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Arc | Chapter. 78: Holiness
🕑 Added 2023-09-28 09:22:43 +0000 UTCChapter. 78: Holiness
Note: I forgor Mythril coins never actually existed, they are all platinum coins đ
I stared at the woman who basically jumped from my gazeâ â I was annoyed. Annoyed that this stranger, who was B Tier, was essentially stalking Ceylon and Malz. I didnât know what kind of intentions they had, and if they were the wrong ones then Iâd have no choice but to do something.
The woman gasped for a moment, her green eyes trembling. Her hair was black and her body resembled that of an adventurerâ â because she probably was one. However, she didnât seem old.
âSo?â I pressed.
The woman backed off, her heart evidently racing, and her being panicking.
âW-Well, I have my reasons. There is no animosity there, I-I promise you that,â she stuttered. âItâ â itâs justâŚâ
I raised my brow. âItâs justâŚ?â
âI-I know itâs hard to believe, but⌠I have a request to slay a dragon soâŚâ she meekly trailed off.
For a moment I tensed as she flinched, then processed the reality that the girl would be unable to lay a finger on Malz, an SS Tier being, while she herself was merely B Tier.
âWhat does that mean?â I frowned. âArenât dragons S Tier?â
The woman slowly nodded, I could see a bead of sweat trailing down her forehead. âT-This one is reported to be A Tier, itâs⌠a wyvern, a kind of lesser dragonâŚâ
âA wyvern, huh?â I finally relaxed thinking. âHmâŚâ
âYeah!â she piped up. âI wanted to ask for Malzâs help because she is incredibly strong! She made half of the Adventurerâs Guild pass out with her bloodlust.â
What the woman said made me pause. My eyes widened with some surprise.
âYouâre telling me she did something in the guild?â
âHuh you donât know how strong your friend is?â the woman asked in shock. âSome adventurer implied that they didnât respect her, so she essentially displayed her bloodlust for everyone to see.â
âThat isâŚâ
I didnât know how to exactly react other than it seemed overkill and completely unnecessary, but I wasnât too sure what to actually make out of things.
âYeah, so thatâs why Iâm following after her, I hope she can help me with my dragon-slaying request⌠perhaps if she has strong friends like you, they can help too⌠the rewards are pretty nice you see?â
Admittedly, I wanted to point out the irony of asking a dragon to help you kill another dragon, but the woman didnât actually know who she was trying to ask help from. However, that saidâŚ
âYou say the rewards are nice, right?â
âYeah about twenty-five platinum coins per person for a party of fiveâŚâ The woman said hesitantly. âIf it has less members itâs even betterâŚâ
âOh, that is quite a lot actually.â
âAre you interested?â The woman asked.
I didnât know all that much about the economy given I hardly even touched money, but it was still a high quantity based on my understanding. I did wonder however, how much my ice spear had been sold for. Though that wasnât too important, there was something else that mattered to me.
âAre there a lot of monsters past the wyvern?â
âThere is a high likelihood of it, yeah.â The woman thought for a moment, evidently much more relaxed than before. âWhy?â
I nodded. âI think we can assemble a party, Malz will agree to it too.â
âReally, how can you be so sure?â The woman asked dubiously before frowning to herself. âAlso, Iâm sorry for my actions earlier, they really werenât rightâŚâ
âRight, itâs fine.â It seemed that she was just fucking weird rather than having bad intentions after all. âAs for being sure, well, I guess youâll see.â
âShe didnât seem like the type of person to easily agree to thingsâ ââ
âI told you that I donât need a sword or these kind of weapons!â Ceylon protested as they exited.
Malz was carrying a spear on her back, a sword on one hand and a shield in the other, and she was clearly somewhat bothered.
âWell how are you going to injure the monsters then? You cannot even use magic. I already relinquished on you wearing armor, youâre just making things difficult at this point.â
âA dagger is all I need for this.â Ceylon sighed.
âPerhaps, but a sword or spear is a safer method to gather experience,â Malz said simply. âIt wouldnât hurt to just listenâ ââ
âMalz,â I called.
