“What do you mean by that?”
Asfi was looking at the relaxed young man in front of her with a somewhat confused but stern and inquisitive expression. She honestly wasn’t able to figure out what exactly Isaac was implying. But instead of doing the ignorant thing and assuming that he was merely spouting bullshit, she decided to give him a chance to explain himself. After all, she wouldn’t want to make a mistake simply due to being close-minded. Yes, Asfi was a little perfectionistic.
“It’s quite simple, really. No matter what, once I get strong enough, many people will start to pay attention to me. Especially many so-called evil forces. Because I don’t plan to stop growing stronger, I’ll have to come into contact with them sooner or later anyway. While I could join them to avoid a conflict, that would only change the side I would have to contend with, not solve the underlying problem. And as I don’t particularly agree with what the lower-rung members of these forces that I’ve either come across or heard about do… Yeah, joining them isn’t an option.”
All the while during Isaac’s explanation, Hermes had a deeply contemplative look on his face. While Asfi didn’t look particularly convinced, this couldn’t be said for the fickle god. His emotions had calmed down again and a little sigh escaped Hermes’ lips, while a spark of interest was ignited deep within his eyes.
In Hermes’ opinion, while Isaac might really not be fit to play the role of a stereotypical hero, it would be just as - if not more - interesting to observe an anti-hero this time. After all, the more ‘weapons’ or ‘trump cards’ he had access to, the better the chances of succeeding in his goals. Additionally, the young man was simply too intriguing to write off completely. From what Hermes could discern, he had already progressed quite deeply into Level 2, in an extremely short period of time. If this ember of possibilities wasn’t prematurely snuffed out, then Isaac would surely turn into a big player in this world, someone with a huge amount of influence. Even if he never turned into the hero or anti-hero that Hermes wanted to see, simply having some sort of connection with such an individual would already be very beneficial.
After Hermes had made a decision, his playful smile reappeared and he nodded appreciatively towards Isaac before his familia’s Captain could disagree with the young man even further. Conflict was the last thing they needed.
“Your answer more than suffices.”
Having put an end to this particular topic with these words, Hermes tilted his head slightly and smirked, before asking Isaac a question.
“But you also have another purpose for coming here, am I right?”
Of course, Isaac had already expected Hermes to know about some of his plans, as they really weren’t that hard to figure out, so he replied with a nod and a smile of his own, before taking another sip from his tea and stating his intentions.
“I have a mission I would like to hire the Hermes Familia for.”
The moment she heard this, Asfi focused on the discussion properly again. As this involved potential work for her familia, she had to be as prim and proper as possible. Shortly after she had returned to normal, Hermes gave Isaac the go-ahead.
“As I’m sure you’re already aware of, the Loki Familia will soon be heading into the dungeon for an expedition. I will also be part of that and therefore, I will be stuck in the dungeon for a long time. I can’t even say when exactly we’ll return, as that will depend on too many factors. In the meantime, I need someone to protect my students, as I can’t do so myself. While the Loki Familia will still have quite a sizable force here on the surface, I don’t want to stretch it too thin by letting them protect additional people. So yeah, there you have it. I would like to hire the Hermes Familia to protect my students from behind the scenes while I’m otherwise occupied.”
Because he had his trusty Captain at his side, Hermes simply looked at Asfi, flashing her a supportive smile. This was her time to shine, not his. Well, he might be using this as a chance to procrastinate a little as well, but that wasn’t important right now.
“Mr. Blackshaw, I regret to have to inform you of our inability to carry out your request. There are many strong adventurers and criminals out there and with the limited strength of the Hermes Familia, should some of those decide to go after your students, we wouldn’t be able to protect them. Instead, if our members tried to shield them, they would be throwing their lives away.”
An awkward and somewhat pained smile flashed across Isaac’s lips for a moment when he heard this distant form of address again, but he knew better than to criticize Asfi, who was a ‘strict secretary type’. So this time, he just let it slide and gave her a short nod, before explaining his request further.
“That’s perfectly fine. Your people can leave immediately once a foe they can’t beat shows up. Still, I would like to hire you to take care of the weaker annoyances.”
Only after she had thought it over for a few moments did Asfi finally state a price.
“We can do that. It will cost you 300.000 valis per day, though.”
“Alright, that won’t be a problem. I’ll pay you two weeks’ worth in advance and you’ll get the rest when I come back from the expedition and the mission has been completed. Deal?”
Contrary to what she had expected, Isaac didn’t get scared off by the relatively large sum of money at all. This, yet again, baffled Asfi. How did this young man have so much money? Sure, he was able to earn quite the sizable income as a Level 2 adventurer. But his expenses would also be extremely huge. It was simply a mystery how he could promise to pay millions upon millions of valis without even blinking. Of course, Asfi didn’t know that Isaac’s monster slaying speed eclipsed that of any comparable adventurer and his expenses were only a fraction of the usual. She couldn’t be faulted for this, however, as she had never borne witness to Isaac within the dungeon.
