-West Gate of Order of Light City-

The Guards charged again to attack us. They're really persistent. I can't get close to the gate because Deandre, the jerk, and the others are blocking the way.

"PENETRATING ARROW!" Elou used a sonic wave like an arrow that penetrates every guard it passes through! And the force of the arrow knocks back the foes near it. What a powerful attack. Unlike me who has many masteries, they focus on what they want to be.

"FIRE METEOR!" Azzie used a devastatingly powerful attack! A giant fireball is coming from above and it's on its way to pulverize us! But that is not enough to defeat us.

"GREATER BARRIER!" Lili used her best protective spell and it blocked the attack spreading the fire to nearby buildings!

"Using powerful attacks are really not in your favor here you know," I said trying to limit their use of power.

"That little sacrifice is necessary to kill you guys!" The jerk doesn't really care about the others.

This is getting too long. They are just wasting our time here and just waiting for Celeste. I should do something.

This is not the time to idle around! I rushed towards Deandre to defeat him, defeating every guard with my short sword on the way, fast enough to shatter their defenses. My party also followed me.

I'm getting closer to Deandre and also prepared an attack.

"GREATER CONSTRAINT!" It's Mari! She uses a spell!

(WARNING: Afflicted by Root Status Effect!)

"Eh? I can't move my feet Scy!" Akko said worriedly. It's a spell that restricts the target's feet and sticks it to the ground.

"Me too. Don't panic! Lili, use your defensive abilities when they attack us," I ordered.

"SILENCE!" Mari once again used a spell. This time the target was Lili, she can't speak and can't use her spells! They were just using the guards as a pawn to look for our weaknesses!

(DEBUFF SPELLS: Unlike support spells that causes party members to gain advantage by boosting stats, debuff spells, on the other hand, decreases enemies stats or restrict their opponent's movement or abilities.)

Deandre focused his attack on me. It was an overhead strike!

"Take this you b*tch!" He yelled in anger! Tsk damn it. I don't have a choice but to block it.

I turned around and blocked the attack with the shield hidden at my back while my feet can't move.

"BAAAAAAAAM!" It was a powerful attack but I'm not going to just take a hit without paying back!

After getting hit I used my fire boosters at my feet to cancel Mari's spell.

(Root Status Effect cancelled.)

It was successful! Then I twirl mid-air and used my old favorite skill!

"SCISSOR FIERY KICK!" Right into the face! After getting hit, he flew and crashed into one of the buildings. It was really satisfying but I'm sure he didn't die from that. Thanks to my shield and his lack of strength he didn't deal that much damage to me.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Dean! Are you ok?!" Mari asked the jerk. You should be worrying about me. Sigh... She went to heal him and canceled the debuff cast to my team.

"WILDFIRE!" Akko pointed her spell towards Mari! What?! No!

I use my fire boosters to catch up with the fire magic to defend Mari.

"Mari! Be careful!" Azzie shouted and thought that I would also attack her.

"BAAAAAAAAM!" I defended from the attack by standing in front of Mari and using my shield to block the fire spell from Akko. That stings a lot! Thankfully, I have mid-level Fire Mastery and I have fire resistance boost.

Our eyes met. I hope she didn't recognize me. I ran towards the gate.

"SHADOW FIRE EXPLOSION!" I readied my strongest attack and I destroyed the gate which also created a black fog that covered the area. That depleted most of my mana so we rushed towards the gate while everyone can't see what's going on.

(WARNING: Mana is almost depleted.)

I signaled my friends to escape and we escaped the place unharmed, thankfully Azzie stopped from attacking after she saw me defend Mari from my team mates attack while my darkness covered the area.

They didn't chase us because they know that they can't do anything anymore now that their tank is down. We overpowered them. Defeating their front line broke their moral to continue the fight. Azzie can defeat us but she can't see a thing. Mari, on the other hand, wasn't able to do anything. She was just standing there after I defended her from Akko's attack.

We ran as fast as we can. The only place in my mind is the Vanguard Stronghold.

After getting far from the city, we relaxed for a bit and calm ourselves.

"That was exciting huh?" I said while making a small joke.

"Are you sure? I almost killed you earlier! Why did you do that?" Akko is really frustrated.

"Well, it's not good to hit a woman, so I protected her," I excused.

"Jeez. Tell us something first before you do something stupid. You've got us worried there," She really was surprised.

"I'm sorry, not going to happen again. I promise," I said.

After resting for a bit, we continued our travel. We need to find a good place to hide or we will get in trouble later.

"Oh! Can you see that? There's a nearby village!" Elou excitedly said. As if we can see something so far.

"Yeah, yeah, we know you have good eyes. Anyways let's go there and check," Akko replied.

-Simple Village-

We reached the village. Unlike the Green Leaf village, this one looks kind of normal, a simple village that caters to some adventurers who are traveling. Players who are living here must be people who just enjoy the view and lives peacefully. From here, you can already see the mountains of the Tundra, the mountains filled with snow.

We entered the inn. Inside the inn, are simple tables and chairs, the atmosphere here is really different from the luxurious tavern in the Order of Light city. This village is still part of the Order of Light territory. We need to be more careful.

"Hello, adventurers! My name is Emily. Do you want to eat our simple dishes or a delightful room for rent?" the innkeeper asked. She's a girl wearing an apron and a simple dress. Even with her simple dress, you can tell that she's really beautiful for an innkeeper.

(EMILY / UNRAKED

EQUIPMENT: INKEEPER'S CLOTHES / COOKING PAN OF EFFICIENCY

MASTERIES: ENCHANTING / COOKING)

"We would like to order some food and drinks and a simple room for us to rest," I answered.

"That would be great. Wait for a second while I prepare your food," She replied.

After enjoying our meals, we decided to rest in our room upstairs for a bit.

(Hunger 0%)

It was not that wide but at least we can relax. The fluffy bed is great.

-Simple Village Inn-

I went downstairs to buy a drink but instead, I saw two adventurers harassing the Inn Keeper.

"Hello Miss, would you like to come with us to the room and serve us something else?" That's one embarrassing to say. How can he say something like that?

"Sorry but I can't. It's the only menu we have," She answered.

"I know you know what I mean. Come on let's go," He insisted.

"How about you leave the girl alone and have some alone time with me?" I said trying to intimidate them but sounded really gross.

"Hey guys, you heard the little boy! Someone's asking for a company here!" He called their other friends outside. Jeez, I didn't expect that there's more outside.

As I've checked outside. Damn! There are more than twenty of them but based on their gears, They're Rank C at max.

"How about now? Come on don't be shy," He grinned and pulled out his sword.

(UNIMPORTANT BANDIT / WARRIOR: C)