Chapter 34 First Quest(4)

Reaching the camp the duo was met with silence with Alex receiving gazes filled with something akin to reverence. Ignoring their gazes Alex walked towards Bayal.

"What should we do next?" Alex asked

"I think we need to continue our search for the dungeon boss but I suspect that you might need some rest after your...battle. So rest up and we'll decide on the specifics later." Bayal replied concealing his nervousness quite well. After witnessing Alex's prowess during what could only be considered a massacre he was a bit scared of him while at the same time hopeful. Hopeful that he could learn from Alex to battle monsters so fearlessly instead of running away. Although no one really talks about everyone was tired of constantly running away from monsters but they just can't get over their instinctive fear and thus continued running.

"Okay." Alex nodded and then walked to a clear spot in the camp. Holding out his hand he summoned the [Large Chest(E)] arnament. Opening the chest Alex took out a warm, packed lunch and a juice and started eating under the jealous gazes of the party members. They knew how expensive arnaments like the [Large Chest(E)] was and even more so they craved hot meals inside the instead of dried rations that didn't taste that great but they were too afraid to ask.

"Hey, Alex do you have any more of those?" Asked Chris as he walked towards looked over Alex's shoulder into the silver chest.

With a sigh, Alex reached into the chest and took out another lunch box and juice and together they ate infront of their 'comrades'.

*Yawn*

It was night time before Alex woke from his nap. After his meal he found out that he was more tired than he thought and decided to take a short nap on one of the tree branches. He didn't expect to wake up so late and immediately he went over to Bayal.

"Oh Alex your finally awake?" Bayal said

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Alex said suppressing a yawn

"We thought you could use the rest. Anyway we have decided on our next course of action."

"Which is?"

"Me, you, Alice and Chris will go out and find the dungeon boss and if possible slay it." This had been a tough decision on Bayal's part to put himself in danger like this. But the main reason for this decision was that he want to reach level 10 since he had been close for a long time and after seeing Alex massacre the goblins he was sure that with Alex's help he would be able to reach it. Now he still had to inform the party of his decision and expectedly most of them opted to stay in the safe embrace except for Chris and Alice. Chris he could understand but he didn't expect Alice to tag along although he suspected she was coming for the same reason as him.

"Okay then?" Alex said. He suspected that Bayal and Alice had selfish reasons for coming with him and Chris for the scouting mission but in the end he decided to not care. If their reason for coming along was to harm him or Chris he would just kill them and if it wasn't like that then he would let them be, it was that simple.

"Are we leaving during the night or will we wait until daybreak?" Alex asked

"we'll wait until daybreak." Bayal replied

And with that Alex went back into the tree to take another nap.

The next morning.....

Four figures could be seen walking through the forest. Soon they encountered an obstacle blocking their path in the form of ten ugly, green creatures wielding clubs.

"So which one of you wi..." Before Alex could finish his sentence Chris shot forward with his scimitar blade. As soon as Chris appeared in the clearing the goblins were instantly aware of his presence. Swinging his sword he managed to decapitate one of the goblins which boost his confidence.

"Watch out you idiot." Someone shouted and not too soon Chris felt a hard blunt object hit him on his head. Turning around he slashed the offending creature in two but then he felt another strike to the leg turning around furious he stabbed the goblin with his sword then he jumped backwards and swung his sword. Instantly a single line of [mana slash] came from his sword killing two goblins. Suddenly his body started glowing red and then he sprinted towards the goblins leaving behind only a red blur and blood. Running from one goblin to the next slashing and hacking them apart. Soon all the goblins were slain with there still warm corpses laying on the ground with lifeless eyes. Slumping down unto the ground huffing and patting, Chris' eyes took in the aftermath of his slaughter and couldn't help but feel pride welling up inside his heart.

[Analysis]

Name: Chris

Species: Human

Rank/Level: 9

Skills: Mana Manipulation, Mana Sense, Swordsmanship, Simple Regeneration(10 SP)]

"Good job, but you need to pay more attention to your surroundings." Alex said walking into the clearing. After leaving the camp the others have asked Alex for a favor which he thought was bold of them considering. Anyway they asked him to help them reach level 10 and in exchange they will hand over any monster cores they get inside the dungeon. Alex agreed but with an extra condition that they would owe him a favor and they readily agreed. This was only the second group of goblins they've encountered since leaving the camp, Bayal took care of the first one, and Alex was a bit puzzled why the skills they had were similar to each other.

"That's how we learned about it in school." Alice said helpfully answering his question.

"School?" Alex asked

"Oh right your from the outskirts so you wouldn't know but it's mandatory for all 16 year olds to attend classes for system awareness where they teach you the best skill to purchase and how to use them properly." Alice answered

"That makes sense. Do they also teach you guys about fighting monsters and beasts?"

"Yes, we received theory lessons and went on a few expeditions to fight monsters but nothing extreme."

"If that's the case why are you guys so scared of fighting monsters then."

"W-well those expeditions were under the protection of our teachers and no one got injured so we didn't get any real fighting experience just easy exp. But when I became an explorer and tried to fight on my own I got hurt bad and I'm guessing it's the same for everyone else." Alice said