The day when The Dusk Hunters had decided to head out to Ugras with the All healer, another journey was beginning, far away, in the central continent of Vreede.

In the training grounds of the holy knight order-

“Sir Chernakoff, how goes the preparations? The king has ordered us to leave at the soonest.”

The blonde man questions the knight, now wearing a long black robe with silver armguards and greaves. He has a helm at his side, the shape of a phoenix engraved on it. The knight, his head hidden by a helm of similar design, and wearing a pompous golden armor, promptly replied.

“The party has been prepared. We shall leave in an hour at the latest”

“Good. Prepare the steeds.”

The blonde man says so and leaves, his robe fluttering in the wind. The knight yells at another knight, who was wearing silver armor, signaling his position as an elite knight of the Holy knight order. The knight was the Knight General, a position that gathered great respect in the kingdom.

The silver knight promptly brought out a team of pure white and golden horses, which neighed, spreading their beautiful angel like wings.

The blonde man walked into the huge training hall, heading deeper into the back chamber. His fingers constantly rubbed on the surface of his golden ring, one that seemed almost too precious to him.

There, in a glass case, there was a sword, a sword which thrummed with energy, releasing an incredible bloodthirst.

‘The Bloodweaver.’

The blonde man thought to himself, as he opened the case and grasped the hilt of the blood red sword, sending a wave of negative emotions into his head. He countered it with his magic, and succeeded in subduing the terrifying sword adorned with rubies.

He swung the falchion, its sharp edge leaving a bright red trail in the air.

With the legendary sword that slew the Vampire ancestor, the man, Duke Vistrias, set off, in order to quell the chaos in the north.

‘‘The God’s graveyard, huh’’

******************

“Yo, Maria!”

I greeted Maria, who was waiting near the weapon shop we had agreed to meet up at. Behind me, Saki and Mili followed. Mili was skipping and prancing, and Saki imitated her, like a little girl would. Saki slept in my room yesterday too, and since it’s her wish, as a gentleman, I naturally complied.

“Yuuya! Mili chan, Saki chan!”

Mili raises her hands in a victory pose, and Saki nods at her quickly.

Do I really attract oddballs?

We head off, towards the southern entrance, in order to meet Niviel san and Reginald san, who told us to meet up there.

As we neared the southern entrance, I understood that this was the actual entrance of Ravenblack, and not the shoddy side entrance I used.

A humongous wall was raised, almost 7 meters in size, made of cold grey stone. Above the walls, several soldiers roamed, as I could see with my super sharp eyes.

 A huge gate was present between the walls, and they were open now, but would be closed at night. A huge line of caravans stood there, presumably traders. They all waited, and were given admission one by one by the personnel. The guards stood there, unmoving like a statue, as if to inspire a sense of respect. Pshaw~ I saw that guy dancing drunk the other day at the tavern.

We headed towards the gates, trying to spot them. They gave us such a vague spot to find, so we couldn’t find them until we saw them near the guards, waiting bored.

By this time the sun had rose to the top of the sky, and chirping of birds could be heard frequently.  A normal busy day at Ravenblack.

We waved at them, and noticing us, Reginald san called the woman next to him and walked towards us.

The woman, Niviel san, was a pretty tall woman, with bright yellow hair and the characteristic brown eyes of the Rudia continent. Her figure was okay, and some freckles were on her face, but without doubt, she was not ugly, but pretty. Saki has raised my standards too much, I believe.

But the fact that makes her not too pretty, were

Her muscles .

Her body was ripped,--

Nah, just kidding. Niviel san greeted us, in a cheerful voice.

“Oh! You must be the adventurers that Reginald chose? You look quite young? Are you eating well? How old are you? Aren’t you quite lean-“

She began a rapid fire round of questions, which Reginald san immediately stopped by shutting her mouth.

“Yo, lil missy! Shall we head out?”

“Eh? You’re coming along?”

