27

O(I)O(I)

Saitama irked a lot of people just by standing around and looking collected and bulgy eyed. The warrior was also choleric about the way he looked as he soon pulled his spear back before jabbing it with herculean strength.

Saitama took the blow...felt a newfound feeling in his torso. Pain. This pernicious spear caused him to stagger back; reactively he threw a punch at the knight which sent him skyward like a golf ball hit by a club. Saitama watched him slam into a house. The walls were thin, made of a strong material, but the warriors body felt an immense impact that would've killed him if he wasn't, well, wearing what was the equivalent to "plot armor".

Saitama felt a little throe in his chest which was off because he hardly felt a thing from blows anymore. His attention diverted to the heavy breathing of the monster six feet from him completely aghast at what she just witnessed.

Saitama moved slowly towards her tightening his fingers into a cocked fist. It wouldn't take more than a twitch from her to give him his reaon for perforating her heart.

"Bald friend; no!"

Saitama blinked for a second and Kaylyn propelled herself in front of the trembling monster followed by a harpy like the gaggle he met at the nest only this one was younger...had pale looking skin that didn't match with that blonde hair of hers.

The tortuous monster's eyes drooped down descendingly on the youthful harpy either because it was a hybrid of a hybrid of a harpy or...

"This monster is this preppy harpy's sister. Please don't hurt her."

Saitama just stood like a statue with his arms cocked and his breath breathing out, but eventually he lowered his arms and gave her the benefit of the doubt.

"Settered Lance Point!"

The sky was soon filled with orange cloud-esque slices and a multitude of thunder. The aplomb adventurer launched himself, veered, and loped in a small effort he actually managed to land on his own creation.

He kept jumping until he was nearly invisible in the air. Someone imperceptible and capable of inflicting lethal pain to him who thought he was impervious to damage; Saitama felt a little excited about all of this. All transpired in the blink of an eye: the two winged monstie's fluttered off the ground grabbing the tail and backside of the older sister.

At last the adventurer showed himself...plummeting towards Saitama like a downward Russian MiG but while cloaked with electricity. His body hit the ground exploding like a bomb.

This was a moment all Saitama could do was stand around and feel like a blank slate—if a small prickle in his chest could hurt him he only feared this bomb would kill him.

"MR!" Kaylyn cried out in fear he was dead, but he was a stranger to her and if roles were reversed he doubted he would roar that way for her.

This explosion actually felt more cleansing than skin scorching, flakes of his body falling off or his teeth coming out like he's seen in comic books. Rivulets of black dirt came down during it all pattering off the roofs of other people's houses.

Saitama stared through it, turning around like a kid looking for a fun store in the mall. The orange spectrum after the explosion was constantly heating, humidifying. It was also making his body shake as if his back was lying on a heater.

Without a second thought seeing a shadow of a man in armor man holding a spear in the distance he hotfooted towards him and cocked three knuckles into his blindside.

Unlike in he movies where the mist cleared and it turned out to be a friend he walloped, he succeeded in hitting the ninny.

O(I)O(I)

To make a fight even Saitama found fleetingly exciting end, all the monsters fled back to the woods and cavern's they hid themselves in where they festooned to their nature of waiting for unwary merchants and copper ranked adventurers to wander-in without any precaution before being kidnapped or eaten by them.

The demi-humans stayed in the city still suffering their strife—Horsewhip keeping himself hidden in a room of the same bar his lizard friend lived. Since the owner left town it meant he owned it.

One who hasn't seen Saitama in awhile but bumped into him on his way to the guild was Baragon. He tried stepping around him but he was pretty much exuberant about something and wouldn't let him through until he talked to him about it.

"You'll never believe it. I made it to GOLD rank!"

Funny how he felt the need to announce that—he only knew him for one day.

"I'm making my way to my guild to try reaching the next rank. Good on you for reaching the top. Just don't get those Icarus placebo's in your head about it."

Saitama thought he could strut on his way now unburdened of Baragon but tumble and fall he did the caped baldy.

It seemed Baragon wanted to go with Saitama on his way to the guild. Why? He had no idea but it didn't stop him from just heading there without turning around, pretend he wasn't being followed in the first place.

Along the way they passed this world's hospital where a long line of moaning, groaning, hunched and amputated people were outside waiting to get inside.

In lighter news the two medical personal's were outside helping them inside. Saitama waved to them.

They saw him too, looked a little baffled over who he was and why he was waving, but in the end they waved back as well.

At last he made it to the front door of the base; typing sound still as loud as ever from the harmony of hard working seat warmers.

A window of the floor upstairs was open, and he wasted no time squatting down and jumping inside that window to meet the headmaster.

Mr. Lanshee just finished scribbling on a piece of parchment he soon put on a stack of paper when the bald adventurer hopped inside.

