103: Classic Arrival

The next two days were rough and daunting. Kola had it in her to give up mentally once in a rare while, but she pushed on. She didn’t realize how much she truly fucked up until she found her party in a dire state.

Normally, adventurers would have backup plans when facing a situation like this. They would spend a ghastly number of coins to try and get a calling device that allowed them to send a distress signal to nearby adventurers, or contact anyone from outside the dungeon for aid. Then, all they had to do was to find a safe place and sit back, relying on their emergency supplies they stocked for that very purpose.

But an accident occurred that made Kola seethe in rage at herself, and at the tiny fucker that plucked away their spatial bag that contained that very life-saving device. It was small and nearly undetectable, but Kola wasn’t the kind to make excuses for her own folly. A spider with strange hand-like appendages with the most on-the-nose name, Handsy Spider, plucked away their spatial bag, a rare monster that normally existed deep within the forest. Apparently they were in that specific forest where they encountered the creature. It wasn’t a fighter by any means, and it wasn’t so dangerous that they needed to go all out against it. But it was quick, dexterous, and sticky enough to grab onto anything that caught its fancy, and it particularly liked to pluck bags that contained several nifty things for it to pilfer through.

Needless to say, Kola cursed that thing to oblivion and all of its lineage as she pushed her party to pull on their resources harder to escape. Then more misfortune struck them. It was to the level that she thought someone cursed them due to some slight she made on them, but even they wouldn’t be so cruel as to push them through another ambush that literally took Jack’s arm away, and nearly crippled Bello.

Gracia finally woke up from her short slumber, and was now pushing herself to work as a front-liner and a rear guard for Kola. She was battered and bruised beyond reckoning, and her health wasn’t recovering enough to get past the halfway mark, yet she still insisted on being the first to attack and to offer checks to prevent more ambushes from the forest around them.

Kola was beginning to lose hope, but she still kept going forward. If there was anything her father taught her that stuck to her, it was that giving up meant losing everything. No matter how exaggerated that was, she took those words to heart, and put the words ‘giving up’ to anything that even remotely sounded bad in her head.

In this case, giving up truly meant death, and that pushed her harder than ever before. Finally, she and her party found themselves entrenched deep in the bowels of the forest, the hills covering their vision and the canopy of the trees above blocking the available light needed to traverse.

Their bad luck suddenly ramped up to a hundred as several creatures dropped into existence in front of them. Kola pulled out her warhammer, snarling at the imp-like creatures that closed in on them with manic grins on their faces.

White-Face Drones, Level 42.

Strange, almost doll-like creatures with darkened bodies approached them. The only thing that was a different color than the darkest night were the white faces they showed on their faces, showing only two dark holes and a grin that would haunt her for the rest of her nights.

They were just among the many that used the environment to their advantage, but unlike most ambushers, they were the type to surround a group and rip them apart using their intangible-like bodies. Great for experience gain, but terrible to fight against if you didn’t have a mage that could take advantage of their strange bodies.

Unfortunately for the Conductors, they didn’t have a single mage in their group. They were mostly front-liners with a plethora of support items that they had run out of a while ago. For these drones, they were the perfect prey, thick and filled with plenty of meat for them to snack on.

“Gracia, on me!”

Kola rushed forward to face one of the drones that were closing in, extending its arms wide and transforming its pad-like nubs into claws that swept forward to cut her down. Her hammer struck true, hitting it square in the side with the force to let out a shockwave, but she grimaced in displeasure at the reaction.

It barely did a thing, its near non-physical body taking the blow easily and redirecting its claws right at Kola. It was then that Gracia stepped up, her rapier swooping in and cutting off the claw aiming to tear her throat apart.

Kola took this advantage and grabbed the white face of the drone with her hand. The masks were the only weakpoint they had, and so she thrust it to the ground, her Strength mighty enough to cause a crater beneath before she kicked the mask down even harder than before. The mask cracked and split, and the dark body soon dispersed into a dark mist scattering everywhere.

Normally something that they would prefer to avoid if they could. The white masks were incredibly valuable as magic conductors and catalysts for most crafters, being the centerpoint of the entire creature’s existence. But Kola couldn’t even bother to think of the waste as three other drones rushed in to take them down.

Gracia flowed like water and took two of their attention with Kola taking on the last one. Jack was currently carrying the downed Bello, and he couldn’t even do much else as his only arm was supporting his friend, making them useless in this battle.

Kola knew it was completely eating Bello and Jack inside, being the type of men that would prefer to protect themselves over letting the women do it. They weren’t sexists, but just prideful men that Kola was glad to call her comrades. But even they knew that there was no other choice in this matter but to let their youngest fight and protect them.

Kola believed they had a chance. She really did. In the short moments of her fighting and beating the single drone while Gracia still had the energy to handle the two others before Kola would come to help her, she really thought they had a chance to survive.

