Traveling across a troubled land

My shadow rose up and impaled two oversized tigers. They disintegrated into dust and left a red gem.

“That is amazing”, Rushia clapped her hands.

“You’re strong enough to be a Hamex. No… You’re somewhere around Xesh”, Ayame said.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“In the Underworld Academy, we are separated into ranks. Egad, Tchaim, Zalosh, Arban, Hamex, Xesh, Xeva, Zchomone, Tezra, and Exer are the ranks a student could have with Egad being the initial rank and Exer is the highest”, Ayame explained.

“So I’m like around the sixth or fifth strongest rank?”

“Yes. For reference, Ayame is a Xeva while I’m a Xesh ”, Rushia told me.

Wow. They must think highly of themselves if they believe they are as strong as us, Noir grumbled.

Ayame has Rakshasa and Asura. Rushia’s mastery over necromancy is too exceptional for a student. The rankings are justified, Anya told him.

Oh no. I’m not saying they are wrong for thinking they are strong. They are wrong for thinking that we’re weak. If Mikage truly wants to, he can be a Tezra and that’s for now. If he completely masters his powers, he can go toy around with Exers.

For once, I agree with you. I am Anya Melfissa, his legendary partner. At the very least, he should be Zchomone.

This conversation reminded me of one thing that Ayame said.

“Hey, what year are you in, Ayame?” I looked at her.

“The Underworld Academy trains its students for six years. I’m currently in my third year”, she said.

“You’re in third year and you’re a Xeva. If I remember correctly, you said that Oga achieved the highest rank in his first year…”

“Exactly! That’s how legendary Oga is! In just a single year, he already outclassed his seniors. I may be the youngest student council president but that’s simply because Oga refused the position!”

“Before you fangirl, let’s collect the gems”, Rushia said and walked towards the pile of ashes as she dragged Ayame.

“What’re those gems for?” I asked.

“These can be sold in towns for money. Defeating Crystal Beasts isn’t an easy task but the gems are valuable. This is a profitable business for battle junkies”, she explained.

After picking up the gems, we continued our journey. Our main destination was the south where I could sense the Dark Corruption was being gathered. I already knew how dire the situation was in the Demon Realm so we had to hurry up and take shortcuts.

Crystal Beasts were very hostile thanks to the Dark Corruption inside them so traveling was dangerous. I would’ve wanted to drain that energy from the Crystal Beast but even if I were going to do it, they would still be hostile to us because they were in pain.

“The next town is in sight”, Rushia said and pointed.

Wooden walls were in the distance and I felt relieved. We camped out for two days already so I was happy to be able to sleep on a bed again. Food was also something I was looking forward to because eating jerkies all the time wasn’t fun.

It was common to just pack a lot of premade jerkies while traveling. They wouldn’t easily go bad since they last for a week despite not using any refrigeration. And despite being small in size, we could easily fill our stomachs with just one or two pieces every meal.

The only downside with them was that they weren't satisfying to eat. They were hard to chew and the spices used to make sure they would last long were not pleasing to my tongue. Ayame and Rushia looked like they were used to it and if I were going to continue traveling, I had no other choice but to adapt too.

We arrived at the gates and showed our identifications. Thanks to Dr. Choco, I had a legal ID as a foreigner under government orders. It was amazing to see how much influence the Underworld Academy had.

The guards saluted when Ayame showed her ID and they immediately let us pass without any problems. Ayame didn’t even look bothered by how tense the other guards were around her as she walked forward.

“Student council presidents are scary”, I muttered.

“It is a heavy responsibility. I can see why Oga didn’t want any of that”, Rushia said.

The town had many demons walking around. On the surface, it would look like everything was peaceful, especially with how some children were running around. But I could feel a sense of unease lingering in the air.

After all, there were many guards patrolling the street and keeping an eye out for any trouble

“This is the state of the Demon Realm because of the Dark Corruption”, Ayame said.

Noir already explained things to us. The air of the Demon Realm was infected with the Dark Corruption. All living things here would slowly accumulate that energy inside them.

Normally, the Dark Corruption would be expelled from the creature’s body. However, the rate someone would absorb the Dark Corruption was different from creature to creature. And some unfortunate ones would accumulate that energy inside them faster than their body could release it.

And the reason why the air had the Dark Corruption was most likely because of that concentration of energy in the south.

We entered an inn and after reserving a room, we ate lunch. My mouth drooled when I saw a large chunk of juicy meat along with warm bread. There was also Tokino Soda and delicious-looking apples.

“You really like eating, don’t you, Mikage?” Rushia asked.

“Food is a blessing. I can understand why Captain Noel likes eating now”, I answered.

“I wonder what happened why you suddenly appreciated food”, Anya looked at me as she ate small chunks of her bread.

“It’s to show that I’m still alive.”

Because you are aware of that, right? Noir’s voice echoed in my mind.

Aware of what? Anya asked.

Before I could answer, several guards entered the inn along with a demon who wore formal attire. His eyes saw Ayame and smiled.

“I am honored to meet the student council president of the Underworld Academy”, he bowed down to show respect.

“I apologize for this unannounced visit. I am in an important business but I will do my best to give as little inconvenience as possible with how the Demon Realm is in disarray”, Ayame said.

“I believe I am also in the presence of Rushia Uruha, the genius necromancer?” he looked at Rushia.

“That is me”, Rushia replied.

“Then who is this man?”

“A foreigner under direct orders of the Underworld Academy. His name is Mikage Kamishiro”, Ayame answered.

He smiled at me and offered a handshake.

“My name is Kaim Goemon, the mayor of this humble town”, he introduced himself.

After shaking his hand, his smile faded as a grim expression appeared on his face.

“If the student council president of the Underworld Academy is acting like this, I believe you are trying to gather as little attention as possible, right?”, Kaim asked.

“And if you understand that, there must be a reason why you approached me like this”, Ayame said.

“I would like to ask for your assistance in a certain problem of ours”, he bowed down.

“Problem?” Rushia asked.

“A few kilometers east of here, there is a dangerous creature prowling around. I’ve already led soldiers there but we were all defeated with some of us losing their lives. With how things are in the Demon Realm where demons suddenly attack others without any reason, I can’t lose any more warriors.”

“Very well. I’ll eliminate that creature”, Ayame answered.

“Hey! Why are you accepting a job when we’re on a much more important mission?” Rushia glared at her.

“It’s my duty as the student council president.”

“Just tell this incident to Dr. Choco and she can arrange things to have an army defeat that creature. We can’t lose time by going on side missions. Let others do it.”

“But this town can’t lose any more time as well.”

“What are you talking about?”

“East of this town is a major trading route. If you noticed, the price of the food we just ate is higher than regular, which means that the supplies of this town are running low. We took a shortcut by going off-road so that we can get to our destination as quickly as possible but that was only possible because we are strong enough to defeat the Crystal Beasts rampaging.”

“... I see. Merchants and other supplies have to use the road but with that creature prowling around, it’s impossible to get them to this town. The Underworld Academy may have influence but it’s not enough to muster an army in time with how things are right now. And even if an army gets formed, they would need time to travel to this place.”

Ayame stood up and walked towards Kaim.

“I’ll accept your request. What I need now is information. You said your soldiers fought it and some of them died. That meant there were others who returned here alive with you. What is that creature?”

Kaim gulped down and showed his torso that had lots of bandages. The guards around him had scared expressions and one of them was even visibly shaking.

“A crazy zombie”, he answered.