Two months had passed since my emergence from the labyrinth, me and my new party had rapidly gained strength and recognition. But all that would be topped today, because we were about to begin our 'mithril' rank promotion.
Unlike the 'gold' rank 'mithril' rank is something generally unachievable even for those that have talent. Currently, in the Cheliyan kingdom, there are 6 'mithril' ranked adventurer parties. The members of those parties are treated like heroes wherever they go. Even the king, not to mention the nobles, treat them with respect. The party's members are usually 'A' class or higher, decked out with expensive equipment and possess a variety of skills.
But while they are strong, those parties usually don't get to 'mithril' rank by their own strength alone. Most if not all are sponsored by influential nobles, mega rich merchants or the kingdom itself. In fact, those sponsors are usually the ones to form the teams by scouting and snatching talent from 'gold' ranked parties by promises of a better life, riches and glory.
It's a good deal for both sides - the adventurers get resources like equipment and training and the sponsors gain valuable and highly skilled fighters to use however they wish. Merchants use these adventurer parties as a way to spread their name around. For example, one of the 'mithril' ranked parties is called 'Stars of the Linfield sardines'. And I don't care how much anyone would offer me, there is no way in hell that I'm joining a party with that name.
If we succeed, our party is going to be the only exception to the rule according to Clive, both in relative individual strength and the lack of sponsorship. "Just imagine the shock on everyone's faces when we - the 'Wolf's fang' become a 'mithril' ranked party!" He said while we were all headed for the adventurers guild to get our promotional quest.
"Yeah, shock is good and all, but honestly, at this point, I just want the money that better jobs bring in." I retorted.
"So, Adam, what will you do with the extra money that it will bring in?" Diana asked.
"I don't know, I'll probably blow it all on hookers and booze. It seems that no matter how much I make, all of my money disappears somehow." Diana turned red and lowered her eyes, unable to speak. She, for some reason, seemed irritated. This probably wasn't the answer that she had expected. And the others, especially Sara, seemed angry at me. I wonder why? Is it my inability to save money? Well, who cares what these pests think.
The quest that we were given was to subjugate a 'Lesser dragon', the same dragon whose scales we were collecting on our second quest together. It seems that lately that oversized lizard has been attacking farmers and livestock near the town. And just like that, our two day march to the 'Dark forest' and, additionally, a three day trek through the forest and into the mountain range began.
On our first day of travel Diana seemed to be in a bad mood - not talking much and barely answering questions. At night, while camping under the sky around a fire and getting the supper ready, I was surprised that Diana, who usually stayed close to me, saying that she would be safer next to me in an event of a monster attack, decided to sit next to Sara. I guess getting new equipment has increased her confidence. But then why does she stare at me, giving me the stink-eye when she thinks that I'm not looking?
We had a cream stew for dinner and Diana, as usual, was the one to portion it. I Was surprised since it looked like we'd used the same amount of ingredients, but that night my stew was far thinner than usual. I wasn't even given seconds with the excuse that we have to leave some for tomorrow's breakfast. This blows, I always get seconds, and then thirds and then forths, and then just finish all that's left. That night I went to sleep hungry for the first time in a long while.
The second day went much the same, Diana was cold, especially to me. In the evening, we arrived at the outskirts of the forest and, not seeing any point in entering enemy territory for no reason, we decided to camp just outside it.
While resting, we were attacked by a pack of 'Moon wolves' - White, nocturnal, wolf-like monsters. there weren't a lot of them, so it should have been easy and it was for the most part. We were quickly dispatching them until, when there were only a few remaining, I felt an intense stabbing pain in my back. When I looked back, I saw an arrow stuck between my shoulder blades. This surprised me, thinking that we were being attacked from our flank, I turned around and started looking for an enemy.
Even with my enhanced eyesight I wasn't able to see anyone, not only that, but I didn't even sense any mana other than ours and the monster's in front of us. Concealment magic? I didn't know that a spell that can trick even my senses existed in this world.
When the battle was finally over, Diana approached me, took hold of the arrow lodged in my back and pulled it out. "Sorry, it was dark and you jumped out in front of my line of fire."
"You know that I can sense when someone is lying, right? Why did you have to ruin a perfectly good coat? Because of you, I'll have to spend my hooker money to repair it."
This seemed to irritate Diana even more. "Good, I hope you spend your last copper coin on it you, pig of a Dragon!"
I was about to protest being called a 'Dragon' again, but she just walked away. Sara just shook her head and called me clueless. That girl ruins my coat and insults me and yet I am in the wrong? This is why I hate humans, they are so confusing. That night I didn't get dinner at all.
