Chapter 118: Hero Quest and the World Tree
The Demon Lord.
An immortal being whose goal is to conquer and fill every corner of the world with dangerous monsters and sinister beings.
A being possessed by pure rage and madness whose only goal is to bring destruction and enact his personal revenge on everyone in this world.
It was said that to end the reign of this immortal being, one must possess a legendary sword capable of ending the Demon Lord's life.
It is said that in the hand of a "hero," this sword will gain the ability to slay any living beings in this world.
Without this sword, no one can ever end the tyranny of the Demon Lord.
That sword is the legendary holy sword "Durandal".
10 years ago, the Demon Lord awakened after his hundreds of years of slumber.
It caused the largest-scale monster stampede in known history.
The monster stampede is coming from the western half of the world.
The monsters in the Demon Lord's domain started advancing toward the lands beyond the Giah forest.
The elves could not contain the monsters and asked for help from the neighboring countries around the world.
Help came, not from just one country but from all countries in the continent.
At that time, all of the countries in the east half of the continent worked together to stop the advancement of these monsters who were trying to invade their peaceful lands.
They send all of their most powerful and reliable people to stop the monsters from getting past the great forest of Giah.
Adventurers, soldiers, and people who could fight stood up against the waves of monsters trying to pass through Giah Forest.
Leading that tsunami of monsters is their master, the Demon Lord himself.
At that time, no one in this world possessed the job class "Hero" and so there was no one to wield the legendary sword Durandal.
Not even the strongest adventurer of that time can wield that sword.
No one can rely on the only weapon capable of ending the life of the Demon Lord.
The monsters advanced forward.
The people of this world were forced to face the Demon Lord without the holy sword.
Everyone tried their best to stop the Demon Lord from advancing to their peaceful lands.
The war against the Demon Lord started.
Leading the combined army of the world is the strongest adventurer, Svencity.
It was said that during that battle, he fought with the Demon Lord and was able to momentarily put the Demon Lord back to his slumber.
Thanks to this, the Demon Lord and his army were forced to fall back and wait for the awakening of the Demon Lord.
Up to the present, the Demon Lord is still in his slumber but signs of his awakening can be detected as the movement of the monsters in the Demon Lord's domain has been acting weirdly for the past year.
And so, 6 months ago, the Empire of Artesia used the "hero" summoning ritual to call a person from another world with the job class "hero" to wield the holy sword Durandal.
Thus, Hano Ryuusei and his 27 classmates were summoned into this world.
Present day.
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Hano Ryuusei POV
It has been more than half a year since our class was transferred into this unknown world.
1 month after training within the walls of Artesia Empire Castle, I together with my trusted companion left the empire of Artesia and started our journey in a quest to defeat the Demon Lord.
We, the "Heroes Party" consisted of myself and 5 other people.
Firstly there is the oldest and the strongest person in our party.
Victor Meister.
He is originally the Captain of the Knights within the Artesia Empire.
He left his post and came with us on our journey.
He came with us to guide and help our party grow stronger so that one day we might be able to fight with the Demon Lord who possessed incredible power.
So far, Victor has been a very good mentor to all of us and I have learned a lot from him.
He has been a great mentor and protector in our journey.
Next is Levethy Pau Artesia.
Levethy is the third princess of the Artesia Empire.
She was ordered by the Emperor to help me in my quest to defeat the Demon Lord.
Among the 5 offspring of the Emperor, Levethy is known to be the only one who has inherited the talents of the "Empress".
The "Empress", is the only wife of the Emperor of the Artesia Empire.
She is also the only "Empress" in history who is working as an adventurer.
Even before marrying the emperor, she had made a name for herself as one of the most talented adventurers in the world.
After some years after her marriage to the Emperor and becoming the empress, she was promoted to one of the 10 S-ranked adventurers in this world.
It was then that she was given the title, "Empress" by the adventurer's guild.
At the moment, she is leading the charge and is leading the fight in the frontline within the Demon Lord's domain.
As someone who is said to have inherited the "Empress" talents means a lot.
That means that Levethy had the talent of someone capable of reaching the "S-rank" level of power.
Indeed, Levethy is a very talented fighter having the job class "Spirit Archer" who excels at using the bow and spirit magic.
