5 Leaving home

We had just passed through the cave, so there weren't any monsters left. So, the journey back was quite easy. However, one thing that was unexpected, was that several humans have been going through the cave.

When we got out of the cave, a strong stench met us. We looked around for a bit until we could see traces of camps and such. "Seems all those humans weren't here to trade food," I said.

"It seems to be traces that the church would leave behind. You can practically see the altars" Isao pointed out. It seems the church was very confident in their combat strength. As you can see traces of their magic practitioners training their "holy flame". The "holy flame" is simply a white fire that smells bad. Which is made by mixing Epsom salts into the fire. It is rare, but that doesn't mean it's effective.

"Let's set up camp here. It seems they have already flattened the ground for us" I said, and started to set up the tent.

"I'll set up the cooking station," Isao said and unpacked his bag. "Ubel, we're out of meat"

"Not a big problem, just cook the vegetables in the salted water" Isao was quick to heat up the fire. I might as well start making a campfire.

We ate well and had no problem sleeping. Wolfie was getting more comfortable sleeping with us. Overall, we got a lot of books and items from the goblin town. Then we burnt it down. It was really stress relieving, especially for Isao who weren't able to get the fight he wanted. We slowly fell asleep.

* * *

Morning came, I and Isao started to pack our things. The town wasn't far away, so we could tell whether the fight ended or not.

"Master, how do we know the dark elves won the battle?" Isao asked, seems he didn't want to be greeted by a bunch of fanatics.

"The church wouldn't hesitate to burn everything in the town. And I can't smell anything burning" I said, there are other signs as well. Like the fact that there isn't a trace of humans traveling back to civilization.

We approached the town guard that was stationed at the front. Both of them were had experienced something in this battle. "We're back from a trip, what happened here?" I asked them.

"Humans, humans happened," The one guard said, it seems that he was hit most by this.

"Don't be like that, not all humans are bad. I mean, it was humans that helped us win against the church" The other guard said.

"What do you mean that humans helped you?" Isao asked them.

"Human mercenaries were traveling through the city when they noticed the attack. They came to help us, only asking for free hospitality and care" The guard said, certainly, the mercenaries were generous.

"Then why is he so mad at humans?" Isao asked the guard flinched at hearing this.

The other guard sighed. "His child was executed by one of the church members right in front of his eyes. Almost everyone in this city has had a similar experience, so be careful when you talk to them." He explained, must be painful for the other guard.

"We'll keep that in mind, thanks for protecting the city," I said and went inside.

The city was for the most part either burnt down or crushed. You could see the after effects of the church's white fire. It was as effective as a normal fire, but almost every church mage is an expert in fire magic. Allowing them to easily destroy good parts of the city.

I and Isao wandered around the city, we searched for our families and homes. We both managed to find our houses, but no one was there. Since we couldn't find our parents, we decided to go to the town hall. My father should at least be there.

When we arrived at the town hall, a man came running towards Isao. The man lifted Isao in his arms and hugged him tightly. "Dad I can't breath" Isao managed to squeeze out a sentence. But he was ignored and Isao's father took him and walked towards their house.

That was strange, I'll have to find my father as well though. I waited outside of the town hall hoping my father was inside. Luckily, he was just done with a meeting and was walking through the door to the town hall.

"Hi, Ubel! Where were you last night?" My father asked, seems he actually noticed I was gone.

"I was just camping with Isao on the mountain," I said, it wasn't the truth, but it wasn't a lie either.

"And you didn't get noticed by the church members?" My father asked.

"We did, so we hid away until they went away. Some of them noticed us, but they wouldn't bother with us" That was a lie, we actually had to kill some of them. They are just way too determined to kill dark elves.

"That's good, so is there anything you're wondering about?" My father was curious since I normally wouldn't wait outside like this.

"There is one thing. But it's somewhat hard to ask of you" I said.

"Don't worry, it's just a favor right?" My father said.

"I want to leave the town, there are a few things I want to do. But it's hard to do it in this small town, so I want to travel to the main continent.

