Chapter 73: Rumours

When lunch break arrived, I made my way over to the library. It wasn't that I wanted to read some books. It was more like I was going there to look for someone.

The girl I was looking for was sitting by a window with a book and a cup of tea in her hands. Her white hair fluttered in the wind that came through the opened window. She turned the page of the book she was reading and blew softly over the tea. Her eyes gently scanned the book's contents.

She turned her head when she heard my footsteps. A smile surfaced on her face when she saw me.

"What a surprise seeing you here."

Miya Elca. One of the few living High Elves of this era. It seemed that the Spirit Bonding was a success.

"Hi."

I casually sat down. She was the one who said we could act informal in the past anyway.

"What brings you to such a boring place? I was planning on visiting your room later to let you know I'm back. How did you even know I'll be here?"

"Well, your life essence is massive so it doesn't matter where you are. I'd still find you."

"That sounds kinda creepy."

She laughed.

"Anyway, I wanted to know if you're up for adventuring. The academy dungeon raid is coming up so I wanted to gain some experience through doing quests."

"Hmm... Hold on a second."

Miya checked her notebook.

"It doesn't look like I have anything else to do. How about we go after classes end?"

"That's fine. We can meet in front of the adventurer guild. I have a few errands to run."

She nodded.

"I'll see you later today then."

I stood up.

"Clyde."

"Yes?"

"How do you feel? Is there any problem with your cores?"

I shook my head.

"I feel even more powerful than before. Oh, right. Tell your mother and granny Skyrith that I'll repay them for the favour one day. That's a promise."

She smiled.

"I'll be sure to do that."

After saying farewell, I left the library.

◇◇◇

The time was approximately 5 in the afternoon. Miya and I entered the guild. We were still wearing our academy uniforms.

The entire guild was filled to the brim with people. It wasn't unexpected since the Abyss was in its active phase. Monsters would be more abundant. There was also a chance for people to catch rare monsters like the Hydra that rarely shows itself. Designated hunting zones will become a treasure trove for adventurers. Even newbies can make a lot of gold.

"Hey, did you hear about that village?"

While we were waiting in line, I heard the conversation between party members. They were gathered around in the corner of the bar next to a window. Judging by the flushes on their faces ,they had been drinking ever since this morning.

"What village?"

"The one they found that rare disease at. The entire region was infected so the lord issued a massive lockdown. The supply line to the village was also cut off since the merchants were too scared to go there."

"Ah. That village. Why do you ask?"

"Well..." The man leaned in closer. "They say everyone was cured of the illness."

All of them gasped.

"Wasn't that a disease that killed millions in the last century when it was first discovered? They committed a genocide to control the spread right?"

"Yeah and the plan was the same this time as well, however... Nobody died."

"Bah. Stop talking nonsense. You've had too much to drink."

"No. No. My sister lives there with her husband and she personally told me. I'm not lying."

"What did she say?"

The man took a gulp of the ale again.

"She said 'A lady sent by goddess Sol healed our bodies that was riddled with the disease. My skin which was burning off was healed by this lady of god. Even our mother was healed of her blindness.'"

'Lady of God?'

"Everyone said the same thing. The next part is even crazier."

"Yeah?"

"They say the woman named herself the Holy Saintess of our era."

My entire body stiffened.

'What...?'

I continued listening as the queue grew shorter. There wasn't a lot of receptionists around so it would take a while before it was our turn.

"Are you serious!?"

"Mhm. She gathered all the villagers in one place and healed them using a divine healing spell. It was about two thousand people that she healed instantly."

Everyone who gathered to listen to his story made noise.

"Clyde? Where are you going?"

"I'll be right back. Stay in line."

I made my way over as well.

'Why did Erica reveal herself?'

Although I felt like scolding her for doing this, I had to know more. Why did she suddenly decide to reveal herself?

"The strange thing though was that her divinity was a different colour than priests these days."

"What colour was it?"

One of the receptionists who joined in on the discussion asked.

"Her divinity was a type of silver. They dubbed her the Silver Maiden. It suited her more than Holy Saintess."

Silver Maiden...

I stepped up and asked the man.

"Did they give a description of what she looked like?"

He nodded his head.

"They say that she was wearing a bandage over her eyes so they couldn't get a good look at her eyes. Her face was beautiful though. She looked like a woman in her early twenties with white hair. She was wearing a strange white cleric uniform with a bizarre design no one has ever seen before."

I frowned.

That description didn't match Erica at all. Her hair is golden blonde and she's still 15 years old so the age didn't match.

'An imposter perhaps?'

That didn't make sense since this was a person that could cure thousands with one spell. Only a god rank healer could achieve this.

'What the hell is going on?'

Maybe Erica used transformation magic to use a disguise. If it was her then what was her reason for doing so? That was the only plausible explanation I had on hand. Although the magic is Upper High rank, since it's Erica it might've been possible for her.

The story was getting too ridiculous so I left those adventurers to continue bickering on.

Chances were that the Holy Kingdom wouldn't idly sit by if they heard this story. They'd want to get to the bottom of this. The Holy Saintess had always been a symbol in their nation. She possesses the innocence and love that even charms the gods. Her heart and body must always be pure.

I honestly thought that was a bunch of crap. Even the Oracle of the Holy Kingdom hadn't received Sol's blessing even though they say she's the purest maiden of the church. It was unknown why Erica received the blessing of Sol despite her harsh childhood.

Who knows? Maybe Sol wasn't the one that gave her that power.

I decided to visit Erica once I had free time.

◇◇◇

"Should we look for a party to raid with? There's a joint party meeting in the bar. Although it looks like their party members left with the guild master to go to his office."

Miya spoke to me after she came back from the register.

