"Oh, great Moon Goddess, Lunariss, grant us your blessings, bestow upon us your wisdom, and protect us with your power."
Alright, this is my seventh prayer in a row. Please, Goddess, grant me a healing spell… After a while, I left the temple and stepped into the scorching sunlight. Fuck, I have another quest today. I hope it's in a dungeon—I don't want to fight under this fucking sun.
As I approached the guild, I heard a strange commotion. What's going on in there? Upon entering, I found a crowd of adventurers standing disorganized, all staring at a balcony above them. A young human man with blonde hair and blue eyes stood there, seemingly giving a speech. God, there are way too many adventurers here today.
"Is this what you want, you damn Dark Eye? The capital is sending knights to investigate this person's identity—guess where? Inside our guild! Don't you have any shame? You've ruined our reputation throughout the entire kingdom! All we want is for you to leave. Don't reveal your identity, don't say anything, just get the fuck out!"
"I am the guild's vice master, Sunell, and on behalf of our guild master, Sir Avilat, I ask you to stop tarnishing our reputation. That is, if you are among us here. I'd rather believe you're just some other adventurer from another guild trying to cause trouble. But if you are among us, then please… stop." The blonde man finished his speech.
Oh, great. Things are getting worse. But what does he mean by "tarnishing our reputation"? The guild hasn't lost a fucking thing, even though a large number of people have died. Stop acting, you bastard. Suddenly, a demi-human adventurer stepped forward, ignoring the speech entirely as she walked toward the exit. It was her—Etomi.
"Pathetic. As if this speech would move the one who just killed two adventurer brothers this morning," she muttered as she walked away.
"Etomi Selva! You, out of everyone here, should be taking this speech seriously… Don't forget, you're the prime suspect in town. Also, Guild master Avilat will summon you when the capital's knights arrive, so don't you dare leave town!" the vice president called out, staring at her. Then Etomi stopped walking. She turned to face him, her mismatched eyes locking onto him coldly.
"I have never taken any speech seriously in my life, and I'm not about to start now. As for your orders about me staying in town, I'll do whatever I want. If the kingdom wants me, they can summon me. I'm an adventurer—nothing will stand in my way when I pursue what I want. Not even these filthy accusations." With that, she left the guild, leaving everyone in stunned silence. Damn, her way of thinking is close to mine.
After that, the vice president withdrew, and the usual guild noise returned. But what's up with this adventurer? Everything about her intrigues me. Could she really be the Dark Eye? I mean, she seems strong and confident—so confident that she doesn't even look like someone who's about to be investigated by the knights.
Suddenly, I noticed an older man inside the guild, crying. A large group of adventurers surrounded him, trying to console him. Looks like the Dark Eye targeted someone close to him. Finally, Ponier appeared and walked toward me, glancing at the crying man with a sorrowful expression.
"That's the father of the two adventurers from Miracles Guild who were killed at dawn," Ponier said.
"What's he doing here?" I asked.
"Apparently, he came to argue with the guild officials. It seems he even fought with some adventurers. But now, he keeps shouting that he forgives Alis Guild," Ponier explained. "Anyway, I got us a quest. Let's go."
"What is it?"
"Collecting thirty Gatas wings," he answered.
"Thirty?! Isn't that a bit too much? We struggled with just three Herboazes, and now you want to get thirty Gatas wings?" I said. I totally sounded like I knew what I was talking about, but I had no fucking clue what these Gatas even were.
"Relax, they're just Tier 2 monsters, so it won't be that difficult," he said as he left the guild.
"By the way, Laos, aren't you getting tired of these quests? You know you're sneaking into my private Bronze-rank quests, and you rarely take on Leaf-rank quests. I mean, you complete one Bronze quest and one Leaf quest per day—sometimes two Bronzes and one Leaf. That's going to slow your rank-up progress. You might stay at Leaf rank for months," Ponier said, pulling up his hood to shield himself from the sun.
"I know. But honestly, right now, I care more about money than ranking up. I make way more from Bronze-rank quests than I do from Leaf-rank ones. I only take them to keep my contract with the guild intact," I answered, putting on my hood as well.
"So you prefer money over ranking up," Ponier muttered.
"Yeah."
We continued our way out of the town. Honestly, I don't even know where these gatas are or what they look like, but what I hope for is that they're in a dark place. Come on, Ponier, don't be stupid and give us a quest in the hot meadows with that fucking sunlight… Ugh, I don't need to struggle with this quest because I'll just take another one from the Leaf rank to finish my daily quest. But thirty? What the hell.
"Hey, Thalesa, what are gatas?" I asked.
"They're cats, but with horns and bat wings, and they can shoot small fireballs," Thalesa replied.
"Okay, you said that after one fight I'll get two abilities and one form."
"Yes, I've gotten used to your development rate and the power I gain, so it seems like I'll evolve quickly from now on."
"Awesome... wait, wasn't Gaziel evolving you?"
"Yeah, oh, I get it, you fool. When a user severs their bond with a spirit, all the stages the spirit achieved through them vanish, and it resets to zero, waiting for development with a new user. That's what happened to me," Thalesa explained.
"Okay, I'm from another world, so don't expect me to know everything."
"You fool, at least read books about the world you came to."
"Who's going to write a book about a power system that no one but you and the other spirits know?"
"Can you shut up, idiot?"
"Why do you get mad so quickly? So, what level has Gaziel reached?"
"He has over fifty abilities and more than ten forms, all in a short time. So don't think you'll surpass him."
"Really? Then show me, you toxic spirit."
