,” the clerk explained as she took Brian’s wooden card, quickly replacing it with a tin one, “Congratulations!”
“Thanks,” Brian nodded, before blinking, “Actually, could you explain the whole Ranking system? They never told me about it before.”
“Of course,” the clerk smiled as she pulled out a board, several pictures and words written on it, “The first, and lowest, Rank is Wood, for Adventurers just starting out. You can go up the Ranks either by completing enough Quests, or by reaching specific levels, basically every five levels.”
“I see,” Brian nodded, “And these are all the Ranks?”
“Yes, starting at Wood, you have Tin, then Copper, Iron and Steel. After that it’s Silver, Gold, and Mithril, followed by Orichalcum, and lastly Divinium,” the woman explained, “There are only a few Divinium Rank Adventurers in the entire world, you know? But that shouldn’t stop you from aiming as high as you can go!”
“Thanks,” Brian said as he turned away, placing the bag of coins they’d been given in his bracer, “So, what to do now?”
“I’m hungry,” Grisha said, “So, how about we go buy my new equipment, then we can get some food?”
“Excited to receive gifts from your love, are you, brat?” Karen chuckled as they left the building, making Grisha scowl at her, “Ha! If only looks could kill, that one may actually have made me a tiny bit worried.”
“Shut up,” the girl growled as they walked through the town, Brian chatting to a couple of townsfolk to find out where the local magic shop was.
It didn’t take long for them to find the building, walking inside to find it empty of people, only a few products on the shelves.
“Well, this is disappointing,” Karen huffed, “You would think that there would be more, considering how heavily you mortals rely on equipment to supplement your pitiful bodies and minds.”
“I’ll be right out!” the shout came from the backroom, Brian blinking at the surprisingly young sounding voice, before a young man, probably only in his late teens, hurried out, “Sorry, was busy working to restock the shelves. A bunch of Adventurers came by earlier and bought most of my stock. How can I help you?”
“We were hoping to buy some new equipment for our Wizard,” Brian explained, the boy’s eyes lighting up, “But it seems you don’t have much.”
“You’re right, but I can make something!” the teen said excitedly, “Especially for a Wizard! Oh, that’s going to be amazing! They’re a Rare Class, you know?”
“Yeah,” Brian nodded as the boy looked between them, “So, uhm…what can you make?”
“I’m an Enchanter by Class and Tailor by Job,” the boy replied proudly, “So my robes are excellent quality, even though I’m still young. At least, that’s what my Master used to say.”
“Your Master?” Grisha asked, the boy nodding sadly.
“He died about two years ago,” he sighed, “Left me his shop in his will and everything. I’ve been doing my best to keep up with demand, but it’s been difficult. I just can’t seem to get enough items out here, and I can only really make robes or cloth armour.”
“Well, that sounds good to us,” Brian nodded, “The robes will be for Grisha, and do you have any special stock? Stuff you keep in the back that’s particularly expensive?”
“Special stock?” the boy blinked, “Well, yes. I have some rings and pendants that my Master made just before he died, but they’re very powerful, so very expensive.”
“How expensive?” Brian asked, pulling a gold plate from his bracer, making the boy’s eyes widen in surprise.
“Well, if you have a dozen of those, I can sell you the best of them,” he said slowly, apparently in mild shock.
“Done,” Brian nodded, depositing the twelve bars of metal on the counter, “And the robe? How long will it take to make?”
“It depends,” the boy said, his eyes locked on the gold plates in amazement, “If you want a fully customized robe, specifically for a Wizard, it should take around three days to make. Or I could make a generic robe for cheaper and have it ready by tomorrow.”
“We’ll go with the custom robe,” Brian nodded, looking at Grisha as the girl blushed, trying to hide her wide smile, “So, three days?”
“Yes,” the boy nodded, before starting, “Oh! Let me get the rings and pendants for you! You can choose any of them!”
“Thanks, uhm…?” Brian said slowly, looking at the young man.
“Oh! Brent, Sir Mage,” he replied.
“Brian,” Brian nodded, “A pleasure doing business with you.”
“Likewise!” the teen chimed as he headed into the back of the shop again.
------
“This is troubling,” the god of water hummed as the room watched the massive orb floating in front of them, showing an image of Dylan and his party in the Adventurer’s Guild, “The kingdom has turned against them. Perhaps we should allow for more Heroes to be summoned?”
“You know the restrictions of the Spell,” Fiore sighed, “It cannot be done until they have all died. Thus, we must hope that they still succeed in their objective.”
“This is not the first time we have seen this outcome,” Mother said flatly, “It has both succeeded and failed in the past. Let us hope it is the former this time.”
“What of the Dark Mage?” the god of shadows asked, “The extra that was brought through? Has he made any progression?”
“Yes,” Fiore nodded as she waved her hand, the image in the orb changing to show the black robed man standing in a small shop with two others, discussing something, “He has managed to destroy a servant of the Darkness, but has been marked for it. While it has happened before, we cannot rely on him becoming a Hero to combat it.”
“Perhaps it is best we wipe them all out,” the god of war growled, “The Heroes, I mean. Let them die and allow the kingdom to summon new ones. We do not know how long it will take for a new Demon Lord to be made, but it should be long enough that the new Heroes could become strong.”
“I would prefer to wait and see,” Fiore shook her head, “The latest batch of Heroes are strong, especially the Paladin. He has already sworn his oath, and it is a powerful one.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that they’ve abandoned the kingdom,” the god of betrayal chuckled, “The Heroes are heading towards the Elf Lands, correct? I wonder what they’ll find there?”
“You know we are not allowed to intervene in the actions of Heroes,” Mother growled, the other gods shivering at the sound, “So do not interfere with them. Doing so could break their ties of Destiny, and free them from their task.”
“Of course, Mother,” the god of betrayal nodded, “I was simply asking.”
Fiore sighed as the rest of the gods continued talking, looking back at the orb, still showing the Dark Mage as he picked out several rings and other items from a box, handing them to the former Demon Lord, the girl blushing heavily.
“I pray for your success, Heroes,” she whispered, “We need it now more than ever.”