7 Journey

I couldn't stop feeling depressed. I was a proud university student in my past life, but now I was going to go to some souped-up High School for knights and magicians? Sometimes, I regretted my anti-murder approach to life in this world. Well, perhaps I could look on the bright side. This school would be the prime place to find candidates to take power-leveling. I was certain if I showed off just a bit of my ability I could get some followers easily enough.

The Royal Capital was, apparently, about three weeks away by carriage. With only a month until registration officially opened, it was important that we left as soon as possible. I had assumed Jack and Millie would be coming along as well, considering their home was in ruins, but they opted against it. So, at the moment, the only passengers in the carriage were James and I.

All things considered, this trip wouldn't be so bad if James could keep his damned mouth shut. The boy was far too excited to finally get a chance to go to his father's alma mater. Add that to his intrigue in my 'skill' and you had one hell of a headache. I'd prefer his old angsty behavior to this. He was acting like a puppy and, if he continued to do so, I'd soon start treating him like one, too.

Things weren't all bad, though. This trip gave me plenty of time to practice using my mana. One of the first things I did was open my item pack and equip the Heaven's Demon Garb.

The Heaven's Demon Garb was fantastic. It felt like silk on my skin but could take on any outer appearance I wanted. Of course, I couldn't go parading around in fancy new clothes so I had it take the appearance of Millie's old dresses, but the comfort level alone made a world of difference.

I found it odd how easy it was to wear a dress in my day-to-day affairs, but I was starting to think along the lines that such questions would only prompt RED to annoy me with 'Data not found' again. 'You wouldn't do that, would you RED?'

[Solution: Data not found.]

Yeah, I thought so.

We'd been on this trip for about three days, now. James's questions had finally started to die down. I had found it easier, and less annoying, to just give him vague directions on controlling his mana than to ignore him. Every time I gave him vague advice he'd start practicing in a corner for a few hours, hoping to feel the bittersweet sensation of magical power flowing through his veins.

I think I got addicted to using my Mana. According to RED, my mana pool wass abnormally large. It was one of the few benefits to being a member of the demon race, I guess. These last few days my tail had been out and about at almost every opportunity. Since everyone knew I was of the demon race, there was no reason to keep it hidden. Besides, with the Heaven's Demon Garb it was rather easy to stay comfortable even with an extra appendage. All the necessary adjustments were made automatically for me, too.

Jack supposedly sent a message ahead of us, but I wasn't sure how he did it. I think he used a carrier pigeon.

[Solution: Jack Evergreen used the tamed rank 1 magical beast 'Delivery Bird'.]

Oh? I've never heard of Delivery Birds before.

[Solution: Delivery Birds evolved over the last thousand years due to human domestication.]

Neat. It was a shame I didn't have the subclass tamer. I'd have loved to have some pet beasts of my own.

[Solution: The user can obtain the subclass tamer if they so wish.]

I knew I can get the subclass tamer easily, but I did't want to give up my warrior or mage classes for it.

[Solution: The user is not limited to two classes.]

What? No. 'Don't you dare say it', I thought. I knew, 'This is not a game' was coming. Now that I thought about it, why would anyone logically be limited to two classes in the real world?

[Solution: They aren't.]

Goddammit RED!

'Hmm, so all I have to do is forcefully tame an animal to earn the subclass, right?'

[Solution: Yes.]

'That's perfect. Then I'll sneak out tonight when James and the driver fall asleep. It shouldn't take long.'

[Solution: Waiting isn't necessary. There is a horde of rank 3 Devil Hounds approaching this very moment.]

Wait, what?! We're on the main highway. It has been laid with mana-laden bricks. Magical beasts below rank 4 should feel a natural repulsion to it!

[Solution: The pack of Devil Hounds is currently chasing a small group of humans. It seems one of the humans stole a puppy from the pack.]

… I didn't even know what to say about that. Though, I wondered if the puppies were cute.

[Solution: Data not found.]

Of course you couldn't answer that. Well, I guess it didn't matter. I'd save these humans and ask for the puppy as payment. Then I'd know for sure if it was cute or not!

James looked at me oddly when I randomly stood up in the carriage.

"James, there's trouble coming," I said.

"What? Trouble? How can you tell?" he asked.

"Let's just call it my... intuition."

Yes, I know. I'm very funny. I was great at parties too.

[Solution: Data not found.]

'Oh you shut up!'

I walked over to the small front-facing window and pulled the slit open. The driver, an old villager whom Jack recruited, was asleep at the reigns.

"Tch. Oy, driver. Wake up," I said.

The old man snapped awake. He seemed startled at first and looked around him in every direction. Finally, after getting ahold of himself, he looked back at me and gave a toothless grin.

"My apologies, Miss Calliope. I seem to have dozed off there."

"Yeah yeah, save your excuses for later. You need to stop the carriage. There's trouble up ahead," I snapped.

"Trouble?" Asked the driver.

"It seems a pack of Devil Hounds is chasing a small group of people," I told him.

The driver's eyes immediately became panicked. He pulled the reins and stopped the horses. I climbed out the side door of the carriage only to see James walking behind me. He was strapping a sword to his belt.

"Oy, where do you think you're going?" I asked.

"I'm not letting a girl go face a pack of Devil Hounds. Those are rank 3 beasts! I've fought a rank 3 beast with my dad before. I've never seen a full pack of Devil Hounds, but I'm sure I can handle it."

This boy was irritating. I turned around and looked him in the eye. He seemed to shrink back under my gaze.

"W-what?" asked James as I stepped towards him again.

"You're annoying."

With a quick motion, I flicked the kid's forehead. His body, like a ragdoll, was jettisoned backwards into a tree on the side of the road… Oops. I didn't think I used that much strength!

[Solution: The user is currently equipped with the Heaven's Demon Garb which buffs the basic stats. The user's strength stat is currently (914). James's strength stat is currently (28).]

I ran over to James to check on him. Thankfully he was still breathing. I had forgotten, for a moment, how terrifying my strength could be. This was bad. If I wasn't careful I could really kill someone. I think he might have a few broken bones…

[Solution: James currently has two cracked ribs and a light fracture along the impact point on his skull.]

My word. I really almost killed him with a flick. RED, was there a way to heal him?

[Solution: The user could attempt to learn the skill Healing Magic. The base of Healing Magic is injecting the user's mana into another person's body and using it to reconstruct or replace any damaged tissue.]

RED wanted me to inject my mana into him? Didn't I blow up a house the last time I tried to eject mana from my hand? A vision of James's body exploding played in my mind.

I'm sorry, James, but you'll have to stay injured for now. Maybe I'd practice healing on one of the Devil Hounds.

I quickly dragged James's body to the carriage and laid him down inside it. For some reason, the driver from earlier was missing. Where did he go?

[Solution: The driver ran away the moment he heard howling.]

Really? I didn't expect an old man like that to be such a coward. Well, it was no skin off my back. He drove way too slow for my tastes, anyways.

I smiled as I started running towards the howls in the distance.