“Deal.”
Still, she accepted the mission without too much of a hassle. Honestly, she was positively surprised, as she hadn’t expected to be paid anything in advance. Although 3.120.000 valis wasn’t a lot in her eyes, it was still a good income for the slightly weaker members of her familia.
After they had agreed on Isaac meeting them here again tomorrow to give them the promised money, the official business had concluded so Hermes took this as a chance to chime into the conversation again. This time, however, he had a somewhat pervy smile on his face, while he looked at Isaac with a knowing and approving gaze.
“Word on the street is that you’re dating the Sword Princess. Is that true?”
As this was pretty much the first time that anyone had asked him that to his face, Isaac was taken a little aback and it took him a moment to respond with a nod. He was genuinely embarrassed by this situation, however, so a sheepish smile played across his lips for a short moment. While Asfi didn’t pay attention to any of this, as she couldn’t be bothered with such topics, this rare display of real emotion didn’t escape Hermes’ trained eyes.
“Then I suppose congratulations are in order!”
With a hearty laugh, Hermes patted Isaac’s shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. Soon, the two had started to talk uninhibitedly about everyday topics. While they were eating some dinner, their meeting had devolved into an exchange of non-consequential conversation, which neither of the two men seemed to be particularly unhappy with.
A short while later, however, Isaac excused himself and made his way back towards the Twilight Manor, while Hermes and Asfi stayed back in the Bard’s Respite.
As soon as she was sure that Isaac wasn’t within earshot anymore, Asfi turned to Hermes with a contemplative expression on her face.
“Are you sure that he can live up to his words?”
In her honest opinion, that was just a pipe dream. While Isaac might have been growing faster than anybody else she had ever heard of so far, what he had said simply sounded too ridiculous and arrogant. How could he be sure his growth would continue in this manner unabatedly? Any number of factors could cut his path short prematurely. As he was currently still quite weak, he shouldn’t let his potential get to his head.
After a resigned sigh escaped Hermes’ lips, the god shook his head.
“If we only had to worry about the kind of foes a hero could deal with, then we could just leave it to the lad, sit back and relax. With his rate of growth, it’d be hard to not obliterate those on the way to the top.”
For a moment, even more confusion could be seen in Asfi’s eyes, before a noticeable amount of fear creeped on in. With a somewhat shaky voice, she turned to her god and asked, with a disbelieving expression on her face.
“What do you mean? Who exactly are we fighting?”
Embarrassedly, Hermes couldn’t help but look away from those eyes that looked at him with a miniscule hint of trust and hope. Then, under his breath, he muttered something he really didn’t want to admit.
“I don’t know.”
A moment of silence later, Asfi grabbed Hermes’ collar and pulled him closer. She looked him dead in the eyes with disappointment written all over her face. This miscreant of a god... she really shouldn’t have trusted him, even for a moment.
“Are you playing me for a fool again, Hermes?”
Somewhat panicking, as he really hadn’t intended for the situation to develop in such a way, Hermes shook his head frantically while raising his arms in surrender. At the same time, he showed a rare serious expression.
“Calm down, Asfi! Let me explain!”
Although she knew better than to fully trust him, Asfi still gave Hermes a chance, yet again. Reluctantly, she let go of him and signalled for him to continue.
“I truly don’t know who exactly we are dealing with. Still, in my long life, I have stumbled across a few hints which gave me a rough idea. But anyway, it’s nothing concrete yet. I’d rather not say anything than make an irreversible mistake. If I am wrong, it’d be disastrous.”
To be honest, Asfi had no clue whatsoever who Hermes could be talking about. But from the words he chose, she could guess that whatever they were facing… it was something she couldn’t even imagine. If it brought so much worry to even Hermes, she shuddered at the thought of what it could be. Usually, even incurring the wrath of his fellow gods didn’t faze him at all...
Before she could get too distracted again, however, her expression shifted drastically and she looked outside, in the direction that Isaac had left in just moments prior.
“He is in trouble.”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Alright, only interfere if it’s truly necessary.”
With these words, the pair hurried out of the inn.
-----
Shortly after Isaac had started to make his way back home unhurriedly, some of those who wished him harm had finally decided that they didn’t need to hold back anymore. So the moment he entered one of the secluded alleys leading back home, he found himself surrounded by seven impressively built men fully decked out in adventuring gear. All but one of them already had their weapons drawn and were glaring at him with hatred from beneath their hooded cloaks, which were somewhat concealing their appearances.
