Chapter 362: Ch 361: These Changes - part 1

Soon, the new recruits in the guild were appointed and it came time for their first mission in a dunegon.

And this time, it would be a supervised mission.

Kael decided to take a small group from the newly established guild into a dungeon a few days later.

The purpose of the expedition was supposed to be simple enough. Leon would lead the newer members through the dungeon while Kael observed them and made sure nothing went wrong.

Lyra had insisted on coming along as well, claiming that she wanted to spend more time with Kael, although Leon suspected that she simply did not want him spending too much time around other women.

Not that he minded. He was a loyal man and since he was with Lyra, he would respect her wishes.

The dungeon itself was relatively harmless compared to the ones Kael had entered before.

The monsters were weak, the paths were straightforward, and there were no particularly dangerous traps. Even so, the newer members struggled almost immediately.

One of the young men raised his sword too slowly when a monster lunged at him, forcing Leon to step in and cut it down before it could reach him.

Another member panicked when several monsters surrounded her, causing her to stumble backwards and injure her ankle.

"Stay calm! Don’t try to fight everything at once. Watch their movements and—"

Leon shouted as he moved toward her.

A scream interrupted him.

Kael turned his head and saw another guild member lying against the dungeon wall, clutching his arm. Blood was dripping between his fingers after a monster had managed to slash him.

Lyra immediately moved toward the injured man, but Kael reached him first.

He crouched beside him and examined the wound.

"It isn’t serious. Hold still."

He placed his hand over the injury and allowed divine magic to flow through his fingers. The bleeding stopped almost immediately, and the wound began to close.

The young man looked at him with obvious relief.

"Thank you, Guilt Master."

Kael stared at him for a moment. Then, without thinking, he said,

"You people are becoming a burden. It would be good for you all to improve quickly so that you don’t get hurt often."

The entire group fell silent. Even Leon looked at him in surprise.

Kael’s expression remained strangely calm as he looked at the injured guild member.

He could understand why they were struggling. They were inexperienced, after all. That was the entire reason they had been brought into the dungeon in the first place.

Yet the words had already left his mouth without meaning to.

The young man lowered his head.

"I-I’m sorry..."

Kael’s chest tightened.

’What did I just say? Not that I said anything wrong...but perhaps, I should have voiced it with a little more concern.’

He looked at the young man again and immediately felt guilty.

"No. That’s not what I meant."

But even as he spoke, Kael could not bring himself to understand why he had said it in the first place.

He had dealt with inexperienced people countless times before. He had trained Leon from the beginning. He had patiently helped Seraphina learn magic and had spent countless hours dealing with Iris and Elena.

So why did their mistakes suddenly irritate him so much? No, it was not even irritation, but indifference.

It almost felt like he had no expectations from these people, and that their death would not amount to anything. So it felt like a waste of time...

Kael stood up and rubbed his forehead.

"Everyone, let’s take a break."

Leon approached him after making sure the others were safe. He looked concerned which made Kael a little tense. He felt like he needed to hear what Leon had to say to him.

"Kael."

"What?"

"You haven’t been yourself lately."

Kael frowned at those words. Even if he knew what those words meant, that did not mean he wanted to hear them.

"I’m fine."

"Are you?"

Leon looked directly at him like a challenge. But he soon felt like he should not look at Kael for too long and he lowered his gaze.

"You’ve been quieter than usual, and you’ve been staring into space more often. You also barely reacted when they were injured."

Kael’s expression became complicated. He wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t.

"Maybe I’m just tired."

"Then you should rest. We can finish this another day. You don’t need to keep pushing yourself."

Leon glanced toward the dungeon entrance.

Kael remained silent for several seconds before finally nodding. As much as he wanted to risk things, he had all the time in the world to do it right.

"Maybe you’re right."

He looked back at the guild members.

"I’m sorry about what I said earlier. You aren’t burdens. You’re inexperienced, and that’s why we’re here."

The young man gave him a nervous smile.

"It’s alright, Guilt Master."

They all were good kids who understood that he had a tense day and decided not to question him too much. Their easy acceptance made Kael want to spoil them a little.

So he closed his hands together and when he opened them, the whole space was filled with a golden light.

It seeped into the people’s bodies, making them feel far less tired. But when they looked up to thank him, they suddenly felt speechless and lowered their heads.

No one was looking at him directly except Lyra.

"Hmm, are you all too tired to even lift your heads? Well, then rest for now. Kael, you should come here and sit with me."

Lyra grabbed Kael’s arm and pulled him alone. She, alone, seemed immune to Kael’s aura that made everyone else look down.

No, she was not the only one who was immune. Leon did not feel the same pressure either. But he could feel a different feeling emerging from within Kael.

It was far more ancient and familiar at the same time.

’Is that...the aura of a god? But Kael is a human...I have a bad feeling about all this.’