Level Up Legacy

Since he could not fight them anymore, Koby had to run around the town to prepare for the mission. Arthur and Joey chose to wait for the three outside the barracks, since they were bound to return. Although the three were scared, none of them arrived late for the one-hour appointment.

The twin sisters came back wearing matching sets of armor, which seemed to radiate holy energy. As for Koby, he was covered in heavy armor from head to toe, making him almost immobile. The scene was comical, causing Arthur and Joey to chuckle.

“Are you going to crush the monsters to death?” asked Joey with a smile as he tapped the heavy armor. “This would just slow you down, Koby!”

“As long as I stay alive, I don’t mind being slowed down!” said the scared man as he tried to take a step forward, rotating his entire body to move. “Just let me… get comfortable… in this.”

“Please don’t tell me we have to walk all the way there?” asked Arthur with a speechless expression as he watched the man move at a snail’s pace. “We would need seven days to get anywhere at this pace.”

“We can borrow a carriage,” said one of the two sisters. “They are available near the walls. But we have to get there early, because some of them malfunction. If the other squads borrowed all the good ones, we could be stuck here.”

And… that exact thing happened. By the time the five reached the walls, it was already beginning to grow dark. The workers in charge of the carriages said that most of the proper ones had been taken by the other squads.

In the end, the squad was given one that had its runes disabled. Apparently, these carriages drove themselves without the need for horses or mounts. However, since these runes were faulty, they had to find a horse at the stables.

While the rest debated how to get the carriage to the stables, Arthur was still studying the runes. It seemed that bad luck awaited them at every turn, but Arthur was not surprised. Jia Huang had his fingerprints all over this.

“I can push the carriage alone,” suggested Joey. “However, you would need to get the horses from the stable ahead. We can’t waste any more time on this.”

As soon as he finished his words, the runes on the carriage began to glow. The four soldiers turned to look with confusion, only to find Arthur climbing onto the carriage and sitting behind the wheel. He gestured for them to get on.

“The runes… are working?” asked one of the twin sisters in shock. “How can this be? The workers said there was no way to fix them without a runic grandmaster.”

“I have no idea,” said Arthur with a shrug. “I just pushed a little mana into them, and they worked just fine. The workers might have exaggerated the severity of their malfunction.”

“Can we trust this thing enough to carry us into the wilderness?” asked Koby with worry as the other three began to climb. “It seems a little flimsy. It might fail us on the way!”

“If the runes are working, only a monster’s attack could make it malfunction again,” said one of the sisters as she climbed in beside Arthur. “I will guide us to the Dark Cave. Do you know how to operate this?”

“I’m confident,” said Arthur as he took the seat. “Get on board, Koby. Otherwise, everyone might say that you’re a chicken.”

“Who are you calling a chicken?” asked Koby with anger as he rushed to climb onto the carriage. Arthur smiled as he continued to complain but still rode in the back. After the three had boarded, Arthur grabbed the steering wheel and activated the runes.

Arthur handled artifacts better than anyone, so the carriage carried them at lightning speed toward their destination. According to the soldier woman sitting beside him, it was the fastest carriage she had ever ridden.

On the way, the woman introduced herself and her sister. Her name was Fae, while the other was called Nixie. Arthur memorized their names according to the location of the mole under her eye.

“Tell me, Fae. What happened to your last squad?” asked Arthur as their carriage cut through the night. The wilderness was dark, and nothing could be seen, but a road led them to their destination. “I understood that you fell victim to demonic creatures, but what brought them to the tower?”

“We fail to understand that too,” said Fae with a worried expression. “There were reports of a figure entering the cave. Lord Marshal thought it looked suspicious and feared that spies had taken up residence there, so he sent us. We were four squads in total, and only seven of us survived.”

“What did you find inside the cave?”

“…human bodies.”

“How can bodies exist within the tower?” asked Arthur with confusion. After all, corpses turned into red light particles once they hit the ground.

“We had no idea either,” said Fae, her hands shaking. “We found bodies that had the life sucked out of them around an altar. The entire cave was creepy, but the altar seemed to belong to another world. Then…”

“Then?”

“We saw a man dressed in cloaks standing in the middle of the altar. His voice sent chills down our spines, and the otherworldly energy lacerated our skin. The dark mage turned toward us with red eyes before grinning, and a gate opened.”

“Is he a summoner of demonic creatures?”

“We don’t know, but demonic creatures rushed out from the gate. We fought as hard as we could, but we were easily taken down. I ran for my life, while Nixie fought alongside the others. Once I left the cave, I used our skills to summon her back to me.”

“And that’s how you survived…” muttered Arthur with a frown. “Then, who took care of the demonic creatures after that?”

“A knight was summoned, but we have no idea who it was,” said Fae, shaking her head. “We heard that neither the demonic creatures nor the mage were found. In the end, the Dark Cave was sealed off from everyone.”

“Except us,” said Arthur as he watched the road, making sure they didn’t encounter any roaming monsters. The sky was dark tonight, making it impossible to see beyond their hands. However, Arthur was confident in his perception.

“It might be…” began Fae but hesitated as she glanced at him. “It might be because you angered Lieutenant Jia. Although he acts calm and gentle, he holds a grudge quite easily. I don’t think the lord knows we’re being sent again.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Arthur as he turned toward her with a smile. “You have no reason to fear as long as I’m around. I know how terrified you are, but even if the dark mage were here right now, he wouldn’t be able to do a thing to us.”

“…how can you be this confident?” asked Fae with surprise. “I heard that you caused a scene in the recruitment exam,

  but demonic creatures are on another level. Nothing works against them, and each strike is deadly.”

“Actually, I have no idea what demonic creatures are,” said Arthur with a laugh. Fae stared at him in shock, as if he were the strangest man alive.

“And you came here without knowing what they are?” asked Fae, fear evident on her face. “How can you be so reckless with your life?”

“I’m not,” said Arthur, his smile fading into a frown. “I know about demons, but demonic creatures seem to be different.”

“Demonic creatures are the species that allied themselves with demons against the gods,” said Fae matter-of-factly. “This led the heavens to curse them with madness and the inability to live outside of the abyss, suffering for eternity.”

“Then, the dark mage is using them against the other races?” asked Arthur, his frown deepening. His acute senses began to detect something off in the distance, where he suspected the Dark Cave was.

“We have no idea what his intentions are, but like demons, demonic creatures are the bane of peace,” said Fae, then noticing his expression. “Is something wrong?”

“There’s something in the darkness, watching us,” murmured Arthur, his voice soft, making her turn her head to see who it was. However, the night was too dark for anything to be seen. “They don’t seem to be inclined to attack us, as long as we don’t attack them.”

“…could it be the demonic creatures?” asked Fae, trying to steady her trembling hands. Arthur didn’t answer, but he grew more vigilant.