"So you want to cross the desert so you can become an adventurer? I'd say yes, but there are a few conditions" My father actually said he'd consider it, better that than me running away.

"The first condition is simple, have the correct equipment and bring with you enough food. For the second, take a friend with you. Don't go somewhere alone, it won't end well. That's it." Only two conditions, they are really simple ones too. I thought he would ask me to test my strength or something.

Well, I already have the equipment. So, the only thing I have to do is to convince Isao's father to allow me to take Isao with me. I haven't met his father that many times, all I know is that he's a part of the town guard and that I mainly guard the town hall.

I went over to Isao's house, what greeted me was an old man eating dinner with his wife. I had met Isao's mom before, she's for the most part at home. "Hello there, Ubel" Isao's mom said.

"So, you're Ubel" Isao's father examined me closely. When he was done, he put on a smile and introduced himself. "Hello! The name's Okuda!" Isao's father was pretty energetic.

"Hello, Okuda, nice to finally meet you," I said, I put on a smile.

"Ha ha ha! I like you, kid!" Maybe Okuda is a little too energetic.

"By the way, where's Isao?" I asked him, I really want to leave soon. But I have a feeling these guys might not let me take Isao so easily.

"He's in his room. We were afraid something might have had happened, so he asked him. But he refuses to tell us where he went" Seems Isao got in a little trouble.

"I didn't think he'd get in trouble, you see. We were just training on the mountain when we noticed a few humans coming by. So, we went into hiding behind the mountain. Isao probably didn't want to get in trouble for going over the mountain." It was a vague explanation, but it isn't a lie at least. Just pieces of truth.

"So that's what happened... why would he think we'd be mad at him? We're a warrior family! The fact that he managed to survive a whole night amazes me!" Okuda is different than I expected.

"Isao, get down here!" Okuda shouted. After some time passed, Isao came down the stairs. "Your friend is here"

"What brings you here, Ubel?" Isao asked. "Is there something you're wondering about?"

"Yeah, I want you to come with me to the main continent" Isao's eyes lit up. Okuda's eyes lit up as well. "I want to go to the main continent and I need to take someone with me. And there is no one more fitting than you"

"I'll come with you!" Isao shouted. "Father! Can I go with Ubel?!"

"Yes! You can!" For some reason, Okuda was really passionate about letting Isao come with me. "There is no bigger honor for a warrior than to travel to the main continent!"

"Now, now boys" Isao's mom came and calmed them down. "You'll need fighting gear and supplies"

"That's right! Isao! What kind of warrior do you want to be?" Okuda asked Isao.

"Ubel said I'll be good as a thief, so I want stuff that a thief would need," Isao said, he's right, he is a good thief. His talent is rare.

"Then you'll need a dagger! Or maybe TWO daggers!" Okuda thought for a few more moments. "What about short bows?!"

"Calm down, Isao only need one dagger to fight. But he'll need back up weapons and throwing knives." I said, I had already seen how he fights, a second dagger would only get in his way.

"Alright let's do that! But how much food does a person need to travel the desert?" Okuda was calming down.

"I'll take care of the food, you guys can head out and buy equipment," The mother said.

"Seriously!? Then let's go!" Okuda took Isao's hand and ran towards the weapon store.

"So, Ubel. Do you want to cook with me?" Isao's mother asked me. She appears calm, I guess that's the result of living with Okuda.

When Isao and Okuda returned, they had gotten a lot of different types of daggers. "My god, why did you bring so many" In the end, they forced a reaction out of me.

"There are a lot of different daggers, you know? Isao wasn't able to choose one, so we just took all of them" Okuda briefly explained.

"Let me have a look on those daggers" I took off my kitchen apron and examined the daggers. Almost all of them are bad, luckily I managed to find one that is at least of some quality. "Wait, this dagger..." One of the daggers were weird. It looks so bad, who in their right mind would sell a dagger like this?

"Oh, we found it in the cheap weapon box. For some reason, Isao thought it looked cool" Okuda said.

