A Side Villain…

Sunday and Saturdays were declared as official holidays under the Von Astrom rule meaning that on these two days everyone in the town focused more on relaxing and rewinding rather than on working or dungeon diving.

 

Even the shops in the market district were closed earlier than their usual time, only the adventurer guild and its offices remained open like every other day the reason being that it addressed the adventurers who might be coming from long distances. 

 

And by now almost everyone in the city knows about the medal ceremony that is going to be held tomorrow and the underlying reason behind it. 

 

Though the emperor had done one interesting thing, it was announced by the minister and administration that the medal will be given to members of Dark Swords and one student from the first year of Origin academy but the name of that student was not disclosed.

 

And it had everyone guessing as to who the student was? Everyone had their own guesses and mostly it was Richard, the reason being his status as the heir to the throne and his monstrous strength.

 

But there were others who favored the elven princess Aurora, the beaskin prince Drake and the others from A and B classes. Even the students of the academy were quite excited to know about the winner but like others all they could was guessing.

 

Inside the mana simulation room

 

The top ten students of first year were going under the Special intensive training(SIT) programmed by Laura and they were not enjoying it as today was supposed to be a holiday and yet they have to be here. 

 

It wasn’t like Laura wanted to train them like battle junkies or something but she didn’t wanted to break the ongoing rhythm they had developed over the past week. She was going to give them a half day but after a ‘through’ session in here.

 

CLANG

 

And a small explosion occured when the spear clashed with sword, both showing no intent to back down. The users of the respective weapons gritted their teeth and poured more power in their attacks.

 

“Not like that Richards, you are using too much power on your strikes making them less refined and Drake why are you so much into attacking him rather than out maneuvering and other things?”

Laura asked, making both of them back down. 

 

“What do you mean by ‘too much power’ officer Laura?” Richard asked.

 

“Your control on your spear is excellent. It's unlike anything I have seen but it’s unrefined and focuses on brute force.” She replied, making him nod in acceptance.

 

“As expected from a mongrel.” Drake said and grinned.

 

“You are no better Drake, all of your moves are focused on dealing maximum damage to your opponent which not only drains your stamina but also makes holes in your defense.” Laura reprimanded him.

 

“Now I want both of you to fight against the low level monsters as a team.” She said, making both of them look at her in wonder.

 

“A team with him? Sorry officer Laura but are you out of your mind? Do you think that I will do anything-” Drake couldn’t complete his sentence as a force hit him on the stomach rendering him in agony.

 

“Urghhh.. Wh-what was that?” He said while clutching his stomach.

 

“Umm Miss Laura not that I mind working with him but don’t you think that it should be done with my team?” Richard asked, trying his hardest to not anger him.

 

“Hmm did you say something?” She asked, feigning ignorance.

 

And Richard was smart enough to pick up Drake and run towards the low level monster field unless he wanted to get hit by her and cry in pain.

 

Now Laura focused on the other side where Aurora and Alexandria was fighting, the entire battlefield they were on had been long turned into that of ice and snow courtesy of the one who was blasting them incessantly.

 

Aurora was a mage and bow user though in a head on battle she focused more on her magecraft which has a huge repertoire of ice and water spells. Alexandria on the other hand was less on spells and more on weapons and skills.

 

“Ice Cage.” Aurora shouted and many large spikes of ice began forming above her, the spikes then launched themselves towards Aurora who had a sword and shield in her hands.

 

“Heaven smash.” Alexandria first tried to dodge them but since they were too much she used this skill.

 

Her sword radiated white light and with a strike smashed all the spikes coming at her then not missing the beat she used a shield skill,

 

“Shield cage.” Her shield hurled a green beam towards Aurora trying to capture him in one position.

 

“Tricky girl.” Aurora muttered and created an ice clone of herself which got hit by the green beam rendering it useless. After colliding with the ice clone it created an ice screen which made the vision obscure.

 

And at the next moment Alexandria’s sword was at her neck and her small ice spikes on Alexandria’s neck making this one a tie.

 

Clap clap

 

“Okay that’s enough.” Laura said, ending their mock battle.

 

“Aurora, your ice and water spells are good but only using that pushes you to a disadvantage at close quarters and why didn’t you use your archery?”

 

“I wanted to test the potency of my spells against Alexandria.” She replied but it didn’t sound too convincing, making Laura think that she was definitely hiding something.

 

“And Alexa?” 

 

“Yes aun- officer Laura?” She almost said that.

 

“Your reaction time needs to get faster, your body should move on its own even before your mind perceives the danger your body should move. How much weight are you wearing?”

 

“40 kgs on both my hands and feet.”

 

“Make that 50 kg.”