At our party, she has the best "senses" and acts as our party's "eyes" and "ears" by using her spirit magic and exceptional senses.
She also acts as our party's walking encyclopedia.
As a native of this world and with a vast knowledge of things in this world.
Whenever we had a question she would answer it with the vast amount of knowledge she read from Artesia's vast collection of books, thus she knows a lot of things.
She said that it was her pastime to read these books as she planned to learn a lot about this world.
She dreamed of one day leaving the Empire and exploring the world just like her mother did.
There is also Muto Eiko.
She is one of my classmates who accidentally transferred into this world with me.
She is a cute girl with less than average height and has a feisty and prideful personality.
At our party, she is always the most outspoken and would always cause a lot of trouble with her sharp tongue.
She would often start a fight with almost anyone she didn't like.
[Although she would often make trouble with many people from time to time because of that... haha...]
Anyway.
Eiko hates being looked down upon by other people.
As I've said earlier, she is very prideful and would not allow people to look down on her.
Since she is the smallest person in our party, people would often mistake her for a "kid".
She hates that.
Well, despite "us" her party members, knowing about this fact, we still would often tease her for that very reason.
In general, Eiko is still a nice person.
She might not show it but out of all the members of the party, she might be the one who values our camaraderie the most.
No matter how much she tells us that she hates us because of our constant teasing
Eiko is someone who would never leave us in times when we need her the most.
Indeed, Eiko is a very charming girl.
Eiko has the job class "Sage" one of the rarest jobs in this world capable of mastering all kinds of offensive magic.
Her feisty personality goes hand in hand with her favorite fire-type magic that blows away our enemies in an instant.
Next...
I can't forget about Haga Mizuko.
Like Eiko, she is also my classmate from our world.
She is a cool girl with a sharp and dignified stature.
Back in our world, she was the ace of the Kendo club in our school.
For that, she had a lot of fighting experience and was very skilled in wielding a sword.
I myself could not even compare to her skills in terms of swordplay.
In our party, Mizuko is the most level-headed person who can keep her calm in every situation.
When in doubt we would often ask for Mizuko's thoughts before moving forward.
In a way, she is the "brain" of our party.
She effectively plans, thinks, and weighs all the things our party makes in times of trouble.
Even Sir Victor praises Mizuko for that trait she has.
We have a rule in our party that...
"When in doubt ask Mizuko".
Indeed, as a "Sword Saint" Mizuko is in a class of her own.
"Sword Saint" is another one of the rarest job classes in this world.
This job class allows Mizuko to wield a sword without trouble and allows her to master all kinds of "blade" related skills to assist her in battle.
She is a reliable fighter who is even praised by the soldiers and many who have seen her skill with the blade.
Last but certainly not least, Sakata Chiho.
Like Eiko and Mizuko, Chiho is also one of my classmates.
I've known Chiho for the longest time and I can proudly call her my "childhood friend".
Having her by my side has been very helpful in easing my mind and keeping my head on my goal of returning back to our world.
I know that I am not the only one who feels at ease with Chiho by their side.
Chiho is the one person in our party who would often remind us to be careful at all times.
Her bright smile and soothing voice always have that mysterious ability to calm our minds.
She takes care of everyone and makes sure that everyone is safe and feels alright.
When someone is feeling down, she is willing to be that someone's emotional support.
Whenever Eiko would start to get feisty toward one of our party members, Chiho was always the one who would calm her down.
Like a mother, Chiho put it to herself to make sure that everyone in our party is comfortable.
She even managed to learn the skill "Cooking" a skill that only the people with the job class Cook can learn.
As such she takes care of the cooking whenever we are camping.
Thanks to that skill we do not have to eat preserved food all the time during our journey.
Chiho is the party caretaker, emotional support, reminder, manager, cook, and even a doctor.
She does it all.
She does it all to make sure that we all feel comfortable.
She really is like a mother figure to all members of the party.
I guess it was not a surprise for someone like Chiho to have the job class "Saint".
A job class capable of casting all kinds of healing and all kinds of boosting buffs.
Without Chiho, our party would not be able to perform at its best.
Everyone can agree that it was the perfect job class for Chiho.
With the 6 of us, we traveled the lands of this world.
We traveled west toward the lands under the domain of the Demon Lord.
