A Journey of Adventure and Battle (Pt. I)

The meadow breeze blew gently, carrying the scent of wet soil and leaves still damp with morning dew.

The sky was still orange when the wheels of the horse-drawn carriage clattered softly over the cobblestone road, signalling the start of the first day of Ikuro's journey to Tem Village.

Hours earlier, he had left the hustle and bustle of the Millintium Kingdom's 1,550th Anniversary Festival. All that hubbub, lights, and cheers now felt like a fleeting dream that had already passed.

All that remains is the long, lonely road, the breeze, and the challenges ahead.

The carriage Ikuro was travelling on was driven by Garel, a white-haired old man who had often taken adventurers like Ikuro to dangerous places.

They had only passed through two villages, and each had its problems. Like in the first village, the farmer's cows suddenly broke loose and scattered all over.

And in the second village, they had to help fight off sudden attacks of goblins and undead.

Inside the carriage, Ikuro was still asleep, exhausted after the whole incident. Garel, who was sitting in the coachman's seat, looked back while shouting.

‘Yoo, Kid! Wake up, it's morning!’ he called out. ‘You haven't had breakfast yet, have you? There's food nearby. The village chief gave it to you at dawn.

Because Garel's voice was quite loud, Ikuro finally woke up. ‘Yes, yes...’ he replied, rubbing his face. ‘This old man is as usual, so chatty’ he thought to himself.

‘Why?, You're already wrinkled in the morning,’ Garel teased from the front.

‘Nothing's wrong, Mr Garel,’ Ikuro replied lazily.

‘Alaah... faces don't lie!’ replied Garel with a chuckle.

Ikuro sighed, then began to take water from the bottle and wash his face. After that, he took the food box given to him by the village chief.

‘Mr Garel, what's in this?’ he asked curiously.

‘Just open it, you'll see.’

Ikuro opened the box and was immediately surprised, ‘Woahh, goat curry!’

‘How is it?’ asked Garel from the coachman's seat.

‘Not bad either... Bon appetit!’ exclaimed Ikuro and began to eat the food with gusto.

Garel only chuckled, seeing how the youngster still had a childish side despite being a formidable adventurer.

After the food was finished and everything was cleared up. Ikuro sat down beside Garel.

‘Mr Garel, where do we go after this before we get to Tem Village?’

Garel gave a small nod. ‘We will pass through the Soroaqo Mountains, then one more village, then the Asbest Forest, and then we will reach Tem Village.’

Ikuro gave a small snort. ‘Asbest Forest, huh? Isn't that a notoriously weird forest?’

‘That's right. Many of my meat caravan acquaintances are lost there. They don't know where they went. Some say shadow monsters appear and attack at night.’

Ikuro could only nod his head as he had known for a long time, many missions were also located in that strange forest.

‘So... it's not strange that the village is affected’ he muttered to himself.

Their carriages kept a steady pace on the road, surrounded by beautiful meadows and the gentle breeze.

But just as the two of them were enjoying a quiet ride, the tranquillity was shattered...

‘Help me’ A soft, unfamiliar voice rang in Ikuro's ears.

Ikuro, who was startled, immediately asked, ‘Mr Garel, did you hear that?’

‘Huh? I didn't hear anything,’ Garel replied in surprise. ‘You're still weird in the morning,’ he continued with a long sigh.

‘Seriously, the sound is really clear,’ Ikuro replied.

Shortly afterwards, ‘Please, help me’.

‘That voice... is repeating itself.’

The voice rang out again. Ikuro immediately sharpened his sight and checked the surroundings.

Seeing nothing, he used one of the skills he had learnt. ‘focus’ he said softly.

His eyesight instantly became sharper, and his range expanded. Not far away, he saw a horse-drawn carriage stopped by the roadside. The carriage looked luxurious, typical of a nobleman from outside the region.

‘The emblem is not from this region,’ he muttered. ‘Why did they stop there?’

More suspicious, however, was the group of bandits who seemed to be surrounding the carriage.

‘Mr Garel, there's a noble carriage being attacked by bandits out front,’ he reported.

‘Wow, that's bad. So you want to intervene?’ asked Garel quickly.

‘Yes. There aren't many of them. About ten people.’

‘Huh!, Ten people? You're crazy.’ said a surprised Garel.

‘But, in my opinion... I think you can handle it.’ He continued.

‘’Well then, hold on tight."

Garel spurred his horses to go very fast.

‘Is it still far?’ asked Garel.

‘Not bad, but this distance is enough.’ He replied.

Ikuro immediately stood up without hesitation and raised his hand while pointing at the bandits.

He gathered mana at the tip of his index finger, then pointed it at the ground in the middle of the bandits' ranks.

The horse-drawn carriage he was riding travelled at high speed while standing.

He also cast a spell, ‘fire’, then he released the mana.

With high speed and right on target, the mana hit the ground then...

BOOMMM…

The mana exploded, and several bandits were instantly blown away, their bodies burnt and immobilised. The rest panicked.

With the arrival of his chariot at the scene. Ikuro jumped from the carriage and drew his sword at the remaining bandits.

‘Oii... what are you doing here?’ said one of the bandits.

‘Why, don't you like it?’ replied Ikuro flatly.

‘Come on, surround and kill that bastard... he killed our partner!’ said one of the bandits.

Then, the bandits surrounded and attacked Ikuro simultaneously.

‘How stupid of them’ He muttered.

He quickly cast the magic, ‘poltergeist’

As he disappeared, the astonished bandits stopped attacking.

‘Where did that bastard go?’ said one of the bandits.

Suddenly, one of them sighed softly. When they looked, their friend's stomach had been pierced by a large hole. Blood poured out. His body fell to the ground.

The other bandits began to panic, and while they were in panic mode. One by one, they fell and could only scream before dying horribly.

Until one bandit was left alive.

The frightened man tried to run, but his steps suddenly stopped because he felt strange and eventually fell.

He and all his colleagues had been killed by Ikuro.

After slaughtering the bandits, Ikuro's figure reappeared from the shadows.

He stared at the noble carriage. That soft voice was heard again.

‘Help me...’

Out of curiosity, he stepped closer to the carriage.

He did not know... that it would have a great impact on him.

An impact that would affect his misery...