 

“Okay aun- officer Laura.” It was difficult for her to change how she addressed Laura.

 

“You guys form a team and hunt the lower level monsters.” Laura commanded and both of them nodded.

 

Then she moved on to the last group where on one side were Lily, Shin and Samanth while on the other side were Lana, Altair and Andrew. Both the sides were having a hot battle which ended with Lily’s side winning it.

 

“Great teamwork you guys.” Laura clapped while coming towards them.

 

“Lily, your innate skill of Sword saint is a blessing from Goddess Sylvia making you a genius in using holy spells and skills but swordsmanship is more than that so remember to focus on what I have taught.” 

 

“Yes thank you officer Laura.”

 

Then Laura gave tips to everyone else and made them do the same task of hunting low level monsters which is easy on the outside but in the mana simulation room where your tier is suppressed it is a daunting task.

It was around four o'clock when she let all of them rest from the training and enjoy the rest of the day doing whatever they wished for which made the students ecstatic as they could finally enjoy the Sunday and have some relaxation.

 

Drake and his group quickly went away from the rest as they wanted to do something on their own while the others made a plan to roam around the city and have some food at night. 

 

Naturally at first Alexandria refused to go out with them telling that she wants to do more training but on Aurora’s repeated asking she finally accepted it, over the last week or so she and Aurora have come close.

 

It was during the walk in the city when Aurora asked the group,

 

“Hey, do you guys know who is going to get the medal tomorrow?” 

 

“The Dark Sword group and that mysterious student from first year?” Lily commented.

 

“Bingo.” Aurora replied.

 

“That actually is something interesting.” Samantha also added.

 

“At first I thought it was someone from our SIT but then how could it be? As every single one of you is always there in the academy, so any guesses?” Lily asked nobody in general.

 

“I tried to ask father but he refused and said you would know tomorrow.” Richard said with a helpless smile.

 

“Wow, even the prince doesn’t know.” Lily said while smiling.

 

“Well we just have to wait until tomorrow.” Alexandria said for the first time.

 

“Yes it’s only a matter of time.”

 

Then they wandered around the town had some street food and when it was seven or eight Lily suddenly asked,

 

“Hey guys, do you wanna come over to my house?”

“Your house?” Richard blurted out.

 

“What is there a problem?” She asked, puffing her cheeks.

 

“Not at all and I would certainly love to visit a friend’s house as it would be my first time.” Aurora said.

 

“But don’t you guys think we should be going back to our dorms?” Richard asked.

 

“Come on, there are more than three hours to go back, let's just have a quick visit.” Lily said and he nodded at last.

Akira’s home a few hours ago

 

Looking in the mirror Akira was styling his hair, his outfit was also looking good and finally after some time he was ready to go. But where?

 

Today was sunday and Jasmine had invited him to visit her, of course at first he wasn’t that excited as Lily would be there too but after remembering that Lily is in the SIT and also had a dorm in the academy he was ready to go.

 

Jasmine was a great lady and she was one of the few people who was good to him so it was also disrespectful on his side if he didn’t go there. So he was trying to make himself look good when he met her.

 

He had also collected some flowers when he was stuck in the alternate dimension and that should be a good gift for her as these flowers were found only in that plane.

 

With all the things in the right place he left his house and went towards Jasmine’s house which was not that far given that they were living in the same district.

 

Reaching near her residence as usual he was attacked by the strong fragrance of flowers and herbs coming from the small collection at her  florist shop.

Where other people close their shops quickly on holidays she doesn’t as there is no reason to, she is not short of money or something it’s just that she likes doing it. She likes keeping care of the plant life around her and promoting others to do the same.

 

Her dryad nature is a big reason behind that, she was checking on her flowers when Akira called her,

 

“Hello aunt Jasmine.”

 

She turned around and saw him standing with a smile on his face which was quickly reciprocated by her as she replied,

 

“Oh my, you look quite handsome, Akira-kun.”

 

“And you look beautiful as always.” He said without thinking much as this was a fact.

 

She giggled and said, “Cheeky but I will accept it.”

 

He smiled helplessly at that and went inside her shop and he had to say if the fragrance earlier was strong then right now it was like his entire body was soaked into that scent again and again making him wonder if that was even possible.

 

“Liked it?” She asked.

 

“Loved it but how is it possible that these flowers have such a strong scent?”

 

“Fufufu… that Akira-kun is a trade secret. As a dryad, if my flowers are not the best then whose will be?” She  said with pride.

 

“But that's for later. Why don’t we move in first and talk about your first adventure?” Excitement was plastered all over her face.

 

“Sure though, isn't it a little early for you to close the shop?” He didn’t wanted to cause trouble for her.