It is now about 7 months have passed since we came to this world.
A lot had changed...
A lot of things have changed ever since I first came to this world.
I gained power beyond what I could imagine, a type of power that I could only have in dreams.
I am now living in a mystical world where magic, monsters, and many mysterious things only appear in stories back in our world.
For one, when I look at Chiho, Eiko, and Mizuko I notice that they look a lot different than when we were still in our world.
I noticed that the girl's hair color had changed.
Chiho who originally had nice dark brown hair has now changed into beautiful bright golden hair.
Eiko who originally had black hair has now changed into a crimson-red color.
Similarly, Mizuko's hair changed from black to a beautiful crystal blue color.
Not only that, I feel that the girls have become a lot more attractive than before.
I also noticed that I have undergone a minor change as well.
Physically, I noticed that I gained a lot of muscle mass all over my body.
I don't know if this transformation is from a mysterious force, similar to how Chiho and the girls' hair color changed, or if this transformation is just the result of my rigorous training.
Maybe it is both.
I don't really know.
Even more...
I noticed that my senses have been enhanced that I can now detect things that I was not able to detect before.
It is like my sense of danger had been improved that I came to learn to sense danger with some kind of "gut" feeling.
Not to mention how my body became so strong that I still often feel surprised by the things this body can do.
And then... 7 months had passed.
I am slowly adjusting to the common sense of this world.
For example...
Facing monsters seems to be a normal thing.
The common sense of killing a monster to survive is a new type of feeling for me.
Back in our world, I could not even hurt a bug.
I am the type of person who would rather pick up a bug and set it free later.
At first, killing monsters gives me that "odd" feeling of guilt for killing a living creature.
Still, I have no choice since if I let them be, they will try to kill me instead.
Even if I let them go, I know that they will eventually cause danger to other people.
Now,
That odd feeling after killing a monster is gone.
I would never have noticed this change if I had not put my mind to it.
Now, seeing mystical sights and mysterious things happening around me no longer surprised me very much.
Many things happened that allowed me to undergo these mental changes that I have barely even noticed myself.
There might be some other things that changed in me that I am not aware of.
Looking back.
There is a lot that happened during these past 7 months.
For example...
As soon as we left the Empire, a city was swarmed by an army of Undead.
It was a terrifying experience for us but also was a good learning experience in general.
Thanks to that experience we saw that we still have a lot to learn.
After seeing powerful individuals display their abilities, we knew that we have still a long way to go.
For us to defeat the Demon Lord, we needed to become even stronger.
As we are back then, we are weak in comparison to many individuals in this world.
We knew at once that for us to defeat the Demon Lord we needed to improve, get stronger, and gain more experience.
And in that time passed, we've done just that.
Thanks to that experience, we've progressed a lot and become much stronger than we were back then.
Right after the undead had been dealt with in Altus City, we went forward on our journey.
Our priority is to get to our destination, the Great city of Akasha.
The largest metropolis in the world.
The place where I can obtain the Legendary sword, "Durandal".
A sword I need to defeat the Demon Lord.
The only weapon capable of killing immortal beings such as the Demon Lord.
To do this, we traveled west of the Artesia empire, then we traversed through the great forest of Giah, and from there, deep within the forest lies the great city of Akasha.
In our journey toward the city of Akasha.
We encountered a lot of monsters and we even challenged dungeons.
We defeated the boss inside it.
We Gained more experience.
And we leveled up.
Still, we have a long way to go.
Compared to how we were 6 months ago, we've gone a long way.
During our journey to Akasha, we ended up getting mixed up with many types of troubles.
3 months ago, we were caught with some group that did not like our party being in their territory.
We ended up messing with their business of selling slaves and we ended up in a mess.
They ended up pointing their blades at us and tried to kill us to protect their hold on their territory.
They did not want us to be meddling with their business and so they decided to "teach" us a lesson by attempting to harm us while we stayed in that small city.
During that time, the leader continued to explain his goals and plans of gaining fame and power with all the money that he gained in this business.
Still, I could not forgive him for taking the freedom of those he had captured to be turned into slaves.
At the end of the day, no matter how he came out for a reason, what he was doing was wrong.
Our party and that group ended up in a fight.
