- Rias Gremory -
She was knocked away by the attack, the shockwave from the attack rattling her bone but she kept holding her shield, refusing to let go.
Right at that moment, a blast of fire landed on the top of the monster in front of her, making its legs buckle under the attack. Almost right after, Koneko appeared in the air above the monster, landing a Heavy Kick on its head. The ground under its feet cracked as it kneeled.
She didn't let go of this chance and used her newly acquired Double Strike Skill on both its eyes before quickly backing away.
The beast howled in anger but their attack was far from over.
An arrow hit the beast's head, as a temporary status of confusion affected it.
She didn't miss the chance and couched, raising her shield over her head and Chief Nynata used it as a foothold to jump above the downed beast. Reaching its back and started slashing down. She too didn't wait and attacked the legs of the beast to prevent it from getting up.
Finally, after fifteen more minutes of fighting, the beast collapsed and they got the message of experience gain and relaxed.
"Hah!... This one was harder than any boss fight. Is this seriously a T5? And this was supposed to be the weakest of the field bosses around our town." She said as she sat down, catching her breath after the difficult fight.
Except her, her whole team was the highest level players in the town and yet, they were having such a hard time against a T5 Boss, even after all the preparation they have had.
"Well, this is to be expected. The gap between each level is going to be greater as we go up. You can't expect a T5 monster to be the same as T4." Henrietta replied as she checked the drops from the boss. "Oh, we have a Skill Book and a Sword too. Rebound Shield. Looks like a Skill for you." Henrietta passed on the sword and skill book to her.
She used the Skill Book.
Rebound Shield was a Skill which reflected 15% of the Damage to the opponent for 60 seconds after being activated.
It was a great skill.
With this, she also noticed that she had reached level 30 for the Squire Class.
"I can take the Knight Examination now."
"Oh, yes. You did reach level 30 with this boss. Was there a first kill bonus on this boss or did all the T5 Bosses give such exp?" Henrietta asked, pushing up her glasses.
The action made Rias smile. It reminded her of Sona and Tsubaki.
In a way, Henreitta was quite similar to those two. She was always very systematic in her work like Tsubaki and had a secret love for adorable things just like them too.
"Yes, it does seem to be the case. We will have to hunt this boss again and see if we get the same amount of experience. Anyways, we should go back and get the quest." Chief said too.
"Congratulations, Buchou." Koneko congratulated her and Ley Fay followed too.
She caressed Ley Fay and Koneko's heads. "Thank you."
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"Well, the quest looks quite simple. We might need to be slightly careful to avoid the hostages being harmed but other than that it shouldn't be that bad." She said, looking at the quest.
They made a basic plan for the quest and readied their supplies before heading towards the location.
Four hours later, Rias would regret saying those words.
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"We shouldn't have taken the kids to that quest." She sighed.
"None of us knew what kind of things we would have seen there." Henrietta replied, placing a glass of cold juice near her.
The scene from the quest had left a bad taste in their mouths. They had all rampaged and she had completed the quest too. It's just that… she shouldn't have taken the kids.
"You saved their lives. Also… it's a game. Don't let it affect you." Henrietta replied.
She nodded.
It wasn't as if it was the first time she had seen death or taken lives.
Any High Class Devil her age had done that at least once but this time… those bandits had targeted other children for trafficking…
That was too much for her.
It reminded her of the condition of her own peerage members and then the thought of what they could have gone through if she hadn't found them came to her mind… and the next thing she knew, she could see their faces in those hostages.
Rias had been feeling guilty about them for a long time and hadn't found any clues to their whereabouts and now this… safe to say she was pissed.
The bandits paid for it.
Even Chief Nyanta was angry and he was generally the calmest person in the group.
The game was really messing with people's minds.
"So, how did it go?" Henrietta asked.
Rias nodded. "The quest was completed. I even got a Skill Book called Parry for perfect completion of the Quest. I was however told to return back in a week. Apparently, the people we saved, one of them was a relative of a high ranking Knight. The person himself is out of town as the City Lord's guard, attending some big event somewhere and didn't even know his relative was missing. The receptionist said that he would want to thank us."
"Oh. It looks like a nice connection to make in the Knight Academy. Could lead to potential quests."
"Hmm."
"Well, cheer up. You became a T4 today. Next up, we can get you a Templar Class. We are having a party today."
She smiled too.
Yes.
She was getting stronger.
One step at a time.
She will reunite with her peerage members again.
- Kuroka -
"Woah… it's a biiiig city." Gasper whispered from inside his… box she carried on her back.
