It was a late afternoon a few days later when Jack found himself making preparation for another journey.
After spending a decent amount of time on market research, Jack concluded he couldn’t just start producing Washing Water without his own competitive edge. With the assistance of the System and some library books, an ingredient called Moonlight Flower was chosen to be his twist on the product. As the name suggested, this plan only bloomed under the night’s silvery light. It was also one of the more delicate ingredients, requiring on-site processing so as not to lose its distinctively elegant aroma. Having spent hundreds of years with Elly and other female companions, Moonlight Flower, with its softening and polishing effect on the skin of the user, was expected to quickly become an essential part of the ladies’ kit.
Of course, Jack could just ask for it at the Adventurer Guild, but that way, the price would likely go up while the quality of the ingredients would likely go down. Moreover, Jack felt like he needed some stretching. Encountering monsters would do just that and also provide him with some extra experience for his sluggish progression bar.
Dean was waiting for him at the Guild’s square. He had already met the adventurer who had accepted the guiding mission.
“This is Velia Casta. She will be escorting you,” Dean introduced.
“And you must be the recently famous Jack, huh?” Velia lowered herself to have a closer look at the boy.
Jack nodded at Velia with a smile. The young woman had a vigorous look with her tidy short hair and scars around her face. She wore a light metal upper armor along with tight brown trousers and a pair of monster leather boots. Her main weapon seemed to be the spiked knuckles on her hand.
Velia Casta
Race: Human.
Age: 25.
Rank: High Herald.
Level: 12.
Str: 60.
Agi: 25.
Spr: 18.
“You can call me Vell for short,” she said with a stern face.
“And my name is short enough,” Jack responded.
Deep inside, though, she was wondering if she had made a mistake accepting this kind of mission. Escort quests were very popular among her peers, for they were usually fast, simple, and had a high success rate, especially in times like these when a monster purge was being widely conducted with patrols and hunters everywhere. For the need of some quick pay and accomplishment, she had impulsively applied for the job of babysitting a ten-year-old while others were still considering it.
“I’ll be in your care,” Jack said with a smile.
Velia stood straight up and gave out a sigh.
“Alright, let’s go. The sooner, the better.”
“Well, that’s everything. Safe travel, you two!” Dean sent them off without a shred of hesitation or worry. He had worked with Jack long enough not to be discouraged by the boy’s small stature.
Jack could have searched for the ingredient himself, but that would raise questions about its origin. Unlike the Mana Potions, which was an established product that could be smuggled in low quantities, Washing Water and its novelty would catch the attention of the many top-end organizations and bureaucracies in Oxdale, something that could not be easily bypassed by either Abraham or Meinhard. Velia would be disappointed if she was only serving as a witness rather than a proper guide.
The two departed, heading for the town’s southern gate toward the forest by the turn that had gotten the Harper into so much trouble. Ore, herbal, and medicinal materials, as well as Monsters of Herald rank, were a common sight here. They didn’t usually cause much trouble and lived in harmony with the local ecosystem, so no one saw a reason to extinguish them. On the other hand, when one of Crusader rank showed up, it would be either killed or captured into the Lavia Garden to serve various purposes, such as tourism, domestication, or breeding programs.
Jack and Velia quickly made their way there without much talking. They relied on their high Strength stat to keep the fatigue away, for horses and other common mounts would only burden them in a dense forest should unexpected danger appear. Baggage was also the least of Jack’s concerns since he had himself quite a top-tier inventory space ring.
Velia still kept a skeptical eye on Jack seeing the boy’s equipment: a small bag and a belt with small daggers. Her gaze wandered toward his fingers and found a shiny small ring, the likes of which she had seen before. Jack, seeing the wide-open eyes of his escort, only gave her a warning smile. Bastian’s ascension had brought his apprentice’s reputation to a new height in Oxdale as well, and for that, Velia should have kept her eyes focused on the task only.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The last ray of sunlight vanished as the two reached the forest’s boundary.
“Stayed close behind me,” Velia said in a low voice. “I will not hesitate to run for my life should you ignore my command.”
“Alright, Vel,” Jack answered.
Velia proceeded to enter the forest with watchful and vigilant steps. She had explored the place countless times, but one could never be too careful when a child is with them.
The tall elder trees, with their thick trunks and overwhelming canopy, left most of the ground in darkness; only the thinnest of stranded moonlight made its way through the luxuriant leaves layer. Once in a while, pairs of colorful eyes could be seen through the veil of shadow as strange sounds echoed through the wood, be it of the passing wind, crawling insects, or dying creatures.