Trying to sleep with an empty stomach isn't easy, so, after tossing and turning in the tent, I decided to go to the forest to find myself a little snack. I heard silent crying from the direction of the fire. When I approached, I noticed Diana, she had the first night watch. When she saw me, she quickly dried her tears and asked me with an angry and spiteful voice. "What do you want, you pig of a 'Dragon'?"
It's embarrassing to admit, but I kinda felt concerned, so I asked. "Did someone hurt you? Was it Clive? Or was it Zen? He did strike me as a heartless bastard, but this… It's just too much."
This infuriated Diana, she was about ready to attack me, but then she collected herself and with a flat voice told me to kindly unalive myself. Guess she needs some time to be alone. But, Zen, really dude? hurting a defenseless girl is just too much even for my taste. I turned around and left for the forest, receiving a few new holes in the back of my coat.
After returning with the carcass of a wild bear, it was my time to watch the camp. I took that time to cook and eat my prey. After that I went to sleep and slept like a log. There is nothing better than a nap on a full stomach.
For the rest of the trip, Diana acted normally with everyone except me. Even Zen was let off the hook. I'm glad that they had talked it out. As it became usual, there was no dinner or breakfast for me for the rest of our trip to the 'Dragon's' nest, so it became a habit of mine to go hunting alone while the rest slept.
The lack of sleep and hunger was grating on my nerves, but we finally arrived at our destination. After a short rest and a strategy meeting we approached the nest and engaged our foe.
The sleeping beast, after noticing our presence, rose up to its full height and, without waiting, showered us with fire. Unlike when we were squeezed tight in the 'Wyvern's' nest, now we were fighting in an open area so instead of tightening our formation and trying to block the attack, we dispersed to all sides.
Zen attacked from the front taking the 'Dragon's' attention, Sara went from the top, attacking the neck. The cut was shallow and a strong head movement from our adversary made her retreat, but before that, as planned, she slashed the 'Dragon's' wings so that it couldn't fly off. Clive and Diana stayed to the side, attacking from distance, while I was tasked with providing support by blocking the flames with my 'Air barrier'.
My job was incredibly boring, so I decided to make a game out of it, by blocking the 'Dragon' right in front of its face. It took a while to get the hang of it since I wasn't used to using 'Air barrier' with distance, so Zen got toasted a bit, but since he was wearing 'Dragon' scale armor, he wasn't hurt… Badly.
After a few trials and a lot of curses from Zen, I managed to block the fire straight at the 'Dragon's' mouth, causing the beast to severely damage its eyes. The 'Dragon', furious, in pain and panicking because of loss of sight, started thrashing around wildly. It tried to fly, but couldn't, so it tried to run. It ran straight at the cliff side where Diana and Clive were standing. Clive managed to get to the side, but Diana, tripping on a stone, landed on the ground, just below one of the 'Dragon's' massive paws.
The 'Dragon' stepped down with all of its force and stopped.
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Diana Bladeheart
The 'Dragon's' paw is descending, I have no time to move. This is it for me. Well, I had a good life. Even though I was useless to my family and they threw me out, I could always count on my sister for help. I found great friends who took me in, we had so much fun together - adventuring, drinking and just hanging out, I even became a 'gold' ranked adventurer and met a real 'Grater dragon'!
He has no common sense, eats all of our food and shows off every time he can, such a child. He's a pig to boot, but… I kinda like him. It annoyed me to no end when he said that he was spending time in a brothel, but I heard that a lot of adventurers visit such places and besides, it's not like we're together or anything, so I don't really have any right to complain. Restricting his food did make me feel a bit better though.
It's still a shame that this is where I meet my end. There were still so many things that I wanted to do and say. Maybe if things went differently, we could have been together… I looked around, seeing my sister rushing to me, Clive was preparing a spell, Zen was shouting. But where is that 'pig of a dragon'? It would have been nice to see him again before dying. I closed my eyes.
It was a while, but nothing happened, so I opened my eyes again. What I saw was Adam standing in front of me holding up the 'Dragon's' paw with one hand. He pushed up and the 'Dragon' went tumbling down to the side.
Adam looked at me, extended his hand and with a tender and concerned voice said. "I hope that that lizard hasn't scared you." He helped me stand up, then he turned to the 'Lesser dragon' that was laying on its side, walked up to it and planted his foot on its head. Then he started stomping. The stomps were so powerful that they created sonic waves and Adan didn't stop until his foot reached the stone below. His mask and clothes were covered in blood and brain tissue, and he stood where the 'Dragon's' head used to be calm and composed. "In your next life, do watch where you're going, lizard."