Two weeks passed since Isolda had joined the party. Coordination grew as individual ability rose through tackling missions that were challenging for beginners out in the field. The trio grew much closer together after each life and death struggle through the difficult tasks. They also rose a rank from E ranked adventurers to D ranked adventurers. The speed in which they rose a rank was about a week faster than those who requested mentors which was naturally months ahead those that refused the mentorship.
Braiten maintained a near perfect streak in terms of individual ability, steadily improving in areas that could only be gained through experience. However, it was not he who made the greatest improvements in these two weeks.
Eron had gotten more used to using martial skills without announcing them, and became more imaginative in his imagery.
Isolda made even more improvements than Eron. She had advanced from the hundredth rank of beginner cultivation and stepped into intermediate cultivation. Surprisingly, she gained a second elemental affinity, which was ice. She knew she was a talent due to her obtaining her first affinity early, somewhere within the eighties of basic cultivation, but it was extremely uncommon for someone to gain a second affinity so soon after their first and at a low cultivation to boot. Isolda met up with Dashurie’s third girlfriend who turned out to be an ex-member of the same martial sect that Eron and Isolda belonged to. She shared an ice martial skill with her that was gained from the sect and was able to do so without violating any sect rules as they had the same root. Isolda learned how to adapt adventurer field skills into her martial arts with Eron’s guidance as well, allowing her to quickly become an asset to the party. The positive results fueled Isolda’s motivation and made her work much harder which increased her rate of improvement.
Dashurie and the trio were about to head back to the town gates from their latest task when they heard horns blaring from the town. Dashurie’s face immediately turned extremely serious as she hurried the trio towards the gates of Aermagh.
“Quickly, now. Get to the town. Monsters would soon surround and attack Aermagh. I’m not sure if you three are ready to handle those monsters yet, but the safest place is within town walls. You can pitch in, but make sure to keep your distance,” Dashurie informed and advised them as she led them straight to the gates.
***
Fifteen minutes later, the four adventurers reached an extremely crowded guild building. A stoic middle-aged man stood on top of a receptionist desk and was speaking to the crowd. He was halfway through a morale boosting speech that was directed towards the veteran adventurers and mercenaries in charge of defending the town so Dashurie was the only one who was listening seriously. However, Dashurie suddenly clasped Braiten’s shoulder which made him pay serious attention to what was being said as the crowd became abuzz.
“I repeat myself, the leaders of the monster invasion are a nest of harpies. The monsters and lesser monsters that joined them are ogres, orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins. They total up to slightly above a thousand. Considering the monster army’s orderly formations, there is at least one elder harpy of great intelligence leading them. The army alone isn’t enough to wipe out Aermagh, but the harpies are a cause for worry. Mercenaries, I trust that you will spread the word to quickly evacuate the town as soon as possible. The circumstances are dire, and the only thing we can do now is to make sure that as many people survive as possible,” the middle-aged man said as stared hard into the crowd.
Harpies were extremely dangerous creatures. They were almost as intelligent as humans, and had physical strength, endurance and defense that was several times that of a qi-clad low level advanced cultivator. They had human-like torsos and limbs. Their head looked like that of a bird, and their arms were winged as you would imagine. However, both their hands and feet were bird claws. This enabled the harpies to fight extremely ferociously both on land and in the air. Braiten’s parents had told him of the creatures and mentioned that he should never ever face a harpy let alone a nest of them, which meant that there were five in this fight.
An elder harpy was the evolved form of a harpy. It was bigger, stronger, faster, smarter and can easily match up against high leveled advanced cultivators. The only flaw that came with its strength and intelligence was its arrogance. They never initiated a fight on their own and prefer leading battles from the backline instead of lifting a claw to help out. This did not bode well for the adventurers because it meant that there were layers upon layers of defense in front of the elder harpy. They could not finish off the leader and scatter the leaderless monster invasion army as they did in past monster invasions.
Wiatt, who stood behind the receptionist counter that the middle-aged man was standing on, reached over and pulled on the shoulder of the middle-aged man. This made the middle-aged man bend a little so that Wiatt could whisper in his ears.
The middle-aged man nodded after hearing what Wiatt had to say and announced, “The following adventurers and mercenaries are to escort the citizens to safety. Branch transfer papers will be given to these people and these people are…”
A short list of names was announced. Braiten’s name was included in that list but Eron’s and Isolda’s were not. It was a shock to the trio as they had clearly registered as one party. Braiten thought through it and cursed as he realized that his performance was way too outstanding compared to the two even though they were definitely talented adventurers. He guessed that the reason that the two were kept behind was so that their possible deaths could be reported to the martial sect they belonged to in hope that the martial sects would avenge their dead members and clear out the monsters that invaded this town. The management clearly wanted to keep Braiten alive as he had much more potential than the other adventurers around him.