In that city, I defeated many of the group's goons and eventually ended up defeating the leader of the group in a fight.
I had a chance to end him at that time but I decided not to end his life.
Instead, I allowed him to run away and spared his life.
After I defeated him and freed all their captives and left the city with all the freed slaves waving us goodbye.
There was also this time.
When we saved a noble lady from a tyrant nobleman with a higher status.
I was opposed to how the nobleman used his power and status to force the noblelady to marry him, and my comrades helped her solve her problems.
The noble lady became very close to me as she did not want to leave my side after we saved her from the evil noble.
With the help of Levethy and Victor, we managed to report that noble to the higher-ups of the empire and report his bad deeds.
The nobleman resisted to the end but after some investigation from the Empire, his sins were exposed and he was punished.
That young nobleman was more corrupt than what everyone was expecting him to be.
The noble was engaging in illegal slavery, illegal trade, forbidden magic practice, and many more evil deeds.
Now, he was forced to pay his crime to face trial and pay for his crime in jail.
But well, because of that I ended up having a nobleman's bad side.
As things had settled back then, the young noble lady we saved asked me to marry her instead of that corrupt nobleman.
I was quite surprised but she must have been saying it as a joke but still, I denied her request to marry her.
[Still, while knowing it was a joke, I was happy to hear it haha...]
Then... as I was thinking this.
Chiho and the other girls in our party started to get angry at me for some reason.
I wonder why the girls in our party became really angry at me after it was solved and done.
-sigh-
To be honest, the girls keep getting angry at me from time to time during our journey similar to that time.
It happens a lot during our travel.
I kept on gaining the attention of many people...
[I wonder why.]
[Huh? Now that I think about it... most of them are girls? Hmnn... Nah, It must be my imagination.]
On our way to Giah, we met a lot of people.
A lot of good people.
Those people became our allies which we helped along the way.
A lot of bad people.
Those bad people aimed their malice at us.
We keep on getting in trouble with those people as we always end up interfering with their inhumane acts and selfish reasons.
We ended up crossing blades with those bad people.
Thankfully we came out victorious every time, and this is all thanks to my reliable comrades who support me and help me in all of my selfish wishes to help others in need.
Every time, we give proper justice in response to those people's actions and have them pay for their bad deeds.
That is what I am.
I would always spare their lives and allow them to keep their lives.
I hate to see people die just because they did something wrong.
I believe that one day they will change their ways.
I believe that one day, they will realize their mistake and change their minds to do the right thing.
That is my mindset.
No matter what other people say, I think that this is the right thing to do.
Every time I spared the enemy's life, Victor would always reprimand me for letting them go saying, I was naive.
"Those people may one day bite you on the back." <Victor>
I agree, Maybe I really am naive, but I do believe that what I did was the correct thing to do.
I can't get myself to kill other people just because they wronged me.
I refuse to do so.
The girls also say the same thing about me.
They say I am too nice to others.
Still no matter what, they support me every time saying, "It can't be helped", "I guess that's Ryuusei for you?", "Helping others again?", and such.
They say this but they still help me after a sigh.
We continued to travel in this world toward the great forest of Giah.
You can call me a martyr but I do love helping people in need.
For example, those people who are being troubled by monsters and bandits.
We end up helping them without asking for any reward.
We captured the bandits and handed them over to the authorities.
I love seeing people smile after we settle their problems regarding those things.
I guess this is also part of being the "hero"?
Maybe it is, maybe not.
At the end of the day I am doing this for myself satisfaction.
I thank my party members for putting up with my selfish wishes.
Still, I do not regret my decision to help people in need, especially since I can help them with the power I have.
I do believe that one of the reasons why I gained this power is for me to use it for the people who need it.
In this world, I can use this power to help people.
I think this is part of my mission as the "Hero".
Every time we visit a small village, a town, or even a city.
people will celebrate our arrival.
They would cheer our party as they prayed for our successful quest of defeating the Demon Lord.
I realize then...
[Ah, those people really want to be free from the threat of the Demon Lord and his army.]
Their cheers.
Their hope.
Their smiles.
I want to protect it.
I gained more resolve in defeating the demon lord.
I gained more reasons as to why I needed to defeat the Demon Lord.
But first... I need the sword to fight the Demon Lord.
