As we exited the Guild, the street was busier than ever, people rushing towards certain directions, people in groups talking or shouting, shopkeepers set up along the street selling their produce and in some cases shopkeepers were giving their products without payment.
As we slowly moved our way towards the slums, I was leading with Elizabeth next to me and Alice in my hands. Handing her another core, something surprising happened when she ate it.
Alice has levelled to 8!
A bit surprised at the sudden notification, I was about to turn and ask Aubrey when Bloom suddenly caught up and started walking besides me, looking me from head to toe and nodding in satisfaction.
“Hmm, yer pretty strong, ain’t ya sweetheart? Afta this job, wanna spar?”
Not really understanding what he meant, I wondered what to say before he buckled.
“Bloom, shut up.” Seeing Aubrey behind him, she’d kicked his knee. Bloom turns and looks at Aubrey in amusement.
“Ah, Aubrey sweetheart, yer know I love me a good fight, why’re you stoppin’ me.”
Shaking her head, Aubrey didn’t say anything. Bloom chuckles, throws me a wink before falling back to Amelia and Leon. Aubrey walked beside me and I spoke to her about what just happened to Alice.
“Oh, that’s normal. I also gain experience from consuming monster core, but the amount I need depends on the level of the cores. Only monster cores that are from monsters level 30 or higher gives me enough experience to bother. You should be the same, eat a core and it’ll give you experience.”
Tilting my head slightly, I grabbed one of the cores that Elise had given me before and tossed it into my mouth. Crunching it down before swallowing, I felt a calm energy flow from my stomach and around my body. Sensing this energy as wind energy, I recalled where these cores came from, the Level 21 Gale Ants, they had used wind magic.
I knew this energy was a good thing for me. I wondered if I kept consuming these monster cores if it would help raise the tier of my Wind magic. I still wasn’t sure on how ranking magic up worked, perhaps I’d find a course at the Academy to learn more. I didn’t receive any experience and asking Aubrey she nodded.
“Must be your human side since you’re not an evolved monster. And correct, if a monster knows magic that can influence the cores and provide pure energy for that element. So those cores would have a tiny amount of pure elemental energy that can help with ranking up your magic. Though be careful, you can do damage if you consume too much.”
Looking at another core from a Gale Ant, I understood what she said. Putting the core away for later, I could hear Bloom talking quietly to the two behind us as I asked Aubrey if she’d had any problems since the dungeon.
“If you mean if I’ve been hunted by the Firebrands, then no nothing. If they tried anything they would be exiled from the city so they won’t move, so don’t concern yourself with them. You don’t need to wear that hood either.”
Stiffly smiling, I told Aubrey I wore the hood while outside for other reasons. Seemingly understanding that I wasn’t wearing it for the Firebrands, she simply left it at that as Bloom suddenly pushed up next to me once again.
“Lass, do ye mind telling me yer spells?” Asking him why he wanted to know, he said it was in case the situation turned for the worse. A bit hesitant, Aubrey said it was fine to tell him, so I explained most of my abilities to him except for the Lightning magic, since it was mostly useless.
“Cheers.” Saying that word, he moved back to Amelia and Leon and started talking in low voices. Glancing at Aubrey, she smiled softly.
“Bloom can be an idiot when it comes to wanting to fight others, but he’s an incredible leader. He’s level 40, and keeps himself at that level on purpose. He wants to help train others before they reach the threshold for Gold Grade. He’s been sitting at Silver Grade, A+ Rank for years but refuses to take the test. I will say now, if he says to do something, do it without question. He is one of the most intelligent humans when it comes to fighting as a group.”
Pursuing my lips at her words, I nod to show I understood. Making small talk with Elizabeth and Aubrey as we made our way to the orphanage, I started hearing rumbling and flashes of light from a certain direction.
“Ah, it seems like they’ve started. Thankfully we’re not a part of that. Monster tides are terrifying.” Muttering, Aubrey looked at the location of the sounds and lights. “Remember this Alisha and Elizabeth. If there ever comes a time you see a monster tide, run. There are monsters at or above level 100 that may be in it. No one can fight them alone, it’s stupid to try.”
Hearing some pain behind her words, I remained silent as we finally arrived in front of the orphanage that we had come to before. Nighttime had only just truly fallen, the request had asked me to arrive here an hour afterwards, so we had arrived earlier than expected.
“Ay lass, this tha spot?” Turning to Bloom, I nod. “A bit ran down ain’t she. Alright lass. We’re gonna patrol, so listen here.” Speaking clearly and seriously, Bloom looked at me. “Yer friend of yours ain’t strong enough to help, so if them there monsters come here, yer to fight. Our duty ain’t to defeat them monsters, but protect the young’uns here, righto? So use yer Lunar Barrier tha moment I call for it, ye hear?”
