The Kingdom of Scavia

 News of the vanquished monster spread like a forest wildfire being passed from canopy to canopy of a dense forest, and a long celebration was held by Oasis City’s residents. The Army and the Heroes cheered and partied for three days straight, but not everyone was in a festive mood.

“Why are you so forlorn, young man?” Sebastain asked, his voice soft and gentle like a grandparent, “Your brother is just fatigued, and is in need of a proper rest.”

Ayama was on a stool by Akiro’s bedside. Since there were no proper hospitals in Oasis City, courtesy of the late mayor’s dishonorable conduct; so they turned their hotel room into a temporary place for Akiro to rest.

“Thank you, for your kind words.” Ayama spoke. Now dressed in normal, but celebratory clothes gifted to him by the locals, Ayama turned to the old priest, smiling softly but almost disheartened. “I promised someone… that I would look after this stubborn piece of work for her.”
Sebastain let out an understanding gasp before closing his mouth. “I see.” He said, pulling a stool to sit beside the hero, “This person, whom you promised, must have been important to you. I understand how you feel.”

“I-It’s my duty– I promised her…” Ayama frowned, wrinkling the material on his pants. “I owe her too much, and yet I’m consistently failing on my promise.”

Sebastian laid a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder, “Don’t beat yourself over it.” He consoled, “We are humans– we occasionally fail, falter or are defeated. It is nothing to be ashamed of. The only thing we can do as humans, is to move forward.”

Sebastian was not sure if his advice did the trick, but imparting important knowledge to ones willing to learn is the duty of a teacher– after all, this was the task of a guide. The priest got up to leave the room, but before he closed the door after him, he looked back once more.

“You mustn’t let this hold you back.” The man thought, “You perceive that promise like a debt, but one day, I know you will overcome that view.”

Using his staff as a cane, the priest marched down the hallway with determination, “As a man with numbered days, I am honored to help the next generation grow.” He muttered, stopping by the open balcony of the building.

Sebastian looked out of it to see Kaiser on top of a stage, his voice magnified by Olivia’s magic, giving a speech to welcome another age for Oasis City. The night’s wind blew against the knight’s blonde hair, which shimmered under the focused lights.

“Corruption and Crime has been uprooted from this city! Shadows and light, both! This is a chance! Another opportunity for you all to move forward, the right way!” The knight motioned, his right arm sharply moving through the air. He took a cup of wine from the pulpit’s lectern, raising it high and strong, the liquid spilling out as he did. “As citizens of the great Earlside Kingdom— We are commanded by the King to flourish!”

Uwooohhh! Glory to the Kingdom!

Sebastian squinted at the loud sound, swirling the celebratory glass of wine in his hands. “Young'uns, and all that energy. How envious.” he murmured, watching the Heroes in front of the stage celebrate. “But too bad, we’ll leave tomorrow at dawn.”

As Sebastian had said, the convoy had indeed departed from the city at dawn. The clopping and steps of horses ground against the somewhat loose sand. The hind wheel of a very luxurious carriage slammed into a rock, causing the entire back of it to jolt upwards. Akiro's head, which was placed on a pillow, jumped up and slammed down, with a thud, waking him up.

Thud!

The impact forcibly awoke the now-recovered patient. "W-What the hell..." Akiro groaned, his vision dimming in and out from the lack of air. When he finally came to his senses, he looked around the carriage. The interior was luxurious and somewhat out of place like it was outdated, even by the Medieval standards he had grown accustomed to.

"Pfft-- ahem!" Ayama snickered, sitting across from Akiro. "Good morning, sleepyhead," he said, still laughing.

Akiro did not reply with words but with an unamused glare. He looked out the window, it was still a sandy desert, but they were approaching the edge of a forest in the distance if he squinted.

Finally he grew cognizant enough to finally communicate. "Where are we?"

"We're near the Earlshide border,” Ayama replied simply, “And we're about to cross into the friendly neighboring country of Scavia."

Akiro tucked his head back into the cool carriage, cracking his sore joints and moving his body in the seat. "How long was I out for?"

“A full day, but don't worry-- you didn't miss much." Ayama crossed his arms. "A feast, some coffee and sweets, I guess.”

Akiro just nodded, taking in the view and the cooling air. Silence passed in the carriage, but after a while Akiro’s eyes shot open in realization."It's air-conditioned??" he gasped, sighing content as he slowly melted onto the cushion.

Ayama gave a smirk, as he was proud of the carriage in his possession. "It's cushioned too, we're well off compared to the others."

Akiro laid down on the seat again, promptly making himself comfortable. "Where did you get this?" he asked, before immediately shooting up. "You didn't splurge money while I was unconscious did you?!"

His worry was genuine, and it was almost offensive to Ayama, who just gasped in surprise. Ayama gasped, taking offense at the worrisome thought. "Nonsense!'' he defended strongly, "This was an artifact gifted by the governor-- it was his most prized possession, too!”

"If this was an artifact, Oasis city could learn a thing or two." Akiro nodded, still suspicious of the claim, but he chose to believe Ayama for now. “That city could use air-cooling technology.”

Ayama made a conflicted expression. "Yeah... about that-- the governor was actually embezzling a mother-load of money from the king." he chuckled half-heartedly, “Kinda the reason as to why the city was in shambles.”

At those words, Akiro crossed his arms and shook his head. "No wonder why the city was somewhat suffering. everything was expensive," He concluded, looking back on the living situation in the city, especially the slums. "What happened to him?"

“Legally deceased, He was executed promptly after his crimes were brought to light.” Ayama cringed, the answer seared into his brain. "He... Uhm... was actually caught having a debaucherous affair...with three women in this carriage when he got arrested.”