Velia and Jack followed the trail of moonlight to find the flower of the same name. She would signal them to stop and take cover every few steps when she sensed movement in the distance. Dealing with one was not the problem; alerting a horde was, especially those predators who were also good at hide-and-seek. Even though Jack had let the woman know he was a Herald through his aura, she reckoned his inexperience would make such a thing obsolete, so it was best for them to stay out of trouble.
Jack was anything but inexperienced, though. That, and his high Spirit stat alone, yet to use his Nightblade senses, had already given him an edge over his companion. The more the forest disguised itself with the appearance of tranquility, the more danger lurked in its shadow. Even with her state of high vigilance, Velia still couldn't see what Jack did: large monsters resting on the abundance of branches and brushes above or around them, waves of smaller creatures passing by without a trail of sound, and dormant beasts lying on the ground that made themself no more noticeable than a block of stone. Close as they were, the presence of humans didn’t seem to bother them just yet.
As they were taking cover under the shade of an old tree, they caught the attention of a Four-eyed Snake, hanging and staring straight at Jack. Acting first, he threw a Condensed Shot at the creature, popping it off mid-air to create a poison screen behind them. Velia, oblivious to all this, continued forward, taking Jack with her. As expected, the snake followed, only to be slowed down and stopped by the gas. Jack had constrained the doses, just enough to cut the beast off but not enough for it to rage and decide to ravage his trip.
The two kept their formation until they passed by their first branch of Moonlight Flower. It was quite similar to sunflower, but with curly sickle-like pedals facing at the moon. Jack enthusiastically walked forward, crossing Velia’s irritated eyes. She didn’t know he had already scanned the whole area.
With a scowl on her face, Velia came close to see Jack taking out his containers and tools, ready for the extraction process. She quickly ignored him, returning to her guard duty.
It took him around three minutes to finish.
“Let’s continue,” Jack told Velia.
“You need to ask for my consent before making a move like that, got it?” Velia scolded him.
Jack nodded with a smile, accepting the criticism.
With Jack behaving well most of the night, Velia didn’t want to rebuke him too much and began to move again. The two didn’t interact much in the next flower encounters, rather focusing on their specific task.
Later on, they reached a spacious area of the forest, where a patch of Moonlight Flower was waving in the air alongside other plant lives, with fallen fruits scattering on the ground.
“Don’t move,” Velia hastily whispered.
The two crouched behind a bush, a few meters away from the flowers. Jack didn’t question it, knowing all too well that the sight was too good not to be a trap.
As Velia was raising her arm, trying to nudge Jack to back off, a shadow dashed at them. She responded in time, using her other arm to throw a punch at the space in front of her. The shadow turned its body, dodging the attack, and ran away.
“Our luck can’t be that bad, right?” Velia mumbled.
“What is it?”
“Shadow Lynx,” she said, turning her head around, signaling Jack to quickly stay close to her. “It’s one of the smarter ones of the outer forest.”
“We haven’t even entered its hunting ground yet, have we?” Jack wondered.
“Yes. Shadow Lynx rarely attacks humans since taking down an adventurer was not worth the prize. That one, though, was out of his mind.”
Seeing the bewildered look in his companion’s eyes, Jac reckoned the beast wouldn’t be easy to deal with. Its speed and hiding ability were pretty adept, potentially to serve a wear-down tactic.
The Shadow Lynx continued its attack, jumping down from a branch above the two. Velia was slower this time, letting the creature hit her armor, leaving behind a long claw mark from her left shoulder to her underbelly. The shock it gave was enough for her to frown in pain.
The monster swiftly moved in for the next strike. This time, however, Jack pushed Velia to the side, having seen it coming with his Shadow Eyes. That barely saved Velia’s unprotected lower leg.
“Th…thanks?” Velia mumbled but quickly got her mind together. “Keep moving!”
Jack followed with haste, turning his guard up a notch.
“It looked more bloodthirsty than normal, chasing this far,” Velia commented. “One is not a problem, but….”
She hadn’t even finished her words when a low growl came behind their back.
“Damn it,” Velia cried out and gathered all the strength she could muster to flee. But, just for a split second, she decided to turn around and grabbed Jack’s arm, pulling him away.
He’s just a kid, her face frowned at the thought.
It wasn’t a shocker to Jack, though. Common it was, for adventurers, should their life be in peril, to sacrifice others for the slightest chance of making out in one piece. There wouldn’t be any witness in the report to the guild anyway. Yes, their reputation would suffer, but as long as their life remained intact, it could be recovered.
Jack kept an eye on his back on the run. Along the dark gaps between lines of trees, two more pairs of red eyes appeared by the one from the previous Shadow Lynx. And just as soon as they appeared, they vanished, closing on the direction of their prey.