Nodding seriously to him, he pats me on the shoulder before ordering the other two to patrol while he does the same.
“Nice guy isn’t he?” Turning at Elizabeth’s words, I see her watching Bloom leave with interest. Wondering what is running through her mind, I don’t give it much thought as I turn to the broken gate of the orphanage. Making our way towards the door, Aubrey knocked on the door before stepping back.
I hear quiet footsteps approach, like someone being careful with their steps as the door opens. Sticking a head out from the slightly opened door is the head of a young boy with black hair and green eyes, from their looks they seemed about six or seven years old. Gazing at us with curiosity, he blinked before disappearing with the sounds of footsteps seemingly running.
Elizabeth giggles. “Cute kid.” Aubrey and I remained quiet as we heard heavier footsteps coming towards the door. The door swung wide open and a woman stood there at the door, with a look of surprise on her face. She had some wrinkles on her face and her body was slightly malnourished, like she hadn’t eaten anything for several days. Brushing her blonde hair out of her eyes, she keeps looking at us in surprise before suddenly changing her posture.
“S-sorry! I didn’t expect anyone to accept our request, especially during an emergency…are you here for the request?”
Smiling to her, I notice the same young boy peering at us while hugging the woman’s legs. Digging into my pocket, I showed her the wooden token from the Guild as she stared at it in amazement.
“W-well, thank you for accepting our request, please come in and don’t mind the children.”
Following her inside as she closes the door, the inside was rather cold and there wasn’t much light. The cold didn’t bother me, but I noticed Aubrey and Elizabeth shiver slightly and tighten their coats. We were in a hallway, with stairs leading up in front of us with the hallway continuing beside it. To the left and right were closed doors.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Leading us through the hallway and past the stairs, the woman told us about the request. “I forgot to introduce myself, I am Samantha, one of the carers here. The request is because one of our carers passed away a few days ago, and tonight we are celebrating one of the children being accepted into a family. Above all else, we want them to be happy and have something to celebrate as they have been sad recently.”
Patting the head of the child next to her, she smiled while the child looked back at her, some confusion in his eyes. Seeing this scene, I understood Samantha cared deeply for the child, and likely the rest that lived here. I could smell about twenty unique scents of people here, all human by the smell of things. We come to the end of the hallway as she leads us into one of the few rooms with light.
The hall we received in is a dining hall. Looking around I frowned, the walls had mould growing from the corners and were in dire need of repair since there were cracks and holes throughout. The floor was rather sticky, unclean and also in disrepair. I felt if I were to stomp down with half my strength I could shatter the floor easily. The furniture were in a better state, though they showed their age and some were missing parts to them.
“I’m sorry that it’s so worn down. We struggle to find the income to replace anything and most of the furniture comes from donations from others, or were found tossed away by the children.”
We moved towards a door at the back, and entering it I found that we were in a kitchen of sorts. I could see an oven that looked functional, the benches were mostly empty and the knives and utensils had certainly seen better days, even from here I could see with my improved vision they were not sharpened at all, in fact they had small cracks on the blades.
Feeling glad that Elizabeth and I had gone to Grandma’s before coming here, I see Samantha looking at me with worry. Is she worried that I’d leave?
“S-so this is the kitchen. We needed help from someone to just cook some basic food…we don’t have much to work with.”
Before I could respond, Elizabeth stepped forward and put her hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, we bought some ingredients with us. Alisha here is an Apprentice Chef too, so we can give those children some great food for tonight.”
Looking startled at her words, Samantha looks at me before shaking her head. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know! W-we can’t afford an Apprentice Chef, you d-don’t need to fulfil the request if it’s a waste of your t-time…”
A bit surprised at her sudden change, Aubrey sighed. “This is life in the slums, Alisha. You may think it should be as simple as becoming an adventurer and making money, but it’s not that easy. Not everyone can fight, nor can they just make a living doing other jobs. I don’t understand their plight, but just know that in most cases it’s not their choice to live like this, they’re forced to.”
Thinking of my time as a slave in Crater, I sort of understood what she meant, however instead of being forced to do things they were in a position where they couldn’t change their circumstances. Slowly understanding what the children were experiencing, I realised that the Hybrids in Crater suffered the same sort of fate. I had experienced it as well, but I had never truly thought of it from their perspective.
Smiling a bit, I decided to do what I could to help them out. Elizabeth’s words rung in my ears about buying the food in the first place. I knew Elizabeth understood what the people here were going through. She had after all helped us back in Crater Hell. Glancing at Elizabeth who was talking to the young boy, I thought about how much I truly knew about her…I should get to know her more.
Looking at Samantha, I gave her a smile. “Don’t worry, the reward you offered will be more than enough. I bought my own equipment and food, leave it to me.”
Sighing with some relief, Samantha seemed to age in that moment. I knew she wasn’t young, but I didn’t think she’d look older in a second.