The one who hadn’t gotten ready for combat yet was seemingly the leader of the group, a man with a huge and grotesque scar covering most of his exposed neck. Compared to the others, whose eyes only contained hatred, he looked at Isaac with a hint of arrogance as well. Rather than facing an enemy, it felt like he was looking at a piece of trash that he could deal with at his leisure. Not a pleasant way to be looked at, that’s for sure.
Almost at the same time that this suspicious bunch had surrounded him, Isaac noticed Hermes and Asfi arriving in the distance, observing quietly.
“Are you the one who killed Coltael?”
A look of confusion flashed across Isaac’s eyes. Who the hell was Coltael? He didn’t know anyone by that name.
“I’m sorry… who?”
Even though the leader of the group of seven was a little annoyed,he still kept somewhat calm and elaborated. After all, it wouldn’t do them any good if they got the wrong guy. That way, the real culprit would get away.
“He was Level 2, had short brown hair and a mole right here, under his right eye.”
At this point, Isaac had finally figured out who the man was talking about but as this had also ensured the way in which this situation would develop, he felt like playing a little prank. So, in response, the look of confusion on his face only got worse, while he tilted his head and looked to be in deep thought.
“Nope, still doesn’t ring any bells.”
By now, the leader felt close to bursting a vein, so his voice got louder, almost to the point of shouting, while he gripped the hilt of his greatsword tightly, trying to vent his anger in a non-destructive way.
“He said he was going to round up some people and kill you. You really don’t know?!”
Isaac eyed the man with suspicion, then, as if he had just remembered something, he slapped his forehead and, seemingly out of thin air, a beautifully decorated sword appeared in his hand.
“I stumbled across some annoying insects in the dungeon before and one of them left this behind after I swatted it to death. Do you recognize it?”
The entire group surrounding him got a lot more incensed when they heard his words, but their hatred truly bubbled over when they saw the sword he had just shown them.
“Boss, that’s Coltael’s ‘Princess’, no doubt about it! He even hugged it in his sleep every night, there is no way anyone but his murderer would have this weapon!”
One of the underlings took this chance to explain the painfully obvious, which only helped to further incense the leader.
“Shut up, I know! Bring me this bastard’s head!!”
Without holding back any longer, the group of six launched their attacks towards Isaac from all directions, cutting off all of his escape routes. Well, they tried to.
To Isaac, their encirclement and attacks seemed incredibly slow and sloppy. Although most of them were Level 2’s and one of them had even already reached Level 3 a short time ago, they simply had ranked up too early - almost immediately after they could. It was the same for most adventurers, though, so they didn’t stick out in a negative way when compared to the norm. Still, even the Level 3 was barely stronger than Isaac, stats wise. Them facing him was simply a joke.
As he was relaxedly dodging all of their attacks with the minimum amount of movement possible, Isaac recalled the arrogant guy whose sword he was holding right now.
‘Princess, huh? He even named his sword after Ais?’
Although he himself was quite likely to do such a thing himself, for some reason, when others did it, the taste of displeasure spread in Isaac’s mouth. Once he paired that with the fact that the owner of this sword, Coltael, had even tried to kill him out of jealousy, a frosty smile played across his lips. Wouldn’t it be ironic if he killed his assailants with their companions’ beloved weapon?
The moment he thought of this, Isaac’s movements suddenly accelerated and before the leader of the group could protect them, six heads hit the floor, with the bodies following soon after. The frosty smile on Isaac’s face hadn’t faded in the slightest as he was staring at the scarred man with a provocative gaze.
“You little…!!!”
By now, the leader was completely and utterly enraged. He truly had underestimated their opponent too much. After all, no matter what, this young man was definitely still a Level 2, if the Guild was to be believed. A single Level 2 dealing with that many other Level 2’s and a Level 3? That was unheard of!
But if he had partaken in the battle as well, he could have saved the lives of his friends...
A gut-wrenching feeling of guilt gripped the leader’s heart and his eyes turned scarily bloodshot. Without wasting any more time on talking, a guttural roar escaped his lips and he finally unsheathed his enormous greatsword.
With a powerful lunge, he accelerated towards Isaac and expertly prepared to bring his sword down, slicing him in half. No matter what, Isaac wouldn’t be able to deal with this man - he was far stronger than any other human opponent he had ever faced.
A few moments before this, when the leader had begun to make his move, Asfi revealed an alarmed expression and got one of her throwing knives ready, just waiting for Hermes to allow her to participate in the battle.
From what she could see, Isaac was currently a rather strong Level 2… but his opponent was at the cusp of being able to rank up to Level 4! This was simply an insurmountable difference. If she had known about Isaac’s system of classification, she would have told him that the scarred man reached about 5100 in Level 1 stats - almost twice those of Isaac.