The request clearly said that we had to escort only a cleric. Could it be?

“Ah, the original condition was like that, but now, after seeing a certain person-“

He glared at me,

“I changed my mind, since that person-“

Glaring!

“Was a real womanizer. And I didn’t want our Niviel to travel alone with such a bastard”

He finished his speech, with an all out murderous glare at me. What did I do?!

Now that I think about it, my party is an all girls party, huh.

Uehehehehe~ To think I accidentally made a harem!

“Creep”

Mili mutters, glaring at me. Crap. I wipe my face, and smile pleasantly at her. She turns her head away, disregarding me. Urk!

Niviel san chuckles at our exchange, and even Reginald sighs, but with a smile on his face.

“Then, shall we set off!”

Maria exclaims, full of enthusiasm, and we set off, towards Ugras.

Ugras was the royal capital of Ugraok kingdom, a minor kingdom in Rudia, but it was the centre for production of cattle and dairy products. The sweet that I had eaten the other day, Gulais, was made from the milk of Atoph, a cow like monster that was prevalent in this parts.

North of Ugras, was Ravenblack, to the east of which were numerous minor villages, like the Pioneer’s village for one.

And it would take almost 3 days to reach Ugras by foot, while taking only 2 days by carriage.

Right now, we were on the Yolvian highway, a prime spot for monsters to prowl. Since we formed this party to get stronger as well, we were focused on hunting whatever monsters we found.

On the Yolvian highway, we could get to Ugras a bit faster, so we were heading there, full speed.

I roll to the side, from the flying claws of the Guars. The gold ranked saber, Guar. It was a huge saber like monster, almost twice as large as the turtles, which considered this area, almost a third of the Yolvian highway as its territory. It was an aggressive monster, hell bent on eating meat. Gluttons are just everywhere.

We were doing the usual, a training bout of a sort for Maria to get used to archery’s strong points. But now, even Reginald san supported me, drawing off stray blows from the Guar.

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We were facing a bunch of them, and I let Reginald and Maria take them on one by one, while I took care of crowd control.

 I slide my blade into the underbelly, and with a twirl, tear its heart in two. The Guar collapses, breathing heavily before it eventually died. I skipped over the carcass, skipping over to the next monster.

A Guar jumps towards Reginald san, from its back. Before I could do anything about it, an arrow pierces through the air, accurately piercing through its eye. Nice, Maria!

I ignore them, since Reginald san and Maria can take care of themselves, and switch targets.

The alpha Guar.

It glares at me, its body glowing in a strange way. I see, incomplete Berserk huh.

The alpha charges at me, sending its claws flying at my head. I duck, and grasped the tuft of fur on its underbelly. Releasing a bit of Chaos energy and enhancing my strength, I slam the monster on its side onto the ground, raising a cloud of dust. But, the alpha, withstanding the pain, moves its head, attempting to bite me.

Shit ,I underestimated berserk. I step back, but I was sure that I won’t get out unscathed. Then, a ball of fire collides against the alpha’s head, giving me the interval I need.

Rather than backing off, I immediately dart forward, twisting to dodge its huge fangs, and plunge my blade up its neck. The hot blood flows down my sword, and pull it out, killing the beast.

By this time, all the monsters were killed, and we head to Niviel san for a checkup.

On the way, I pat Mili’s head, and show her a thumbs up. She turns red, and slaps my hand away, running towards Saki. Haha~

I had already noticed that Mili was studying magic, using the books I had left outside. I guess she felt that even she had to contribute.

So, I secretly kept the basics books out, in order for her to learn it.

I wave my hand, and the body of the alpha disappears into my ring. It’s said that berserk meat turns juicy and the tastes are enhanced, for some reason.

Niviel san greets us, and begins casting fatigue revealing blessings on us, since we were quite tired. Well, not me, but I can’t say that out loud, can i?!

It was almost sunset, and we set up camp, planning to continue early in the morning tomorrow.