It picked up the dagger and sharpened it. And gave it a little swing, the dagger was, for some reason easy to use. It cut through anything and seemed unbreakable. "Weird... this dagger. You should use it." They looked surprised.

"But it came from the 'cheap weapon box'" Isao said, he doesn't trust my judgment.

"Still, it's one of the best daggers you could out there. It looks bad, but it must have been a mix up of some sort. Anyways, just use it." I said, Isao took the dagger. He looked confused but happy.

"So, when do we leave, master?" Isao asked.

"We leave tomorrow morning, make sure you're prepared," I said, Isao nodded and instantly went to bed. Guess I'll leave now.

"Wait!" I turned around, Okuda wanted to tell me something. "I just wanted to thank you for giving my son a chance to grow. He's been really inspired by you, so for him to travel with you is probably really important to him. We know he's only 15, and his growth phase hasn't started yet, but he's shown us several times that he's able to take care of himself. So, please take good care of my son"

"Don't worry, he's good in my hands" I smiled and left their house. I'll have to go back and get some sleep as well.

I arrived home and my father was waiting in the living room. "So, did you manage to get the two things I asked of you?" He asked.

"Yep, Isao's coming with me" My father smiled and stood up from his chair.

"How expected, I'll be waiting for your return with open arms. So please come back in a way I recognize you." He said.

"Don't worry, I don't think anything but my height might change" I said. My father laughed and patted my head.

What's that supposed to mean?

* * *

I picked up Isao and said goodbye to the crying Okuda, probably crying about how proud he is a parent. We went towards the desert, which was north of the passing cave. There was a big desert separating the main continent and the south. So, trading with the southern continent isn't really all that popular. The desert isn't a big problem because of heat and cold. Since there exists magic that can cool the body down. What's really a problem, is bandits. They are everywhere in the desert.

The desert is a popular outlaw hideout for one reason. And that is because that there are so many convenient places to hide from guards there, that guards basically give up if you run into the desert. There are also a lot of sandstorms and hidden monsters lurking beneath the sand.

Because of that, if you decide to travel through the desert then you're bound to run into outlaws and bandits. Which is what we are currently doing.

Two figures ambushed us from the sides, and screamed: "Give us your money!"

They were bandits, although their equipment is bad, it still seems that they could put up a fight.

"Oi, are you going to give us your money or not?" One of the bandits asked.

"Of course not, does it look like we have money to you?" We actually do have money, but it's only enough to get us into the city.

"Just give me the money brat!" The other bandit screamed and put on a scary face.

"Are you an idiot? They just said they don't have anything" The first bandit said.

"But they could be lying?" The other bandit said.

"Look at them, they are probably children," The smaller bandit said.

"So, will you leave us alone now?" I asked them.

"No, you must have something else worth at least something," The small bandit said.

"No I don't, the only thing of value I have is an ice stone," I said, as dark elves, we don't need an ice stone to stay cold. We have it in case of an emergency.

"So, that's why it's cooler here. Well then, if you give me the ice stone, then we'll leave" The smaller bandit said.

"Yeah! Give it to us!" The big bandit said.

"Haven't you guys realized I won't give you anything?" I told them.

"Alright then, but don't blame me for what big guy will do to you," The smaller bandit said and shrugged his shoulders.

The bigger bandit started cracking his knuckles and tried to throw a punch at me. I easily dodged it and unsheathed my sword. I then quickly jumped towards the smaller bandit and decapitated him.

The big bandit saw this and got scared. "Go now, or I'll do more than just cutting off your head"

The bandit ran for his life, hopefully towards his own hideout.

"Isao, are you alright?" I asked Isao who had lurked in wait a little distance away.

"Yeah, it was good how you handled those bandits," Isao said. "Let me guess, you're going to follow him to the bandit hideout?"

"Yep, that's the only reason I let him run off in the first place," I said.

"By the way, how is Wolfie doing?" Isao asked.

"Wolfie is fine, he's still in my backpack sleeping," I told Isao.

After chatting for a short time, I and Isao went and followed the bandit's steps, hopefully back to his hideout.

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