"What's up, gramps? I don't know if you know but—"

"Pief is dead and she asked you to tell me you fulfilled your quest and should be promoted to Bronze rank."

Saitama nodded.

"I don't really care about that but in the few days I've been in this world she's the only one nice to me. Can you lead me to the spell or treasure that can bring her and her sister-"

"Back? When I was in the same position as you there was only one mage with enough necromancy to bring back someone with their soul and mindset intact, and that magus name was Niaz Aaol Gown."

"For some reason...no, I just remember he was a skeleton or something."

"It's good you've heard about the supreme necromancing eldlich, but what you probably didn't know was he used to be a member of this guild—in fact he used to be a member of the team I took part in when I first joined here."

"I'd advise leaving him alone-"

"Too late."

Mr. Lanshee should've taken his retort more seriously, however, he was obligated to keep talking despite the debacle he was speaking to.

"What I can tell you is all his spells weren't taught by any of his teachers; his tutelage came from a forbidden cathedral."

The guildmaster was fortuitous at scribbling on paper and in a few seconds he had scribbled a detailed map for Saitama to look at. There was also a little joke written on the waypoint. Fresh Loved Ones Buried Here.

Saitama reached for the map, grabbed it only it wouldn't budge from his squeezing fingers.

"You may think risking your life to bring back Pief is bravery; I see it twinkle in your eyes." Saitama didn't know he still had virtue left in his eyes. "But be warned: even gold adventurers wouldn't travel to a place teeming with all that malevolence and their some of our best—not just warriors but magic users and heroes."

Saitama's lower lip twitched as his eyes brimmed blazingly orange-yellow.

"Anything else?"

"Yes...no matter how much power you have you cannot progress through without two particular sets of skills."

O(I)O(I)

Nolb and Gava should be used to burying their neighbors in the cortege ground.

"Don't spend more than five Smike's on mine—I'm not fancy."

They laughed the first time their friend Adeir cracked that joke. Now, they only saw him as a rotten corpse with an abrasion to his left eye clotted.

Gava looked at her husband askance and said "If we just paid for protection...if I wasn't such a coward...how many of our friends we've watched die would still be alive—burying or holding a pyre but still alive."

Nolb was distraught, thought about what if she gave in and unleashed herself to do something to help save them, but one use of her talents and a gaoler would come to take her away. So he rubbed her left shoulder before putting her head to his chest; she liked his odor when he sweated and digging all day built it up.

A traveler walked, half-tripped, making his way into the village. The happy couple gleamed seeing Great Hero was the one who visited their village. It didn't take much view for him to see the population of the village had whittled by a quarter since his last visit.

The grief and sorrow was not lost on his conscience. The people here have been nothing but kind to him , he was just on a mission where the longer he waited the longer the only other person who was nice to him was suffering. He approached, raised his hand.

"My condolences on the goblin attack. I was away not on purpose. I know you must be gong through plenty of strife right now, it's just I need your wife's help in unlocking puzzles that will lead to spells that can revive two...maybe four girls."

The two of them looked surprised.

"I don't know what your talking about, Great Hero,"Nolb lied. "My wife and I are not capable of using magic and the soot drenched in our hands and lack of callouses prove we have no strength with weapons. If I may be rude...please go home."

Saitama blinked a few, stepped out of the way revealing his dwarf friend Baragon. His tiny hands lifted a halberd at them. His face was scrutinizing while doing so.

And then—the blade flickered on a bright orange light, veered it towards the husband seeing it dimly fade—and shone holding it towards the wife.

"Arondite says you are celestial and my halberd never lies to me. Your hiding something habitual in you."

Gava trembled in anxiety, nervousness. She half-tripped trying to backstep away from them. She knew Great Hero could easily take her: her protective husband raising his arms attempting to stop them, but she was picked up and carried like a carcass on the shoulder of Great Hero. He just lost the patience of trying to speak with her.

Nolb got a quick glance into his wife's eyes sobbing away with tears of fear and regret.

Baragon had a feeling being older than him what the human would do if his "wife" was stolen from him—he raised his halberd an inch away from his throat.

Intimidatingly; "Your wife is needed to save lives, and help enter into a place thought lost to both the human and dwarf nation. Ergo, she may be your beloved wife but try to stop us here and it's your life that will be risked."

Despite the warning the child-looking dwarf gave...Nolb was still zeal to throw a fist or two if it meant hurting him in a daze. He could swoop in and squeeze his body into Great Hero's arms while she made a run...maybe even fly away would increase her chances of getting away. All that energy died down as his arms turned into a hay in a stack, still.

"If my wife is to go on this dangerous journey then bring me with her. I want to join you so I can keep her safe."

"Sure." Saitama replied. "According to Baragon we should find an inn to stay in at Yuhboim road. If you can find a means of travel let's say a horse and make it there before morning...you can travel with us the rest of the way."