The Dragon of Shadows paused and turned in our direction. I immediately saw Malzâs eyes grow wide with surprise before smiling and immediately hurrying in our direction.
âArc, youâre finally free from whatever you were doing?â
âI am.â I smiled before pulling the woman next to me. âShe has a request to go kill a dragon, are you interested? Ceylon will probably be able to get some levels from it.â
âOh, that is a bit of an ironic request but sure.â She nodded simply as the woman blinked. âThough wasnât she the person that has been following us this entire time?â
âI-Iâm sorry I justâ ââ
âYeah she was,â I interrupted. âBut her intentions were simply to ask for help in regards to the request. Which, well, I think itâs a good request given Ceylon needs to level up.â
âWait, you'll make me slay a dragon?â Ceylon asked wide-eyed.
âA wyvern so not too bad,â I dismissed before turning to the woman. She was a head shorter than me. âAny other information we should know?â
âNot reallyâŚâ the woman meekly said before looking towards Malz. âSorry for following you around and stuff.â
âOh itâs fine,â Malz casually dismissed. âI was aware of it the entire time.â
The woman paused and lowered her head.
âRight, sorry.â
âItâs fine,â I reassured her once more. âAnyway what is your name and when should we meet for this request?â
âIâm Meika,â she said, taking a breath. âTomorrow morning at the guild, when the sun is barely shining. We will need to register for the request before leaving.â
âOh, alright.â I nodded. âSee you then, Iâll bring other people along.â
Meika slowly nodded letting out a breath of relief as she finally relaxed before turning to Malz. âFor what itâs worth, I am sorry, I shouldnât have done that.â She nodded at Malz before turning to me. âThank you for helping⌠Arc, I shall see you tomorrow hopefully.â
âYeah.â
With those words, Meika left. Her mood seemed a bit weird but I didnât particularly question it. Instead, I was just glad that there seemed to be something to look forward to for now. I watched the woman leave and go back to the adventurerâs guild. Ceylon and Malz did so too, before finally Malz asked.
âWhat is this about a dragon?â
âThe woman has an adventurer request to slay a wyvern or something.â I shook my head. âI donât know that much other than the total reward for the request is 100 platinum or so.â
Ceylon blinked. âThat is quite a lot actually⌠I wonder how she even got such a request in the first place.â
âUnsure, and I donât think it matters too much,â I dismissed. âFor now I guessâŚâ I thought for a moment. âAre you two done buying whatever you need to buy?â
Malz tilted her head. âI think so, we are missing rations but I never intended to take her out of town for multiple days, so it should be fine.â
âWe arenât missing anything.â Ceylon sighed. âThat said I donât need a sword, nor a shield, nor a spear, a dagger is just fine.â
âNo, youâ ââ
I sighed, interrupting Malz. âCeylon, just take the spear okay?â
Ceylon looked at me somewhat baffled and shocked, but ultimately slowly nodded and approached Malz, sighing.
âJust give me the spear.â
âOnly because Arc said so?â She raised her brow. âFine.â
I shook my head as I watched Ceylon receive the spear with some difficulty before she stored it away into a ring.
âAlright, with that out of the way we should go tour around. Not like Malz has been in Rivas before.â
Malz nodded very slowly. âWell is there anything for me to see anyway? Even though I donât travel that much Iâve actually seen quite a lot of stuff.â
Ceylon thought for a moment. âI think there is something youâd like to see.â She smiled. âWe can go do it later today.â
âIs that so?â Malz raised her brow.
I too was confused but didnât comment on it as Ceylon simply nodded before turning to me.
âWe should just do what we usually did in Rivas, Iâm sure Malz will enjoy it a lot.â
âYou mean go to the ice shop?â I asked, confused. âThat sounds a bit boring for her.â
Ceylon just smiled. âIâm sure sheâll like it.â
I blinked but didnât argue against it, instead just nodded in acceptance. I was actually never opposed to doing ice carvingâ â it was therapeutic and relaxing. So, with those plans in place, we headed to enjoy the day.