 

“And that’s one of your qualities that I like, caring for your loved ones. No it won’t cause any trouble as I was going to close it even if you hadn’t come.” She said with a happy face.

 

“Well let me help you then.” He said and both of them began closing the shop.

 

They quickly came inside her house which had a different smell than the last time but it was pleasant nonetheless and he liked the cozy feeling it was exuding, making him relax.

 

“So how was your first ever adventure?”

 

“It was awesome with the perfect mix of everything that I wanted and somethings that I didn’t though they were good in one way or another.” He explained it in a vague way making her pout.

 

“That’s not how anyone would describe it.” 

 

“Hehe you will say the same if you were the one going through it.”

 

“Come on tell mee.” 

 

“Okay so what happened was-” Then he narrated the same story he did to Evelyn and by the end of it Jasmine had a whirlpool of emotions on her face.

Sometimes she was happy, excited for the next thing but then sometimes was gloomy when she heard that the cultists were involved and that they were going to kill him. But in the end he told her how he came out without much injuries.

 

He also told her that he was going to get a medal tomorrow along with the Dark swords but he did not expect to see an angry face.

 

“Akira-kun, are you an idiot?” She asked.

 

“Huh?” He certainly didn’t expect her to say something like that.

 

“Yes you are an idiot because only an idiot goes on his first adventure with such a high level group.”

 

“But it was okay I got out in the end.” He tried to reason but was immediately squashed down.

 

“Yeah? And what if you didn’t, what if you got stabbed by those cultists, what if something happened to you?” She was angry and sad at the same time.

 

“I- I don’t know.” He said and his head went down.

 

She came closer and began stroking his head and said in a gentle voice,

 

“Akira-kun you have to think about your actions, think about their consequences on yourself and your loved ones.” 

 

“By the way I took these things for you.” He pulled out some of the flowers he took from the alternate dimension.

 

It was an effort on his part to take the conversation on another route and make her forget her anger which didn’t go unnoticed by her but she let it slide as he was trying very hard which looked cute to her.

 

“Hmm these plants have much greater life force than the ones I have here but it is still less than the ones back home.” She sounded nostalgic when mentioning the last thing.

 

“And I thought you were going to like them.” He sighed.

 

“Of Course I like them, who told you I didn’t?” She said and giggled.

 

“Then I am glad.” He smiled too.

 

“Oh please sit here for a moment, I will come right back.”  She said and went into one of the other room making him think about what she was going to bring.

 

She came back holding a small wooden box in her hands and sat down at her previous position.

 

“Well I always wanted to give you something to congratulate you but you know what happened last time.” She sighed remembering the childish nature of Lily.

 

“Oh I don’t mind it all, I was more than happy to know that you wanted to give me something.”

 

“I am sorry about that but this time let me give you something very valuable. This box is something that my father gave to me when I was leaving my home. He said that if I become capable enough the box would open on its own but as you can see it never did.”

 

Akira tried to remember if there was something like this in the game where Lily had to do anything with a box but there was not, he couldn’t identify it from the game so even for him it was a mystery.

 

“I am very grateful to you aunt Jasmine but it was your father’s gift, I can’t take this from you.”

 

She smiled and said, “this box if it stays with me will remain closed for the rest of its life, I have taken retirement so it doesn't mean anything to me.”

 

“But still it was given to you by your father an-”

“And I am giving it to you. Or is that you don’t want to accept it since it doesn't look good?” She asked teasingly.

 

“No it’s not like that, I would accept anything from your hands whether good looking or not.” He again blurted out something without thinking and blushed.

 

Jasmine too blushed when he heard him say things like that but quickly regained her composure and said, “So it’s decided then.”

 

She tossed him the box which he catched perfectly unlike the last time and began looking at it, the box was quite small like a rubix cube. It was made from wood and had green glyphs going all around it, there was a red dot in the middle of it but he was clueless about it.

 

“Thank you aunt Jasmine, it really means a lot to me.” 

 

“Can I hug you?” He again blurted without thinking much.

 

But quickly retorted, “Uhh it’s okay forget the last thing, I tend to say stupid things when I get emotional.” He said while hurling his hands all around.

 

But she only giggled at that making him panic more and think that ‘Shit I messed this up.’

 

When he opened his mouth to say something he was quickly in a warm hug making him quiet. Since she was a tad longer than him his head was in her twin jewels making him embarrassed and happy at the same time.

 

“Did you like it Akira-kun?” She asked after letting him go.

 

“Hmm....” He nodded.

 

“Fufufu I am happy.” 

 

And this very moment was disturbed by the knock on the door and when some yelled,

 

“Mom, I am back and I have brought some friends.”

 

“Coming dear.” She said and went to open the door.