“I’ll help you, Alisha.” Aubrey moves towards the bench while speaking while I turn to Elizabeth.
“I’ll help out with something else, I’m not great at cooking personally.” Giving me an embarrassed smile, Elizabeth turns to Samantha and starts talking to her. Shaking my head slightly with a smile, Aubrey and I get started on cooking.
Deciding to make simple food, I don’t use mana to enhance the food and make it as I remember, from the recipes that I learned from Gordon. With the help of the System I could easily bring up the recipes needed, but I decided to do it off memory for most of it.
Soon, the kitchen started getting busy as I sunk into a trance of sorts. Samantha had told me there were about 23 children and 4 adults, and since I didn’t know how to cook for large groups yet, I decided to make what Gordon called finger food. I’d remembered asking him why we added fingers to food and hit me on the head with the butt of a knife. Smiling, I keep working.
Hearing the sounds of curious muffled voices from the other room, I knew everyone had gathered, either due to the smell or since it was close to their usual dinner time, I didn’t know either. While working away, Aubrey had initially been helpful, but slow, so I tried to encourage her like Gordon did to me…by yelling and telling her to pick up the pace. With her shy face on full display, she seemed nervous and slightly panicky.
Soon, the benches slowly started filling up with all sorts of food. The meat and ingredients Grandma had provided were of excellent quality and made it easier to work with. The knives and utensils felt natural to use, I had no problems with using them at all, in fact it felt like making food had become easier, and the quality of food was better.
Soon, we had more than enough food as I stopped cooking, cleaned my tools and put them away with the remaining food we hadn’t used. Looking at the food I’d cooked by myself for the first time, I felt happy and satisfied. I usually would cook with Gordon watching over me, though he had left me on my own. Seeing Samantha enter, she seemed shocked at the food I had prepared.
“I-is this really okay? We can try to p-pay you for the food.” Shaking my head, I told her I was fine with the reward they listed. Turning to Aubrey, she looked at me with some shyness and…a bit of fear.
“A-Alisha, you’re s-scary when y-you’re cooking…I p-prefer you when you’re f-fighting.” Seemingly out of breath, Aubrey was sitting on the floor, wiping sweat from her forehead. Unsure on what to say to such a comment, I smile and start helping bring the food out with the two of them.
As I entered the dining hall, I saw all the children who seemed excited at the sight of me. There were boys and girls of all young ages, the youngest I saw was a child about two and the oldest about ten. A young boy stood nervously in the middle of the room, which confused me for a moment but I focused on placing the food around the tables like I had seen Jessica and Lenny do.
After bringing all the food out, an elderly man approached me before bowing slightly.
“You must be Alisha. Thank you for everything tonight. I can not repay you with much, we only have a Key to the Trial of Might to offer you. I know it’s a common item for adventurers, however it is the most valuable thing we can offer.”
Handing me a bronze coloured key, he asked me for the wooden token which I gave him. Taking out a slip of paper, he laid it on the token for a moment as it slowly sank into the token before disappearing. Handing me the token back, he thanked me again before moving to the child in the middle of the room.
“As you all know, young Joel has been accepted by a family, a middle class family who welcomes him with open arms. He’s been here since he was a wee lad, and today marks the last day he will be here, and to celebrate we have had a wonderful chef make a feast for you all to enjoy. Dig in everyone!”
Hearing the excited noise around us, I watched as the adults handed food out to everyone. Seeing them all enjoy it made me feel happy I had listened to Elizabeth, the smiles on their faces oddly gave me a sense of happiness as well. A few of them seemed to want to come and talk to Aubrey and I, but their nerves seemed to stop them. Watching as Elizabeth, with Alice on her head, helped out serving everyone, I stepped forward to join her when I heard a loud voice.
“LASS!”
Recognizing the voice to be Blooms immediately, I step as fast as I could into the centre of the food and without hesitation surge Lunar energy and magic out, forming a condensed barrier around the hall. As I heard a confused voice about to speak out, a loud crashing noise sounded out as something smashed through the building and into the barrier.
It was like time stopped. Looking at the figure slowly sliding down my barrier, I saw it was Amelia, the elf that had been with Bloom. In the next moment, the building in front of her was blown away as a massive claw fell onto the barrier. Without hesitating, I force and focus my all onto the spot the claw was about to hit, and feeling the barrier smash into pieces, I knew I had barely deflected the strike as I looked up.
Half the building had been destroyed, and staring down at us is a large bear-like monster. It was massive, the size of a two story house. Feeling fear in my heart, I smelt paper burning and from the corner of my eye I saw Aubrey holding the slip that was burning away. I knew what this meant, and looking at the bear, my fear was confirmed.
Level ??? Elite Disaster-Class Bear
???
Health: ???