Chapter 3: Come As You Are 1
“I’ve rented a carriage. We will get to the Capital City in no time. We will sort things out when we get there.”
The group was leaving the tavern; they seemed much more serious that when they came in, Miria received the payment from the Lamia and shared around 10% with Kael. He didn’t seem very pleased with his percentage, but he wasn’t in a position to negotiate either.
At least from what Kael could see, the carriage looked pretty comfortable, but he didn’t know if he had enough heart to stomach a whole journey with that much tension in the air.
*After the conversation that we had early this morning, things got a bit uncomfortable. They barely look at me, and it’s not like there’s a lot of space here inside the carriage. I don’t know if that’s the best decision I could have taken, but that was the predictable outcome, one way or another.*
“So, how long will it take to get there?” Kael asked while looking at the window. *Fuck, I can’t look at then either, this is too awkward. Why I feel so ashamed? I haven’t done anything wrong to begin with.*
“This way, probably a day.” Elin answered his question, but the other two didn’t look to be in the best mood.
*Now that my head was thinking better, I thought they liked me deep down or something; of course my shithead couldn't believe that I really was an income asset for them. I know why she can’t just do anything with me. The Capital City has called her, and since I’m a man, they wouldn’t just let that go. This respect does not come from good intentions. She is merely being professional.*
“I can’t help but be curious. How exactly do you expect to live on your own?” Miria asked, as her eyes also seemed to be wandering outside.
“I have no idea, but as long as I can do whatever I want, I’m satisfied with it.”
Kael puts my hands together while wandering his eyes around the carriage. It was rather luxurious, and because of her status as a hero, it wasn’t much of a surprise for him anymore.
“That sounds like a good plan. Just so you know, if you feel like coming back, we will accept you with open arms.”
“I expected a bit more resistance, especially considering how we’ve met.”
“No, no, I’d like you to realize how hopeless you are first.” Hah, I knew she wasn’t going to become a friendly lady just with one discussion, fucking stubborn bitch. You can't hide your ill intentions behind your pretty face.
“Aren’t you something else? Didn’t you forget I’ve become a mage in the past few days?"
“Yes, I did notice that, but you also seem to forget how rare men are in this world. If you are not powerful enough to defend yourself against the most powerful warrior in this world, you are basically a rabbit running in a field of wolves.”
“I just have to get stronger! That’s my plan all along, and it’s not going to be you that’s going to stop it.” Besides fully knowing the difference between them, he stared directly into her eyes with a tenacious look.
“Well, if I wanted to stop you I would have done that already. At this point I just want to watch you fail and come back to me like a lost puppy looking for food.” She had a smug expression all over her face, Miria didn’t even attempt to hide that she felt he was extremely delusional.
“I wonder why Miria is doing that.” Vyra interrupted their conversation.
“Doing what?” Kael asked.
“I mean, this is just a waste of time. If you know you can’t defend yourself, why even try?”
“Because I’ve promised myself that I’m not livi-”
“That’s not what I said. Let’s imagine for a bit: If I tried to force myself here in this carriage at this exact moment, what exactly could you do to stop me?” Vyra placed her right hand on his leg, as she was the one by his side.
“I-i…”
“See, that’s what I’m talking about; you are hopeless, and your power is just too valuable to be wasted by the first pack of relatively strong women that are going to undoubtedly rape you.”
“My god Vyra, have some respect.” Miria instantly disproved of what Vyra was trying to say. But the mage just gazed back at her leader with disdain.
“You also enslaved me and prohibited me from having sex. You forced me to be a hero, which is something I never desired to be. You know what I did before dying and coming back to life. I’m as foul as you think I am. If I were given this sort of power you possess, I’d be indulging in his body every day.”
*If it were the first few days, I would find it sexy or something related. But the more time I spend in this world, sleeping with a beautiful woman isn’t going to be my biggest problem. I shouldn’t be completely driven by that. Her silly charm isn’t going to work on me anymore, especially since I’m beginning to know her a bit more.*
“You are wicked.” Kael said to Vyra while pushing her hand away from him.
“Oh yes, I’m, and I’m tired of pretending I’m not. You don’t know how much your tantrum has ruined my expectations for the future. I thought for a second that I would finally start having sex again, and you decided to pretend that you have some sense of shame. We both know you are just a slut.”
“Shut your mouth, Vyra. Another word, and I make sure you will hate your current life even more.”
The only one who hasn't t opened their mouth yet was Elin, it seemed like the world around her didn’t even move.
“Close to here there’s a small river that has some pretty strong slimes, if he fails there, he stays for a bit longer, especially that there’s no way to know how good he is or what his powers are just by guessing.” Elin has spoken while looking at Kael, she was the only one he had a bit of respect for.
“I accept that. That sounds good to me.” Kael agrees to the challenge proposed by Elin.
"Interesting. I’m curious to see how much he progressed, considering he didn’t even know how to control mana just a few days ago. I accept that, and what about you, Vyra?”
“Not interested. He can go out there and get fucked by a slime. I don’t really want to get jealous of a slime.” Vyra quickly replied as she closed her eyes and tried to get herself to sleep.
The carriage kept moving without any sort of interruption until the reached the spot that Elin had previously mentioned. It was already evening and a bit harder to see things. But Kael was completely focused on fighting the slimes that were mentioned.
While Vyra kept sleeping, Elin and Miria prepared themselves to follow him to the margin of the river.
Before going there, he opened his status while Miria was in another place to check his current status.
---
NAME: Kael Sinclair
AGE: 18
SEX: MALE
LEVEL: 4
HP: 172/172
MANA: 172/172
EXP: 3000/4800
CLASS: "???"
SPELLS
EMPOWER Rank F
HEAL Rank F
Money: 100 Gold Coins
Active
Mana Shield Rank F – Creates an Armor around your body using your Mana to protect yourself for various forms of attack, Psychic.
Mana Exchange Rank F - ???
Passive
Mana Expertise Rank F – This is the first level of magic mastery. The efficiency and power of your spells are increased.
Mana Flow Rank F – It focuses your Mana into other skills to increase their capability.
---
…
I completely forgot.
I don’t have an offensive weapon, but I can’t go back now, I would just be proving them right. It doesn’t matter, I remember Vyra’s lesson, she tried to teach me that before, my only way is to figure out something on the go.