The next moment reminded her that having hope was enough to break someone if it disappeared. A large creature showed up from the shadows of the forest, the darkened figure with a white mask apparent that it was another drone, but much larger and fiercer than the weaker variants surrounding them.

It rested on four legs, its body larger than the average, with the mask even showing markings of sharpened teeth and eye holes tapered to a point. It let out a roar, rushing straight at the girls with no mercy.

White Mask Beast, Level 51.

Yet despite her hope dashing and her belief shattering, Kola rushed forward to face the beast herself. Gracia shouted at her to run. Jack insisted on going in even with Bello dangling over him to save her. But Kola refused to let them do anything.

It was her fault that they ended up in this situation. She may garner their hate for dying before them, but it was better than the other way around. It was selfish, and it made her taste bile in her mouth. But she would prefer to die instead of her friends, as the thought of giving up and letting them all die before her eyes was too much for her.

As the beast closed in further and further, the mask becoming larger than life, Kola roared as she swung her warhammer with every last bit of her strength.

Then something promptly crushed the beast right in front of her. A being just crashed right on top of it, creating a large crater that even Kola couldn’t easily do as she was flown backwards from the excessive force. She managed to recover herself to see the downed state of the beast in front of her, only to find a single man standing on top of it, the arbiter of the crushing blow.

It was a young looking man, perhaps younger than Jack. He wore a cloak that covered most of his leather armor, wearing a sheathed sword at his hip. As the cloak around him lost its momentum from the sudden flight down, the young man raised his head to find the stunned party and the drones standing by, perhaps caught frozen after seeing their most powerful companion taken down in a heartbeat.

“So, just to be fair, I’m going to ask,” The young man spoke, his tone casual and easy on the ears. “You guys mind if I take the monsters down? That means taking away your experience points and materials.”

Kola could barely comprehend what this man was saying, but in a moment, her mind whirled at the chance.

“Do whatever you want!”

The young man grinned back. “Gladly.”

What happened next made Kola believe she was hallucinating. One moment, she was accepting death’s embrace, and then another, a being whipped past her and took out each drone that was causing them so much trouble.

In the next instant, the man landed on the ground, carrying three white masks in one hand and marveling at them before nodding once, then placing them into his bag for storage. Their masks were left completely pristine. 

The beast who watched it all roared, though it had no mouth to do so. It was all done through its almost ethereal body as it lunged at the man. Its body expanded, dark claws meeting the man by swiping the entire ground beneath it. She only saw the man jump up into the air and casually ignoring the wide attack that would’ve decimated their party in that instant.

He pulled out his sword and struck at it, making Kola believe it was the same weapon that had taken out the drones earlier. However, it only seemingly passed through the strange black body, with the man appearing on the other side with a contemplative look on his face.

“Huh, definitely weird,” The man commented, as though the entire fight with the beast was just an after-thought. “Is it using some kind of affinity I’m not aware of? It doesn’t feel unnatural. Shadows? Definitely feels like the sort of thing it would use.”

The creature had enough of being ignored, transforming its large body to become several appendages that flew out in a large number to surround and penetrate the being in front of it. The young man swerved and weaved, ignoring each of those powerful appendages. Then the man just disappeared.

In the next moment, the man appeared right behind the beast, all the while carrying a much bigger mask than before in his hand.

It happened too quickly. Before Kola could even fathom what the hell she witnessed, the giant dark body of the beast scattered and broke apart, leaving nothing in its wake. Being the only one standing, the man looked at the mask and nodded appreciatively at it.

“Their life sources depend on these masks. Kinda reminds me of an old folk tale…”

Soon enough he put the giant mask away, turning around to find the messy party in question. Each one of her comrades just stared blankly at the man, unable to really process what just occurred.

Kola had to do something. She wasn’t sure whether this man could very well become a threat, so the last thing she wanted to do was to offend the guy by just staring blankly at him. She stood up, her warhammer used as a crutch as she faced him, then bowed her head.

“Thanks for the save,” Kola said respectfully. She couldn’t help but shudder a little when the man met her eyes with his own. They glowed with a luminescent rainbow-like hue. They felt so deep that it made her wonder if she was staring at infinity. “You saved my party from a complete wipe out. You have my gratitude.”

“No problem,” The man said, easily responding back with genuine casualness. It really was no problem on his end. He looked around, then spotted her friend Jack on the side with Bello hanging off of him. He narrowed his eyes. “Mind if I check him out?”

He pointed at Jack, making Kola wonder what exactly he planned on doing. Still, feeling like she had no other choice, she nodded, hoping Jack would go along with it.

The man closed in on the pair, with Jack and Bello showing apprehensive looks. When he finally got up close to him, he stared hard at Jack’s missing arm, covered in bloody bandages to avoid the blood loss becoming worse.

“Mind putting the big guy down?” The man asked. “Don’t worry, I’m here to help.”

“W-What exactly are you going to help with?” Jack asked, but did as he asked as he let the still hesitant Bello on the ground. Despite their differing sizes, it was easy for Jack to carry the large bear man down on the ground, standing face to face with the man who had saved them.