The holy sword "Durandal"
A sword that only a person with the job class "Hero" can wield.
In the hands of such an individual, I can display its true power.
Currently, this sword is being kept within Akasha City's treasury.
As we were traveling, we came upon many small villages within the Giah forest and became friends with the native Elves there.
Just as the story says, the elves are diligently protecting the great forest of Giah.
Thanks to them protecting the great Giah Forest, no monsters from the Demon Lord's domain managed to pass through the forest and into the peaceful lands in the east.
As we go deeper into the forest, the more elves reside.
As we go even deeper into the forest, we encounter more and more monsters, and the deeper we get the more dangerous it is.
Then...
We finally arrived at the city.
The largest city in the world...
The great city of Akasha.
The city was filled with many people.
I originally expected the city to be filled with elves but unexpectedly enough the place was composed of many other races other than the Elves.
In fact, about 80% of those people there were not Elves but rather a person from other races such as Dwarf, Humans, Demonkin, Beastkin, and many more.
Even more, the people who gather there are individuals with impressive fighting prows.
I can tell by just looking at them, all of them are strong.
No wonder, as expected of the place called the final frontier.
All of these people are either adventurers or soldiers who are all preparing to conquer the Demon Lords' domain.
To test their skills.
To test their luck.
To prove their abilities.
To challenge the unknown.
They all gather there to have their final preparation before exploring and conquering the Demon Lord's domain.
[Well, that is also one of the reasons why "we" the heroes' party came to this place.]
"We're here..." <Victor>
Victor said in his musky low voice as we reached a hilltop.
A vast land of all kinds of structures welcomed us.
Noticeably an extremely large tree was standing in the middle of that vast land.
The tree was so tall it was even taller than the hill we were standing from.
The tree was so tall that it was even higher than the highest clouds in the sky.
The trunk of the tree extends for about a kilometer in diameter.
The roots of the tree looked like hills as it protruded in the ground
All of the other trees around this tree looked like small weeds in comparison to this tree.
Even before we reached Akasha city, the tree could be seen from hundreds of kilometers away.
That is how large the tree was.
[If I am right, that giant tree is called the World Tree or Tree of Life.]
[But wow... that tree is seriously large. Look some parts of the tree are even higher than the clouds... I wish I had my phone so I could take a picture of it...]
"The world tree... It's the first time I've seen it... It really is taller than mountains..." <Levethy>
Even Levethy who is a native of this world was amazed at how large the trees were.
"Uwawawa... it's really big..." <Eiko>
Chiho could only nod.
Mizuko silently gazed at the tree but I could tell that she was also in awe.
I could not blame her as I have no words to say.
We are in awe as we gaze upon that majestic giant tree from afar.
Around the world tree were large trees.
They are as high as a 20-story building with thick and sturdy trunks.
These large trees are scattered all around the world tree.
On those trees are house-like structures built on the branches of those trees.
Houses in open areas were also present.
Roads.
Large buildings.
Small houses
Open plazas
Wide and narrow roads, brick roads.
No city in this world can compare to how big and sophisticated the city of Akasha was.
By just looking at the city, one can tell that the place is prosperous and full of life.
From where we were standing atop a mountain, we could clearly see how large the city was.
Even from our vantage point, the entirety of the city cannot be determined.
"Whee~ Now that we can see the tree more clearly, the more impressive the tree looks." <Eiko>
"Right? From the way it looked, that thing is even taller than a mountain." <Chiho>
"Look down there, it's the city of Akasha! Now that I can see the city, there are all kinds of man-made structures everywhere. I can't even see how far this city reached." <Eiko>
"The capital city of Artesia could not even match the size of this city." <Levethy>
"Right? now that we can see the city, Artesia capital can't even compare to this."
"Kakakakaka! Is it? it is! Kakakaka!~" <Victor>
Out of all of us, Victor is the only person in our party who has ever been to Akasha.
[If I remember it right Victor had been here. I think he said it was 10 years ago? Back when the Demon Lord attacked.]
