The funeral followed the next day and left Istoria in tears. It was a massive loss for us all, not only by losing a pillar guilds leader but also, a symbol to the people. It was then, that I learned just how important adventurers can be to the people. To other adventurers as well…

Only the bigger guilds and important people were able to attend, whereas the rest of the city like myself had to read about it in the paper. There were small groups of people gathered all over the place, in nearly every street mourning.

His reach had no limit, Mister Ed affected all those people just by being their shield. Without him, things didn’t seem the same anymore in the city. After the funeral and everything quieted down, I saw less and less people gathered around the Tower.

I thought that it was because everyone was still bummed and expected to see them the next day back to their usual pace but–barely a handful of adventurers hung around the fountains near the Tower entrance.

I guess what Kana said was right. People were just scared of what happened. If things were going to go back to normal, it wasn’t anytime soon.

I had no plans to stop my plans though, if anything I was more fired up than usual. I raced through the streets, excited to reach my destination. I looked up above the buildings and could see the neatly layered platforms around the base of the Tower ahead.

It was finally the day where I could return to the Tower, it was also day one for our newest member. I arrived at the main quad just behind the fountains that surrounded the Tower.

Veldor and Arga had already arrived and waited patiently by the doors. They weren’t talking to one another, they just stood there in silence.

“Sorry I’m late! I got held up by my consultant…huff…she wanted to make sure I had everything I needed before leaving.” I bent over to catch my breath.

“It’s bout’ time. The party leader is usually always the first one on the scene, just by the way.”

“I’ll keep that in mind…” My face cringed.

“Hey, Rei! Notice anything different, hmmm?” Arga grinned.

It wasn't subtle at all, her entire outfit was different. Arga had switched up to a red robe, almost similar to the kimono-themed outfit that Alice and Akai had worn. She had armoured pads around one of her shoulders and grieves on both legs.

It was an elegant mix of armour and fashion that was flashy, yet simple. I felt so jealous that I had to get a closer look.

“Whoa, you went all out on this one! Where did this come from?” I admired up close and Arga stood there, posing like a model.

“I got the idea from the dragons. It looked so cool that I couldn’t stop thinking about it, I had to make one for myself. With the ole Arga twist of course!”

“So cool…”

“Ahem!” Veldor cleared his throat.

Both of us snapped to attention as Veldor stood in front of the door with his usual icy stare. We followed behind him with our heads low.

“So what happened with your consultant girl yesterday…is your secret safe?” Arga whispered.

I cupped my hands and leaned over to reply. “Nope. Looks like it’s out of my control, Kana said going into the Tower is the best option though. She said hiding out in the Tower will give things time to die down.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“The attention won’t lessen, a couple of days will only delay it,” Veldor said loudly. He turned back to us with his regular blank expression. “Nobody inside there will know who we are, so clear your head and focus on getting stronger.”

“You don’t have to tell me that.” I grinned.

{User has entered the Tower}

***

“Hey, what’s with these things?! There’s no end to them!”

I braced my Chakrams in front of me as a massive chunk of stone crashed down over me. I felt the full force of its weight drag me to the ground, only to be halted by my knees as they hit the floor.

A sudden shock of pain rushed down my spine. The large amount of stone that weighed over me pulled away and was followed by a large stump of stone.

“Shit–I won’t be able to dodge this one!” I panicked.

I crossed my arms and called out my skill with a flustered tone. “Iron body!” The large fist of stone crashed against the astral golem body that surrounded me and resulted in a burst of air between us.

“Heh…so the only thing able to stop you guys–are you?”

The golem in front of me pulled away and raised both its fists into the air for another attack. My eyes followed its arms into the air and widened with fear of what would follow.

There was no chance of surviving another hit like that, not since my skill only allowed me protection from one of those.

The white mana disappeared from around me and I was left defenceless.

“A little help here, tank!”

As the club rushed down over me, Veldor dove between us and guarded it with his shield. The golem’s attack crashed against the surface of his defence but he didn’t move an inch.

“That was way too close–where were you?!” I yelled.

“I’m a little busy…defending against one is hard enough but two…just give me a break!” Veldor pushed forward and forced the Golem off of him.

With the same motion, he pulled out his mace and let off a wide swing.

“Go to hell–bludgeon!” The head of his mace lit up and crashed into the golem's chest.

The bar above its head lowered slightly and was near zero. Just a few more hits would have taken it down.

“Aagh–I don’t know how much more I can hold on for!”

I turned back and saw Arga, defending with her greatsword against the large club of another golem.

{Field Golem Lv: 9}

Its Health was just above the first ones but with their tough defence, it took forever to shave down the last bit of health.

Arga was in a bind, she couldn’t force it off of her and without a solid hit, there was no chance of it going down. The full weight of that monster lorded over her and forced her to her knees.

The golem in front of us wasn’t down either. It rose over Veldor and sent its arm straight for him. Veldor blocked it with a solid guard but let off a nervous groan as it struck his shield.

Suddenly its other arm swung from the side and blew him away in one hit. His solid defence fell to pieces as Veldor flew across the field.

He rolled across the ground a few times and landed at the foot of a tree. Just as he pulled himself up, the golem had started moving over to him.

I need to help him but Arga is about to go down too…how can I choose just one of them? Unless–I need to help them both. Don’t think of losing–I have to win, there’s no room for error!

I raced forward with a sprint and tossed out both my blades to the golem in front of me. They struck its head but barely left a scratch against its solid body. It turned back and moved away from Veldor and drew closer to me.

“Yeah that’s right, come get it!” I called out.

Once it got close enough I dodged back. I avoided the large strike that landed on the ground in front of me.

“Arga–clear away!”

“Easier said than…done!”

She tucked away under the golem's body and pulled her sword from under it as the monster crashed into the ground where she stood.

“Shadow step!”

With that command, I vanished into the air and reappeared from a cloud of smoke, with both golems in line with my sight.

I extended a hand and channelled the misty red mana around my hand into the image of a dragon.

“I’ll blow you both away with this one…focus and release everything you have,” I repeated to myself. “Dragons roar!”

The large head of a dragon formed from the misty substance that collected in my hand. The jaw of the dragon opened and revealed the red-hot flames that gathered between its teeth.

Everything from its jaw burst forward into a beam of fire and caught both golems in its wrath. An explosion of fire followed the path of the attack and the golem's health bars dropped to zero before fading out of my sight.