He approached Jack, then placed his hand over at the bloody stump. Fire suddenly caught the bandages, burning them to smithereens before leaving the exposed stump for the world to see. Kola instantly panicked, grabbing her warhammer while Gracia followed suit with her rapier.

“What are you doing?!” Bello roared, ignoring his injuries and standing up with his fists tightly wounded. Jack was also ready to fight back, one arm in place as he ignored the potential burn.

“Stand still, man.”

He ordered, keeping one hand on top of Jack’s shoulder while the other hovering over his stump. It was as though Jack completely paused, unable to move. Then something occurred that finally made Kola believe she was losing her mind.

His hand that hovered over the stump slowly pulled itself away, but along with it came ephemeral glowing energy that grew out of the stump, making Jack groan out in what sounded like shuttering breaths. His eyes were wide as the energy coalesced from the stump, slowly becoming a shape that looked similar to that of an arm, then it actually became one.

Just like that, the once missing arm that Kola and the others expected to utterly ruin Jack’s life came back, completely fresh and clean. When the man stepped back, his hands on his hips as if he just finished some great work, Jack just stared blankly at his newly created arm, gripping his fingers over and over with a slackened jaw.

“I… huh? My arm’s back? How…?”

“You’re going to feel a little numb in the next few days. That’s natural. Just don’t do any hard exercises with that thing and give it some proper rest and you should be good to go.”

The man answered simply, even giving a thumbs up at Jack which resulted in him looking back at him with a stupefied expression. The same goes for Bello who watched it from the side, unable to fathom what just happened.

Healing magic? But that’s…

Kola knew that healers weren’t exactly fighters. That much made sense. She also knew that healers were rare and normally belonged to the Church, usually not available unless one was willing to pay exorbitant amounts.

Yet suddenly, Jack had his missing arm back, which for an average healer would’ve taken a long time to do, and that was putting aside the expensive procedure to have one’s limb back like that.

“Alright, everything seems fine and dandy,” The man answered in the void, the silence taking the entire party by storm before continuing. “So, is anyone here willing to follow me to a good place to stay? I promise I won’t force you, but I do think it might be good for you all if you got the coin for it.”

Kola and Gracia immediately headed over to their boys before answering his question, but he seemed more than fine to let them gather themselves, with Kola looking at Jack’s arm for a closer look. She wasn’t a healer or a mage, but who wouldn’t be interested in seeing how that sort of healing worked?

Another moment of silence followed, but Kola knew she had to answer. This guy just came in, saved their hide, and even restored their comrade’s arm like it was nothing. Then he offered them a place that would cost them money. It sounded suspicious, and every single fiber of Kola’s body screamed that this was beyond suspicious.

But at the same time, her father’s words rang in her head, and it said that if someone did you a favor, it was only natural to pay it back in full. Looking over at her party, who trusted in her to speak for them, she turned to the man before nodding to him.

“We’ll follow, but before that… can you tell us who you are?”

“Oh, shit, right,” The man slapped his head a little at the realization. “My bad. Name’s Aidan. I’m what you call the confidant of the ever illustrious, supreme overlord of everything–Nina Alcatrox. I’m also the Hero of Forontia, if that rings any bells.”

Kola only raised her brow at that, particularly at how he named his so-called overlord of everything. She heard rumors about this Nina Alcatrox. A supposed newcomer that suddenly took over Forontia as governor through extraordinary means. As for this Hero of Forontia business, she just chalked it up as some baseless rumors. A demon attacking a city? That’s something bards at tavern would sing to make some coin.

Apparently that might be more real than she had expected.

“Now, follow me.”

Aidan turned around and walked towards a single direction, leaving no other choice for the Conductors but to follow him. On their way, Kola had her party explain to her about the demon attack. She didn’t pay as much attention to it as she should have, because her party had certainly heard a lot about how Forontia had been attacked by a demon, resulting in many monsters being summoned to raze it to the ground. It took one hero that single-handedly defeated the horde and the demon at once, resulting in a heroic sacrifice. Though some say that the hero survived, just becoming crippled in return.

If the guy in front of her was crippled, he certainly didn’t show it. Though if what she just saw was any speculation, perhaps he managed to heal himself the same way he healed Jack.

About an hour later, with everyone focusing on how Jack was feeling, and strangely how Bello was suddenly fine enough to stand on his own without even knowing about it, they stepped into an open clearing that sent shivers down Kola’s spine. Such a place looked so spacious that it would only take seconds for monsters surrounding their party to overwhelm them. It took all of their effort to blend into the environment in order to stay safe from the monsters, so seeing such an open field would’ve been a death sentence.

Apparently it wasn’t so, because once again Kola had to reaffirm herself with reality as Aidan soon introduced them all to a literal building that stood unabated in the center of the glade, showing it off to the party with a flourish and a bow.

“I welcome you all to our humble Raining Treasures Hotel. Please, take a load off, and get some well-deserved rest.”