"Ugh... How long do we have to walk to reach the adventurers guild? those things are often at the center of the city right?" <Eiko>
"Ahh... You don't have to bother with that, due to how large this city is, there are 4 adventurer's guilds in this city. We just have to go to the nearest one." <Victor>
"-sigh- thank god~ At last we can have a good rest once in a while." <Eiko>
"Ah, at last, a proper bed!" <Chiho>
"Well, I am okay with outdoor makeshift beds tho~" <Levethy>
"Shut up, you weird princess! You're the only one amongst us who enjoys sleeping outdoors!" <Eiko>
"What did you say you lolita brat?!" <Levethy>
"Who are you calling a loli?! I told you time and time again to not call me that!" <Eiko>
"What? you want to go at it again, Loli girl?!" <Levethy>
"Eekkk!!! Alright! Come on!" <Eiko>
Eiko and Levethy pulled out their weapons.
"Eiko, Levethy stop it." <Chiho>
-sigh- <Mizuko>
Mizuko rolled her eyes and pulled the two apart as the two were still glaring at each other.
"Come on Mizuko, help me stop these two. You too Ryuusei!"
"ah... aha... ahaha..." <Ryuusei>
[I don't think I can do that... Chiho.]
Eiko and Levethy started to quarrel once again.
Every time I try to stop them when they are fighting they would shift their anger to me for some reason.
So, I would rather watch and wait for Chiho to ease the two quarrels.
These two often do this, all I can do is smile when these two are at it.
Well, I guess this is how these two bond?
[I don't know, Are they close? Or do they have bad vibes? I don't understand them.]
I can't blame the girls.
After all, it has been about a month since we stayed in a proper home.
We've been exploring this great forest of Giah for about a month now.
No wonder why Eiko feels the way she feels.
I bet she really missed sleeping on a proper bed.
This past month we've only rested on make-shift beds and even worse, there are times when we have to rest in a place that is not suited for resting.
I guess I can't blame her for feeling this.
Even I have that urge to sleep in a comfortable bed and forget about the Hero and Demon Lord stuff.
We've arrived in the city and it still took us hours to arrive in one of the four adventurers guilds in the city.
We entered the guild and adventurers welcomed us with open arms.
As always those adventurers offered us food and introduced themselves to us.
As we've met so many adventurers in our adventures, I have no confidence if I am to tell them apart.
Still, I received their warm welcome.
As always adventurers were happy to welcome us in the adventurer's guild.
Some of them are asking to assist us in our adventure.
Some offer us help in any way they can.
Many ask us to tell them stories about what we've been through so far.
And... for some reason, some female adventurer would stick very close to me with their revealing clothes which makes me feel shy.
Thankfully the girls in our party would stop them if they came too close to me.
Then for some unknown reason, those adventurers would look disappointed as Chiho and the others would chase them away.
Then after that, Chiho and the others would get angry at me.
[Then again... WHY?!]
As we were in that adventurer's guild a familiar face welcomed us with a bright face.
It was a former classmate of mine.
I'm sure his name was...
"Oh! Ryuusei! Chiho-san! Everyone! Long time no see!" <Naofumi>
[Oh... Right! His name is Tamashiro Naofumi]
"Ah! Naofumi-san! What a coincidence to see you here!" <Ryuusei>
[Crap I almost forgot who he was]
It surprised me to see Naofumi at this place.
Also, his physical features were so different that I almost mistook him for someone else.
His body looked lean and yet muscular.
He was taller and looked more mature now.
Compared to his skinny and youthful look back then Naofumi had changed.
It was like a distant past when he looked like a young and powerless.
[Whoa, I guess after living for half a year in this world changes us in so many ways...]
I then noticed something.
Mizuko was looking at Naofumi with caution.
Her sharp eyes were glued to Naofumi's smiling face.
[?]
[I wonder what is wrong...]
Author Note:
Hello~
I was delayed for almost a month in releasing this chapter.
Originally, I wanted to write this part of the story in a single chapter.
Unfortunately, as I was reading the chapter myself, I thought to myself.
[It's too vague, I feel that this part of the story flows too fast, even if it feels "Rushed".]
I stopped and thought.
YEP LET'S RE-WRITE THIS PART.
And so I ended up re-writing chapter 118 and extended it to about 3-4 chapters.
I guess it was fine since we still have to start with the next arc.
I also wanted to show how the others were doing.
I also think that Hano and his party need more storytelling.
AND SO!
After some edits and things~ I ended up delaying this chapter for a month.