We kept walking, and I continued to talk with Thalesa, trying to provoke her. God, when she gets mad, she looks ridiculous. After that, we reached the place where we'd finally do the quest—The Moon Ruins. Whoa, thanks, Lunariss, it's dark here! Then Ponier began unpacking his gear from his backpack. Oh god, I forgot to buy something again, fuck!
"Okay, everything's ready," Ponier said as he entered the ruins.
"So, which floor are the gatas on?" I asked. The Moon Ruins were the only place that wasn't dark, so we didn't need to carry those fucking torches that hinder us.
"Second floor," Ponier replied as he drew his swords.
Then, two goblins came at us, charging with their clubs. With a swift motion, Ponier kicked one of them in the legs, making it fall to the ground, then stabbed it quickly. I ran towards the other, who was holding a club and a dagger, and with one slash, I severed its head quickly.
We continued deeper into the ruins. The air grew colder the deeper we went due to the humidity. We fought several goblins and slimes. After a while, I spotted something—something I only saw in games. It was a chest! I ran over to it and opened it excitedly. Oh my god, will I find a sword or a potion, or maybe a large amount of Nova?! This is the first chest I've found in my life!
But when I opened it, I wished I hadn't. At that moment, a horrid smell hit my nose so badly that my eyes watered. The smell was like an arrow piercing my nostrils, and all I could see was a lot and a lot of feces inside the chest. Great. Out of all the things I could find in a chest, what I found was a massive pile of goblin shit. Crazy.
"Holy shit!" I exclaimed loudly as I held my nose and quickly shut the filthy chest, moving away from it.
"What did you think you'd find inside it?" Ponier laughed, bursting into laughter.
"A weapon or money," I replied.
"You dumb. These ruins used to be an ancient temple to the Moon Goddess, but after an ancient war, people abandoned it, and it became a place for monsters. So, the chests that were once used to store food or money for the temple became nothing more than toilets for the goblins," Ponier said.
"And even if you hadn't found goblin shit, how mentally challenged do you think you'd be to be the first person to find a treasure chest? In this easy floor? You're hilarious, man," the fox added as he kept laughing.
"I know, I just got too excited. Let's move on."
Fuck, that was so embarrassing. Why did I rush to that chest without thinking? Damn it. The idea of being in another world makes me just a madman following my instincts. Seeing all these fantasy things that I've read about and played makes me so excited, but I need to change this habit. Well, I guess over time I'll get used to this world and nothing will surprise me anymore.
After some more progress, Ponier spotted something, so he stopped quickly, grabbing his short swords. He pointed to a place among the ruins. It had white fur—it was a cat, curled up in a corner. It was covering itself with its black wings, and it had horns. So, these are the forms of the gatas.
"It's a gata, I don't want to waste time with just one, so kill it quickly with your slash," Ponier whispered.
Suddenly, I launched a water slash and managed to hit it directly. After that, it started screaming with a sound like a cat's. It tried to fly for a bit, then fell to the ground and began thrashing until it died. Then, I heard a strange sound, the sound of many wings flapping at once.
"Damn, we just reached the second floor and their numbers are huge!" Ponier muttered as he glanced at the newly arrived gatas. It seemed they heard their relative's scream.
Suddenly, they began throwing fireballs. Damn, what is this? I dodged them and then counted their numbers. Good, only five of them. This will be an easy fight. While I was stunned by the attacks, Ponier had already moved. Suddenly, he threw one of his swords at one of them, piercing and knocking it down. Then, with his other sword, he managed to stab another.
After that, one of them threw a fireball at him, but with amazing reflexes, Ponier moved back and waved his empty hand, then said: "Fotsios!" A fireball larger than the gata's shot out, and he managed to deflect the attack. Then, he quickly cut off one of its wings.
Okay, it's my turn now, Thalesa, get ready for this feast!!
"Water slash!" I shouted before cutting one of them down.
Alright, only three left. Suddenly, one of them tried to throw a fireball at me, and with quick reflexes, all I could do was try to hit it with my Astral sword, as if it were a baseball. The shock was that the fireball of that gata evaporated after hitting my sword... What the f—??!!
◆ ◆ ◆
Inside a luxurious room, an elderly human man sat wearing a black coat, which appeared to be made from bear fur. The room was lavish, with a mounted deer head on the wall, a rug with a taxidermied bear, and cabinets filled with precious artifacts, as well as some beautiful copper statues. In the corners of the room, there were two sofas with a table between them, holding some empty cups.
On the first sofa sat the old man, and behind him, standing, was a human man with blonde hair and white noble clothing. Directly in front of them, on the opposite sofa, sat a large, armored man with a silver armor and a stern look. His hair was brown, and he had a long scar over his left eye, which kept it closed. Behind him stood two knights with helmets covering their faces.
Suddenly, two demi-human maids entered the luxurious room, each holding a teapot. They approached and began pouring tea into the empty cups on the table, then withdrew after bowing. At that moment, the elderly man looked at the stern-faced knight and said: "Welcome to my palace. It seems you are one of the veteran knights of Ethelas."
"Well, old man, you know exactly why I am here," the one-eyed knight replied in a harsh voice.
"To try and see the eye, the eye that sees but cannot be seen," the old man replied.
"The Dark Eye," the blonde guy behind muttered.
"Well, the king asked us to stay here until we find some evidence. So, I hope our method of investigation does not trouble you, Mr. Avilat," the knight said.
"No, no, do as you please. Just please, get rid of this coward who is ruining the reputation of my guild," Avilat replied.
"Then, from now on, I ask that you provide us with all the information about the guild's adventurers, and also their latest activities. Or, in general, provide us with all the information you can," the knight said as he took a sip from his tea cup.
"Of course, it's all yours."
"And also, that strongest adventurer... she will be imprisoned until we finish the investigation," the large-armored man finished as he placed his tea cup back on the table.