Akiro paled, looking at his seat, which was more cushioned than Ayama. Upon closer inspection, the air-conditioning unit was positioned to him instead of Ayama. “Y-you..."

"That's his favorite seat. Don't worry, it was deeply cleaned and purified by Sebastian."

"I'm still uncomfortable, why did you tell me that?"

"If I have to suffer with that knowledge, so should you."

Akiro replied by lifting a rude gesture. Ayama shrugged, accepting it as fair. "That's an understandable reaction. At least in the count's case, he didn't kick the bucket filled with regret-- hell, he was actually surprised he didn't get caught sooner."

Akiro raised his hand. "No more details please."

"Shutting up now."

The assassin closed his eyes, sinking into the chair’s cushions once more as he slowly drowned in the silence of his own mind. He looked back on the past four months they’ve been there, and even then, Akiro still couldn’t accept it. “Still… day by day, It’s hard to digest.” He hummed, “We’re not on earth.”

“It’s dangerous, I’ll give you that– with monsters lurking in every corner.” He opened his eyes to see Ayama sharing the same sentiment, "But don't be such a baby, we're level 87s, we should be able to handle it." Ayama bragged.

It took a few seconds, but Akiro turned to him, incredibly surprised. But when the silence passed, the boy gasped, slack-jawed. "What?! 72?!" he asked, almost complaining.

“I myself am Level 73!” Eyebrows irking, Ayama threw the cushion he was sitting on. "Don't complain you punk! we risked our lives for the increase!”

“I didn’t get the opportunity to use [Appraisal] on the Monster, because I did not want its level to cloud my confidence…” Akiro thought, dodging the pillow reflexively, “but to think our levels jumped twice than it was before.[Status]”

[ Name: Akiro Hiroto / Age 18 / Job: Assassin / Sub Job: Gunman ] [ Lvl 72 ] [ ATK: 400 + 68 / STR: 153 / DEX: 378 + 42 / SPD: 297 + 25 / DEF: 45 + 102 / INT: 179 / MANA: 379 ]

[ Active Skill: ‘Gunman's Manual / EX’ ] [ Active Skill: ‘Appraisal / A’ ] [ Active Skill: ‘Stealth / D’ ] [ Passive Skill: ‘Weapon Master / D’ ] [ Active Skill: ‘Sprint / F’ ] [ Passive Skill: ‘Radar / E’ ] [ Active Skill: ‘Disguise / S’ ] [ Attack Skill: ‘Square Cut / F’ ] [ Passive Skill: ‘Language comprehension / F’ ] [ Passive Skill; ‘Swordsmanship / D’ ] [ Weapon Art: Moonlight-Execution Style / F (Incomplete Inheritance) ] [ Ultimate Skill: Reaper’s Culling / S ]

Looking up to Ayama, Akiro raised a curious face, “Should it be this easy?! This isn’t like anything we’ve read or watched before.”

Ayama face-palmed. "This isn't fantasy!” He grumbled, throwing another cushion in a fit. “This is reality. if only life was that easy-- I would be home by now." Ayama rebutted, “And don’t you dare say stuff like that again! That’s a death flag!”

"You're right." Akiro shrugged, smiling into a soft chuckle. "Hey– How high should our levels be before we could go home?"

"I don't have the foggiest idea."

At that last remark, the conversation ended well, their spirits equally lifted; but Akiro wanted to sate his curiosity. “[Appraisal]. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen his status in a while.”

[ Name: Ayama Nobu / Age: 18 / Job: Hero / Sub Job: Craftsman ] [ Lvl 73 ] [ ATK: 497+78 / STR: 369 + 35 / DEX: 173 / SPD: 103 / DEF: 521 / INT: 270 / MANA:357]

[ Attack Skill: A—]

As the second window was about to appear, Akiro’s eyes pulsed, forcing him to look away in mild pain. “W-What was that?!”

[ Error! ] [ Error! ] [ Error! ] [ Error! ] [ Error! ]

{ By Divine Intervention, You are not permitted to see the Chosen Hero’s Attributes. }

{ You have not been permitted to see the Chosen Hero’s Attributes. }

Akiro clutched his head, massaging his temples from the migraine that suddenly attacked him. “Agghhh— That hurts!!” He said, but the pain subsided immediately.

{ By Divine intervention, your sin of peeking through the Chosen Hero’s Attributes, has been pardoned. } { However, unless allowed to by the Chosen Hero, [Appraisal] will cease to function when used upon him. } { You have been warned. }

“You good dude?” Ayama asked, his voice muffled by the ringing in Akiro’s ears. The Assassin’s mind slowly swirled, but as he looked up, he could’ve sworn he saw something hovering over Ayama’s shoulder.

“Ah!” The blonde boy said, searching through the cupboards and storage in the carriage, “You’ve be—en unconscious for a day—placed in a cold environment after being i—-n a hot one after a while– It’s only natural that you're delirio—--us.”

“B-Beautiful.” Akiro looked forward at Ayama’s direction, but his attention was elsewhere, something over his shoulder. It may have been an instant, but Akiro would swear on his life that there was a towering figure behind his friend, made entirely of dazzling, golden light.

At first it was painful, but he slowly grew accustomed to it, as something appeared behind him too. Contrary to the bright figure, a sinister being came to his aid; and when the two figures’ eyes collided, the moment disappeared.

“Akiro!”

“Gah!” Akiro gasped, “W-What!?”

“Drink!” Ayama frowned, motioning to the water in the flask, “You look like your losing your mind because you're dehydrated! We’re in a hot-friggin’-desert, remember?” He pushed, “Drink water before you get a heatstroke!”

“A-Ah, Okay…” Akiro obliged without resistance. “W-What was that…”

Ayama watched with him a suspicious thought, but he decided to shrug it off. “Alright, you do whatever and I’ll get some shut-eye. I’m too tired.”