* * * * *
That night Malz witnessed something from Arc she never thought she would. It was something she had never imagined, but also something that made Arcâs words about wanting to be more finally click.
She was already more than just a battle driven person.
Out of all the heroes she had met, Malz couldnât think of anyone as passionate for something as Arc, even if it was only reflected within ice out of all places.
It was⌠magical.
And something that Malz committed to memory.
* * * * *
Meika hadnât been able to sleep all that much, she was nervous and borderline panicking the entire night. Someone as strong as Malz had easily agreed to Arc, which meant they were at least of equal standing and that was⌠terrifying.
Meika had thought about it long and hard, and concluded that Malz at the very very least was an A Tier individual that had used a special skill, but deep down she felt like things were different; that in fact Malz was S Tier, and by extension so was Arc. Though, she hadnât heard of either of them.
S Tier individuals had almost worldwide renownâŚ
Even as she slept and fell from exhaustion, she still couldnât comprehend who Arc and Malz were, or where they had come from. And in the morning, Meika had the same questions but decided that she would just see for herself. So thatâs what she did, she set off and waited right outside the adventurerâs guild.
She had a cloak on, and adventurer gear.
Today they were going to slay a dragon.
It was a monumentally daunting task. And something that worried her to her core, but for some odd reason she was more preoccupied wondering about Arc and Malz, and her party in general. Who would they even bring?
She waited for a few minutes with her eyes closed until a voice piped up.
âWell now we are all here, itâs fine if a few extra people tag along right?â A familiar voice asked.
Meika opened her eyes to see Arc, and peopleâ â he saw a noble boy with red hair, he saw a man dressed in bandages and blue robes, he saw a green haired woman with a tunic, he saw Malz and Arc, as well as Ceylon.
âRight, I guess itâs fine, Iâll take my part of the payment,â Meika said hesitantly. âIf yâall wish to distribute the restâ ââ
âYou can keep half of the payment, we donât care too much,â Arc said. âLetâs go register for the request.â
Meika nodded very slowly and entered the guild. It was the early morning so it wasnât too busy, but they still drew strange gazes and Malz specifically was looked at with animosity. But eventually, Meika reached the counter and grabbed her adventurer tag.
âIâm here to accept the request I had reserved.â
The woman behind the counter nodded and upon inspecting the tag for a few moments, a piece of parchment was pulled out. And then, the receptionist turned towards the group.
âI require your adventurer tags too.â
Arc nodded and took out a normal tag, something that Meika found strangeâ â werenât S Tier tags black? In the same vein, the red-haired boy did the same and the receptionist frowned.
âIf this is the entire party, assuming the others donât have tags then you cannot accept the request.â
Arc spoke up. âHuh? Why not?â
âWell, because this is one B Tier adventurer and two C Tier adventurers trying to do an A Tier request. We cannot allow it for such an important quest like this one.â
Meika paused. Arc was C Tier?
âOkay, but Iâm a Medal of Bravery holder, that ought to help no?â Arc said showing a shiny pin.
Meika blinked once more. A C Tier person had a Medal of Bravery?! The woman behind the counter shook her head.
âUnfortunately not, I cannot allow you all to take this request. There is no way it can be completed. Youâd need a party of full B Tier adventurers for me to accept this.â
Meika felt her heart drop, and also confusion. Malz wasnât an adventurer? Arc was only C Tier? Nothing made sense to her. She was pushed aside by the man in the blue robes, Arc raised her brow and the receptionist seemed confused.
Without hesitation, the man took out a black adventurer tag with gold engravings as he slammed it onto the table.
âWill this make you reconsider?â
Meika and Arc blinked; an S Tier adventurer?! The receptionist gulped and took the tag before reading it, and at that moment she began to shake.
âY-Your holiness⌠the leader of the church of the Dragon of Water, the Water PaladinâŚâ
Meika felt her brain completely pause, and the rest of the guild hearing the news lost their mind, even the Guildmaster slammed the door open as she called for a private meeting with the party. She didnât understand anything.
What was⌠happening?
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