 Godly chef Yuuya sama made a special fried Guar steak. It was a grand success, yup!

Saki came to me tonight too, but with a different request.

“Master….stronger”

She flexes her hand, as if showing off her muscles. I see, she wants to become stronger huh?

“Not yet Saki, you still have to heal. Eat up a lot, and fatten up, although not too much. Then, I’ll definitely make you stronger!”

She looks a bit dejected, but still nods.

“By the way Saki, you shouldn’t call me master. Just call me Yuuya like the others”

She whips her head to the sides, quite aggressively.

“Master…is master”

She smiles, and grasps my shirt’s hem again. I lay down, and to my surprise, Saki lays down next to me, her hand still on my shirt.

Sigh…. Whatever.

The bracelet devours my mana, like a never ending pit. I keep sending it whatever I can spare of my little amount of mana, and it consumes it at an incredible speed.

That day, when I had sent my mana into the bracelet, it was not that it didn’t work, it was that it wasn’t enough. My pathetically weak mana was, well weak.

So, I regularly poured in my mana every time before sleeping, so that I could recover it while sleeping.

Initially, there was no response, but nowadays, it sends out a faint green light, the gemstones gleaming.

Intrigued, I kept doing it with more vigour, convinced that this was no normal bracelet.

Suddenly, something trembles near me. When I look to my side, I can see Saki.

She was sweating, quite a lot, her forehead beaded with sweat. She was curled up like a ball, trembling. A bad dream huh. Her face was distorted, as if in pain. I wonder if this is why she wanted to sleep with me.

I take out a cloth from my ring, and wipe off the sweat from her forehead, gently so that she doesn’t wake up. After confirming there was no more sweat left, although hesitant, I edged closer to her, and patted her head with my right arm. Thankfully, her expression loosens, but not so thankfully, she clings on to me, and refuses to move away.

What a fearsome girl.

Therefore, troubled by such things, I fell asleep.

***************

“Umu, Maria, the biggest problem is, that you have a limited quantity of arrows.”

“Yes…”

Maria mutters at me, dejected. We were having our ‘How to strengthen archers meeting’ since we were now resting, ready for lunch.

We had made camp near a huge rock formation, assured that monsters don’t wander near her.

Mili and Saki were playing in the sun, while Reginald was sharpening his sword. Niviel san was reading some material, which she said was her research on blessings and the sort.

“Maria, we need to save up money and buy you an interspatial ring, first off”

“Eh?! An interspatial ring?! Even the smallest one is almost a 100 gold!”

Eh? What? Whaaaat?!!! On my hands, I was wearing a fortune?!?!

MY eyes bulged out as I stare at the beautiful ring. My precious~ I need to protect-

“Snap out of it, Yuuya!”

Maria drops a fit on my head, irritated. Ehehehe~ I got a bit carried away.

“Well then, we need to earn a 100 gold. It’s not much. We’ll earn it easily by the time we’re Champion ranked!”

“Ch-ch-champion ranked?! Yuuya, you’re really ambitious aren’t you?”

“Umu ? Nothing’s impossible, Maria! Believe it!”

Maria looks at me, disbelief evident on her face.

“Anyways, you’ll need to master freeform magic, is what I’m coming to say”

“Free form…. Magic?”

“Yup. Then , you can use your own mana to create the arrows you need. And you can customize it, and add cool stuff to it.. .Maybe something like a sniper too! Also, you can get a mana storage device too!”

Maria appeared thoughtful.

“Un, it is as you say, if I can create arrows, my number of arrows will increase a lot. But, where do i—“

I throw a book into her lap, “The basics of free form “ She looks at it, bewildered.

“Learn it as quick as you can, ok?”

“Un!”

Maria responds cheerfully after a while, and I leave the tent, satisfied. I can’t learn it anyways, since my mana quantity is pitifully low. Well, I didn’t have any before I became a Slayer, so I can’t really complain about it too…