Braiten turned to look at Dashurie who was absolutely fuming. She was staring hard at the middle-aged man and Wiatt. Her fists were clenched and it looked like she was doing her all not to make a big fuss right there and then. She had grown close to the party throughout their mentorship. Closer than any other adventurers she ever mentored. However, Dashurie did not have the position or power to change a thing and she also knew that every bit of manpower counts in this do or die situation.
Inferring that Dashurie could not do a thing, Braiten looked helplessly at his two party members. For a moment, the disbelief remained in their eyes. This was followed quickly by anger, envy and finally, fear. Eron and Isolda were young, but they were not stupid. They were well-versed in the ways of politics and management due to their origin from the ruthless martial society. They were much too aware of the guild’s actions and hidden agendas.
The two martial artists swallowed their emotions and reached forward to pull Braiten in a group hug. Braiten stiffened for a moment before a pained expression filled his normally calm face and let himself be pulled. The three stood there in a tight hug. Tears flowing freely from their eyes as each of them had different thoughts running through their heads.
Braiten felt the most pain from this sudden would-be separation. For the past hundred years and throughout his previous life, he had always been a bystander. Ever watching, and never committing himself to any relationships as he wandered around. The pain from his loving parents’ parting existed strongly in his mind as he walked from city to city, from country to country, and from wilderness to wilderness. He got over the pain after a few years but ended up remaining that same faithful observer. However, meeting these two martial artists and interacting with them forged a bond that was almost familial. It had filled the gaps that his parents had long left. He felt like he had almost gained a younger brother and sister. He had even made the effort to try to integrate into the community of Aermagh as he wanted it to be his new home. All of this was about to be lost as circumstances threatened to sever the bonds once again.
Eron felt deeply indebted to Braiten. He had been picked up by Braiten when he felt most down. The competition back in his martial sect became the last thing on his mind when he was in this party. All that remained was the joy of improving and of discovery together with this extremely bright and unorthodox individual. He knew that Braiten was also the same bright light that shone upon the community in Aermagh. When he was not with Eron, Isolda or Dashurie, Eron found out that Braiten wandered the streets, chatting with various individuals and keeping them company. He always left them feeling happy and contented no matter how down they looked initially. Eron absolutely wanted to stay by Braiten’s side. He had wanted to return and ask to leave the sect before the competition started. No benefits attained from winning the competition could compare to being in the company of this once in a lifetime friend.
Isolda, too, felt deeply indebted to Braiten. She had been extremely headstrong at first, but Braiten’s patience won out as he took the time to teach Isolda the ropes of an adventurer. He slowly incorporated the concepts of everyday life into Isolda’s martial arts, steadily improving her martial prowess. He had also taken the time to hear out her thoughts and troubles, greatly soothing out her past issues.
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Isolda was an orphan. She grew up in the slums and accidentally stumbled and touched an appraisal orb carried at the waist of an elder of her current martial sect. Finding that she had excellent talent, she was swept away into the Skyward Sect. When she reached the eighty-second level of basic cultivation, she had attained her first elemental affinity. This drew a lot of attention from those around her. Even the elder that picked her up, who seemed to be her mother figure, started fawning over her in expectation of benefitting from her fame and progress. This caused Isolda to be extremely disgusted by those around her and she put up an impertinent attitude as a front. The only person who treated her normally back then was Eron, who was really timid back when he was in the Skyward Sect.
When Braiten entered her life, she had thought that he would become the same parasitic beings that existed in the sect. Instead, he completely blew her expectations away as he did not waver in the slightest when interacting with her even when she unlocked her ice-attributed elemental qi. Soon, she found herself relying on him as he taught her and spent time with her. In her heart, she felt that if she had a father, this was what he would be like.
Dashurie’s anger-clouded mind smoothed over after a brief period. She faced the trio only to find them tightly embracing each other. Her heart broke at that moment and her eyes misted over as she walked over to them. She embraced the trio and a big hug. However, she also knew that the situation was dire and things needed to be done.
Dashurie released the three from her embrace and tugged them lightly to pull the three apart. With tear-streaked faces, the two martial artists seemed to come to terms with the separation and they turned around to walk towards the group of guild members preparing for the town’s defense. They never looked back. Dashurie patted Braiten’s shoulder comfortingly before she joined the two martial artists.
Alone, Braiten could only grit his teeth as he took his transfer papers and made his way out of the guild building to join the mercenaries that were warning the townspeople of Aermagh of the impending danger looming over the town.
***
It took an hour for the citizens to gather their valuables, find their family members and congregate at the western exit of Aermagh.
The civilians were arranged such that those that had carriages or transport were in front. A myriad of tamed beasts pulled those carriages. Most of which were beasts that could be found in the vicinity of Aermagh. Black circles with hidden inscriptions, infused with qi from their owners, could be seen around the necks of the tamed beasts as if they were collars.
Those without their own means of transport were positioned in the back and were to walk on foot. The escorting guild members were split with five in charge of the carriages and twelve in charge of those walking on foot. These were too few for escorting an entire town, but these numbers were the maximum number of combat guild members that could be separated from the eventual conflict. Braiten was an escort for the civilians who were on foot. He had also been delegated to be the lookout at the rear of the group.