Getting him inside the town had been a bit embarrassing and troublesome to explain but nothing which couldn't be solved with a few gold coins.
The fact that Gasper wasn't a wanted criminal also helped…
He had gotten better since the last time he went out to get potions for her but going out in public was still difficult for him. At least he was trying now, which was already much better than she could say about him from a month ago.
She was now putting him through a routine to get him out of his phobia of going out step by step. The first step was being in the presence of others… even if inside a box.
Maybe conversing with people will get him to come out in time.
They had left the previous town to get away from her past and start fresh.
Her new Rogue Class also represented her resolve.
Now, she had to find a group to hunt with.
She hoped that she could find a better group.
They had a referral for a Blacksmith at Greenfrost for Gasper.
Opening a shop was going to be expensive so they had to save up.
Back in the previous town, he had worked privately, mainly making equipment for the clients she brought with her.
This also meant that he didn't have anyone who could refer him to a bigger shop in Greenfrost. Fortunately, even in this world, money solves many problems.
Dozen bottles of mead and twelve thousand Gold Coins were enough to buy him a referral from one of the Blacksmith Shops in the town.
As for the Skill Level… Gasper would soon be better than the blacksmith who gave him the reference letter.
They were in the outer city area of Greenfrost. It was where normal civilians lived.
Kuroka asked around for an Inn and then Blacksmith shops nearby.
For the rest of the day, they roamed from one shop to another, trying to find a place which needed people for hire.
And at the end of the day, she finally found the last shop in the area, run by a tall bald old man…
He looked like he had just gotten up from a nap.
"Aye there doll, forgive me. The shop will open in a while. You can take care of any errands in that time."
"It's fine… we wanted to talk about something else. We can wait."
"Oh… is it something urgent? Ughh… this headache is killing me. Know, what? Would you be a dear and get me five bottles of milk from the store on the other side of the street. That's the one, with a red tiled roof. I can open the shop quicker if you do that. Just ask old Martha. Tell her Gustav asked for his milk. She'll know."
… She just stared at the man but nodded nonetheless.
In fact, she was hungry from the journey too and milk did sound appetising at the moment. "Would you like something, Gaspy?"
"M-milk sounds good."
"By Antonidas' beard… is there someone in that box?" The old man stared weirdly at the box.
"H-hello. My name is Gasper."
Kuroka looked at them talking to each other and left them to get the milk.
She returned five minutes later and even outside the shop, there were sounds of the old man's laughter.
"Right. Who says old blacksmiths always have to drink mead. Milk is far better for health. It's good for the bones, and all blacksmiths need their bones strong, don't they? Know what, kid… you seem like a great kid. I like you."
She quickly passed him the milk bottles and gave one to Gaspy while opening the last one as she drank from it.
The old man on the other hand finished all the bottles in just a couple of gulps and let out a content sigh. "That hit the spot. Thanks a lot, doll. Now… what do you two want?"
"We… actually, Gaspy is looking for a job. He is a Blacksmith and is looking for somewhere to learn and progress in his craft."
"A Blacksmith? Why didn't you say that before? I am short of people here anyways. My last apprentice got married and shifted to another province. That's why I have been working overtime. I could always use a hand… although I will have to see if you are capable first or you just start as a chore boy."
Kuroka used a Scan type skill on him and found that the man was a… Level 50, T5 Master Blacksmith…
"I… I will work hard."
"Ahahahaha great. As long as you do that, I will make you the greatest Blacksmith in the entire Greenfrost province. First lessons first, always drink milk. They are good for your bones." He started and Kuroka sweat dropped at his words.
"Y-y-yes, Sir!"
"Good. That's the spirit. Now, break the coal and show me what you got."
Well… at least it looked like Gaspy got a job.
Now they needed to find a place to live in Greenfrost.
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Author's Note:
I am back with another chapter of 'Soul Art Online'.
I tried to describe the continent in more detail and I am sure many have recognised the similarities in the world with other worlds… trust me, it is not completely the same here.
So, Arthas just realised that he is in NotLorderon… and what kind of trouble could be coming for him in the future.
Akeno and Arthur went on a rampage and created a scenario for them to leave.
The Knight Class Quest remains a cursed one and this time Rias faced it. Although, it was not the same as Arthas' one.
Goblins are the worst.
Finally, Kuroka and Gasper are in Greenfrost.
We will see how the birthday goes in the next chapter.
Enjoy the new chapter.
Good Day, Peace Out.