How could she be sure of this? Well, there was a way that most experienced fighters and experts used - some of them consciously, some of them unconsciously. A person’s everyday, subconscious body language would always give away their strength to a certain extent. It was extremely hard to detect these minor changes in movement, but Asfi, Hermes and many others had acquired the ability over the years, therefore, both of them could be sure of Isaac’s strength and the strength of his opponent.
According to Asfi’s guess, Isaac wouldn’t even have a chance to properly respond to the man’s attack, so she looked at Hermes with a pleading look, basically begging for his command. Even though she usually put up a cold front, as soon as she got to know a person and didn’t absolutely hate them, then she didn’t want to see them die in front of her if she could help it. Still, seemingly, her wish wouldn’t be granted this time, as Hermes looked at her and shook his head. Before she could jump into the fray regardless of what he said, however, he explained.
“Look at him. He doesn’t even seem inconvenienced by the current situation. I refuse to believe he can’t deal with this.”
These words, coupled with Isaac’s relaxed posture, finally convinced Asfi to stay down.
Speaking about Isaac, he could still barely follow the scarred man’s attack with his eyes, which made even the last bit of doubt about how this situation would turn out disappear. As fast as he currently could, he aimed his own sword at the leader’s neck. Still… it was simply too slow. At this rate, a long time before he would even have a chance to harm his opponent, Isaac would already be dead.
When he saw his opponent’s last-ditch attempt, the leader couldn’t help but sneer teasingly and didn’t even dignify Isaac with an evasive action. With that… he had fallen for the trap hook, line, and sinker.
‘System, update my Status.’
In less than an instant, the average of Isaac’s stats - if the buff his ichor provided was taken into account - almost doubled and reached 5340. Just like all the previous times when such an astonishing increase had happened, he didn’t lose himself within his new-found strength and didn’t need to spend time to learn how to control his body. As he had long stopped gaining significant amounts of excelia from the monsters he had been killing, Isaac had been waiting for an opportunity to update his Status. And this time, he could take an opponent by surprise, create an air of mystery around him and make all the observing parties unsure of how much strength he actually had… it was a win-win-win situation!
Before anyone even comprehended what had happened, Isaac had already slightly shifted aside, thereby avoiding his opponent’s attack, and had his own attack accelerate at a rate far faster than his foe was expecting. A moment later, another decapitated head fell to the ground.
Achievement Progress:
Kill 1000 Level 3 monsters. (2/1000)
Completely relaxed, Isaac shook off the blood from ‘Princess’ before sheathing it and taking his opponents’ valuables. After this, he waved at Hermes and Asfi with an innocent smile and quickly disappeared from their sight while glancing over his updated Status.
Name:
Isaac Blackshaw
Familia:
Loki Familia
Affiliation:
None
Race:
Human
Level:
2
Age:
Unable to measure
Charisma:
19
Stats
Strength:
SS-1014 (4278 x 1.25)
Endurance:
S-999 (4248 x 1.25)
Dexterity:
SS-1022 (4294 x 1.25)
Agility:
SS-1013 (4276 x 1.25)
Magic:
SS-1007 (4264 x 1.25)
Magic
Anemoi Steps
Skills
Divine Blood
Development Abilities
Huntsman
H
Mana Cultivation - Foundation Establishment
I
Can be chosen from when ranking up: Swordsman
While Isaac left without another word, he left behind a shell-shocked Asfi,
The poor bespectacled beauty felt as if her whole world-view was shattered. How did Isaac suddenly increase his strength by such a ridiculous amount? That should have been impossible. How did he abruptly change all of his subconscious, minor movements as well? Had he faked all of them before? That should have been almost impossible. Was this the extent of his current strength or was there still more that he was hiding from them?
Asfi’s mind got more and more muddled and the somewhat cute, confused expression on her face made Hermes want to tease her a little. Still, he held back this time as that would only truly incense her, which he wasn’t a fan of. He liked his Asfi in a more agreeable mood. With a resigned smirk on his lips, Hermes shook his head, walked up to Asfi and patted her head gently.
“See? There was no need to worry. Come on, let’s go back home.”
Even though Hermes didn’t know what exactly Isaac had done either, he knew it would be unwise to get distracted out here in public, with so many factions paying attention to this particular area right now.
-----
In yet another deserted and secluded alley, a figure wrapped in a black cloak was leaving somewhat hurriedly, getting further and further away from the Twilight Manor. She had paid attention to Isaac’s previous encounter but didn’t want to stick around any longer.
Suddenly, the figure came to an abrupt halt and stared in front of her with a concealed expression of disbelief on her face.
Just a few meters away, the young man she had been observing was leaning against the wall of the alley, seemingly waiting for her with a curious smile.