Saving private Lya! [1]

*Bing!*

Without even looking at the mission panel that I knew would remind me of the daily mission, I hid underneath the covers, surprising even myself with my childish behavior.

'Just a bit more...'

It was Saturday, so shouldn't I be allowed to sleep in even if it was just an hour or so?

The answer was: No.

*Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing!*

"For fuck's sake!"

That awful sound kept echoing in my head, almost as if the author wanted to make sure I checked out the mission panel immediately, not wanting me to waste my day away in bed.

Without much of a choice, I pulled the covers away and looked at the panel which I knew was just going to remind me to train today as well. Or so it should have been.

==========

[Act 1, chapter 2: The duty of a student!]

New main story mission:

- Assist the hero in saving Lya Lavigne!

Information:

Lya has already ventured out to the Stellar Forest in order to train, but she will be attacked by a demonspawn. Make sure that George Bright saves Lya from the demonspawn in order to progress the main story without letting him know about the mission.

Penalty:

- Death

[Map - Locked!] - Will be unlocked after the hero enters the forest.

Timer: 3hrs 28min 37s

[Due to the arrival of a main story quest, all daily missions will be canceled for the day.]

==========

There were too many things to unpack from the panel that my still tired head was struggling to make sense of it. However, after thinking about it for a bit longer, I realized what the author wanted me to do.

'I have to trick George into going out to the forest.'

This was the main point of the mission. I had to somehow make the hero venture out to the forest and find Lya, and I would have to take myself out of that equation as much as possible. It would look immensely suspicious if I just dragged him out there and led him to Lya without some sort of story to cover up my actions.

'I can't do this sloppily...'

The white uniform that I had hung over my desk chair floated up in the air as I connected my mind to it, before stopping right in front of the bed. Standing up, I stepped into the white pants that pulled themselves up without having to use my hands, while at the same time putting my arms into the floating white shirt.

'But... how? Also, even if I go with him, will I be of any help in fighting a demonspawn?'

Demonspawns were ordinary monsters that had been corrupted by miasma, also called demonic energy, which led to them becoming a lot stronger than normal versions of those monsters. More than that, I knew nothing of them, but I still had a feeling that they weren't opponents that would be easily brought down by someone who hadn't even been at the academy for a month.

Otherwise, why would Lya need help?

Also, I was hesitant to show my face to Lya again, as it could lead to a lot of misunderstandings if I suddenly saved her for the second time in the span of two days.

When the white, uniform jacket was also about to follow its textile brethren's path to cover my body, it couldn't be helped that I was at a loss as to what I was supposed to do, making the jacket come to a stop in the air.

'This won't work...'

Ultimately, after thinking about it some more, I knew that I had to approach things differently if I wanted things to go my way, even more so if I wanted to make sure that I didn't suddenly get flung into the center of the story. I wasn't even close to being ready for that.

However, suddenly another idea came to me. It was an idea that was so stupid yet so brilliant that I thought it might just work. And so, I hurriedly sat down at my desk, bringing out a couple of papers and a pen.

No, it wasn't that I actually believed that the pen was mightier than the sword, it was just that in this case, the pen might be able to lead the sword wherever I wanted him to go.

****

[George's Pov]

*Bam!*

"Huff...huff..."

Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I took a second of rest, taking a break from hitting the dummy on the training grounds while looking up at the blue sky.

'I'm getting stronger...'

===Status===

Name: George Bright

Class: Swordsman

Level: 14

Strength: 22

Agility: 20

Stamina: 23

Intelligence: 13

Free stat points: 0

Mana: 65/65

Skills: [Heavy Blow], [Double Strike], [Scan], [Energy Blast], [Spatial Storage]

Talents: [Mana control - Rank 2], [Swordsmanship - Rank 3]

==========

Looking at my stats, I was still very happy with how they turned out. Due to the fact that I was able to allocate my stat points manually, I was currently walking on the path of becoming an all-rounder. Someone who could do everything by himself.

This didn't mean that any of my stats were falling behind either.

Not only was I able to increase my stats through hard work, but they also increased due to the training that I was able to do in my dreams.

My dreams didn't just tell me about the future. No, most of the time it was as if my body was transported into another dimension, a dimension where I could freely practice anything I wanted without running low on mana or becoming tired.

It was also in my dreams that I had been able to learn spells through the guidance of some strange, faceless being. A being that I still didn't know the identity of, but a being that was always helping me reach my goals.

'... but it's still not enough.'

Stronger sadly didn't necessarily equate to strong, and although I had no idea about my classmates' strengths, I had a feeling that I was still lagging behind. Even with the assistance of this otherworldly being, I hadn't been training for that long.

Unlike the young masters at the academy, I hadn't begun training until my master picked me up at the age of fifteen, as I had been nothing but the son of a farmer before that. And at that point, I wasn't able to continue my training while sleeping either.

That wasn't until my master...

*Tap*

"Hmm? What's this?"

I had no idea where it came from, but somehow, a crumbled-up paper had landed right next to my feet. Even weirder was the fact that there was no one around who could have thrown it at me either.

Unraveling the paper, my heart quickly froze.

'What... is this?'

"-Do you want to know the truth behind your parents' deaths? If so, venture out to the Stellar Forest. Please don't drag your feet unless you want the opportunity to disappear. With dearest regards, your biggest fan."

****

[Alex's Pov]

'Please work...'

I was currently sitting on a bench in the middle of what one could call the campus central, right in the middle of the three main academy buildings, as well as where the cafeteria and the library were located.

The reason why I was sitting here was that I was currently waiting to see if a certain hero would pass by in order to exit through the gates that were standing a few hundred feet away.

'Oh thank god!'

There he was, the blonde man who was supposed to save a damsel in distress. And by that, I meant me. He was going to save me. While it was great that he would save Lya as well, the main focus was still that I would get to live.

George's eyes were so focused on the gates that he didn't even notice me watching him, passing right through the courtyard wearing some very shabby-looking workout clothes in the form of a black t-shirt and a pair of slacks. Yet, somehow, his sword was already hanging from his hips, a sword that had somehow replaced the wooden one he had trained with.

'Ah, didn't he have some sort of dimensional skill that allowed him to store things? Oh, shit! He's already gone!'

I didn't have any time to spare when I noticed that George had already passed through the gates, making his way out to the forest that surrounded the academy. The sad reality was that my job wasn't done yet.

Because the mission had told me to assist him in saving Lya, which could only mean that he would inevitably have a hard time fighting the demonspawn on his own.

So, covering my face with a very stupid-looking mask that I had made out of paper and flipping my hoodie over my head, I hurriedly followed him out to the forest. All the while continuously praying to some higher being that everything would go as planned.

I truly didn't want to do something like this, becoming some sort of hidden figure assisting the hero from the shadows, but I just couldn't see any other way to do it without risking failing the mission.

'This was your plan from the start, wasn't it? I swear... when I meet you again...!'