Positioning himself in the rear, Braiten casted a spell that detected hostility directed at the mass of people. Not wasting time, the whole group set off at a steady, but hurried pace when the carriages cleared off from the town gates.
As soon as they left the gates, they could see the monstrous army. Many civilians gasped in astonishment as they saw the mass of ferocious monsters marching in an orderly fashion towards the town. However, they were still in the distance, so the civilians should be in the clear by the time the battle started. Braiten formed two runes in the air which then flew into his eyes. This was a spell he used to see far into the distance ever since he came to this world. It was nowhere near as powerful as the scrying spells he was able to use in his life as it only granted telescopic vision. In addition, scrying spells produced the images in front of Braiten. This would have been extremely eye-catching to others.
Braiten examined the formations of the monster army. They seem to have been split into four groups, each led by a harpy. The goblins had obviously been made into cannon fodder to absorb the first clash when the battle started as they made up the first few lines of each formation. Orcs made up the next few lines and ogres were placed in between every few orcs. These were clearly the main force. Strangely, there was no sign of any hobgoblins.
In order to search for the said hobgoblins, Braiten looked at the surroundings of the army and noticed a flash of black scales in the trees every now and then. It was then that Braiten saw where the hobgoblins were located. He saw many black mambears with several hobgoblins mounted on them. They were most likely going to be a sort of guerilla troop in this battle.
Braiten felt that something was very wrong. Harpies were smart and elder harpies were even smarter. However, these were not tactics that could be thought up from the wilderness where strength was still the be all end all instead of intelligence to use the masses. Braiten desperately looked for the elder harpy that was assumed to be among the monster invasion. There was absolutely no sign of it. Nothing in the sky, nothing on the ground. Perhaps hiding amongst the forest, but that was highly unlikely as it was supposed to be arrogant.
After a long fruitless search, his focus returned to the harpies. He felt that something was slightly off about the harpies. They were docile. Too docile for the aggressive beings that they were made out to be. Then, he saw it. A thin black line circling their necks. These were the very same lines that he had seen on the tamed beasts that led the carriages out in front. A person who could tame a harpy… a whole nest of harpies was definitely not weak.
This revelation made Braiten feel like rushing back to warn the three that were left behind. However, he could not neglect his duty of protecting the residents of Aermagh. He also spent quite some time looking for the supposedly present elder harpy. By now, the whole group was a distance away from the town. With the speed of the approaching monster army, even a speed-enchanted Braiten would be hard-pressed to reach the town in time before the battle started.
Feeling utterly helpless, Braiten could only clench his fists and try to focus on protecting the group he was tasked with. This was difficult to do as Braiten’s mind and emotions were whirling from the concern over the safety of his friends. Braiten could only the detection spell to overlook the group for him as he gazed at the town and his emotions rampaged through his mind. With an unknown expert hiding in the midst of battle, he knew that this fight would be a lost cause.
===
Author’s notes:
I decided to split chapter 7 into parts because it would be too long otherwise. It’s also hard to convey everything in one chapter.
Braiten is a very emotional person for someone who always stayed on the sidelines and lived for so long. However, this only applies when he commits himself to a specific community/person. This has already been shown when he was ready to sacrifice himself for the pope in his previous life. I hope you guys accept this different facet of him. Also, a flawed character makes for more flexibility in future events.
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Author’s Announcement:
This is going to seem to sound bad, but I’m slowing down releases for this fiction to three or four times a week. With the way things were going and trying to attempt daily releases, this fiction was going to crash and burn. The quality of the fiction was dropping and I needed to change my method of approach ASAP. Originally, I was going to go with the mainstream trope of mc dominating a losing battle and gaining prestige and all that. HOWEVER, I did not want Braiten to be OP. I just wanted him to be strong.
I decided to take a different approach to this. I am separating him from the town, guild and his new party members otherwise he’d be so busy babysitting everyone around him that he ends up having no room to get stronger. Furthermore, I want to give him a feeling of helplessness to give him the motivation to grow stronger.
He will reunite with Isolda and Eron, hopefully not in a way that is too cliché or not in a way that you guys will easily think of. I have thought long and hard over what I wanted to write for future events when I had my few hours of writer’s block trying to write chapter 7.
Once I get through this event, I am going to slow the pace down to a day by day kind of thing after one last time skip. I hope to maintain quality for this fiction so that you guys can enjoy the read. I know that it is when I put my best foot forward in trying to craft this story that you guys will enjoy as you guys enjoyed the first few chapters. I hope the community of readers will understand this. *bow*
P.S. Whoever was the 5th person to give me that review of 3 stars, please take the time to type a proper review with the 3 stars instead of randomly giving it out. I would like to know where I have gone wrong and such so that I can improve the story. Please provide proper advice as well instead of the usual “this sucks”.