"Isn't it fine with just the two of us?"

She shook her head.

"If we run into a Hydra or Serpent then we risk our lives. Those monsters are S rank so it's important to have comrades. Plus, you could rack up experience before the Academy Dungeon Raid while fighting with professional adventurers."

The Academy Dungeon Raid referred to the event when all the academies on the continent compete over which academy is able to clear the most dungeons. It's a competition held for third years and older students.

It's a fairly well known event so many of the schools participate. Obviously, Graponia is always first while the Magic Academy in the Magic Empire is second.

"Both of us are mages so it's stupid to go alone. It might've been fine back then but since the Red Abyss is in its active phase, monsters get even stronger. Look."

She pointed at the people gathered in the bar.

"They wouldn't refuse academy students. Since I'm a fifth year and you're a third year we should have more experience than some mages here."

'I guess she's right.'

I didn't have that power up known as ancient spirit power anymore. I could gather spirits inside my body to make myself stronger but that would take too long.

I had to sit around a waterfall for an entire day just to gather a million spirits before. Undine told me that she had to take a temporary break since the Red Abyss' mana was affecting her spirits as well.

That meant that I could only use arcane magic for the time being. I couldn't rely on Undine's help to cast high ranking spirit magic.

"Let's ask them then."

Miya and I headed over to the pub.

All eyes were on us as we walked.

"Academy brats...."

"Are they here to flaunt their status?"

Hostility filled eyes glared at us.

"Hello."

Miya bowed slightly. We approached two people sitting by a table with a map strewn across it.

"...What do you want?"

The man with a spear in his arm narrowed his eyes.

"We would like to know if you need mages for your party?"

He rubbed his chin.

"What can you do?"

"I can cast spirit magic using Lesser Monarchs. My friend Clyde can cast High ranking spells."

His eyes opened wide.

"You're a high rank mage despite being so young?"

The two of them looked amazed.

I nodded my head.

"I'm still in the low stages of high ranking magic. I recently broke past 5th mana stage."

To be more specific: I was on the bridge between 5th and 6th grade mana stage.

"That's amazing. Hey, Byron. Maybe we'll need them for the quest."

The young woman with a bow behind her back patted his shoulder to get his attention. She had short blonde hair that was made into a ponytail. She was wearing clothes that focused more on agile movement.

The guy was a muscular man with bulging muscles that could even be seen above his shirt. He had short black hair.

He nodded.

"You're right. We're planning to take down a Hydra that's been going out of control after all."

"A Hydra? Aren't they being protected by the continent's laws?"

"Yes but this one is different. It has been hunting the village people in the countryside."

'This miasma is making the monsters go crazy.'

They are thought of very highly in the Draconic Kingdom so no one hunts them for their cores or materials. They are the cousins of dragon, after all. There existed many cousins of dragons and all of them are illegal to hunt. That meant that there were no Dragon Slayers in this world. You could be charged a hefty fine if you were caught in a dragon's territory.

"The thing has been pulling people into the river and eating them. They say the attacks only occur at night."

"Since they are S rank monsters, special preparation is needed for their subjugation."

The young woman spoke again.

"The say that it rules the labyrinth near Lonid."

Lonid referred to the city near Harz village. It's a city built near a labyrinth. The city thrives on the income from the labyrinths built around its territory.

"Hmm…"

"Many adventurers are heading over there. There has been an increase of monster activity. They say the Red Abyss dungeon is preparing for the red hunt which happens every few decades. We want to hunt the Hydra before the Red Hunt begins."

During the red hunt, rare monsters could spawn inside dungeons. It could be anything between unicorns or griffins. The portals that spit them out were called red gates. As the name suggests, the portals were an ominous blood red. Due to high mana activity, gates would randomly pop up.

"We went to investigate and saw that it did indeed cause trouble for the locals. We're awaiting permission from the guild master to dispatch our team. The rest of our members are up there right now."

"Those bastards are taking awfully long. Don't tell me they're going without us."

The woman stood up impatiently with a sour expression on her face and looked across the guild hall.

"Calm down, Brooklyn."

"They better not be bailing otherwise I'm burning down their houses. I'm going to the bar. Fill them in on the details."

She walked past us and headed for the bar where those sweaty old men were drinking.

Byron scratched his head with a sigh.

"Oh, dear... I'll have to carry her home again tonight. Sorry about my sister. She's a bit of a hot tempered gal but I assure you her archery is top notch. She never misses a kill."

'Reminds me of someone.'

"Does that mean we can join the team?"

Miya asked excitedly. Her eyes were sparkling.

"Yes. We'll schedule the raid once they arrive. I need all of us to come to a conclusion since the two of you are academy students."

"Thank you for your consideration, mister Byron."

Miya and I stood up. It was already dark outside.

He smiled.

"It's the least I can do to get two powerful mages in our team. We might even be able to complete the quest. I'm actually glad that you came to us first."

Byron shook both of our hands.

"Come to the guild in four days. We're heading out this weekend."

He saw us off at the entrance.

"How do you feel after you bonding with the World Tree?"

As Miya and I walked down the road, I spoke to her.

"My senses were heightened so that meant that my bonding was a success. Heat and Depth are finally responding to my calls. I even trained with them a bit. I'm working on gaining the love of the Wind Lesser Monarch Spirit but that's going to be hard since she's so mysterious. She always runs away from me!"

We arrived on a street devoid of any people. It was night-time already so many people were probably having dinner.

"Miya."

"Hm?"

I grabbed her hand to which she reacted strongly.

"W-What are you doing!?"

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time."

"!!!!"

Her entire face flushed red as her eyes widened.

"S-Something you want to tell me...?"

I nodded seriously.

"You're the only one I can tell this to. Please follow me."

"...."