Jax scread.
Then he stopped screaming. After about half an hour, he had gotten used to the speed. Which was as expected. He was an S-ranked adventurer— actually, he was an SS-ranked adventurer now.
He was quite competent. And he was very smug about it too.
“Hmph,” the Forsaken Archer harrumphed. “You simply caught by surprise, that’s all.”
I gave him a flat stare, even as I leapt through the sky while carrying him in my arms. I sighed as I looked towards the forest expanding over the horizon.
“Whatever you say,” I murmured.
“Please, are you even trying to make scream?” he chuckled.
“No, I’d prefer it if you shut up—” I started.
“This is hardly even a challenge!” Jax smirked at . “Are you even trying? Co on, now! Make scream!”
I landed right in the middle of a clearing of trees, before staring down at the elf’s smug face. He looked at challengingly, and I opened my mouth. But I caught myself. I didn’t want to argue. So I acquiesced.
“Fine.”
I took a step forward, still carrying him in my arms.
“Oh? Are you finally going to give a challenge—” the Forsaken Archer began.
And I shot through the air, crossing a hundred miles in seconds as Jax scread again. But this ti, he scread much louder too.
—--
We arrived at Windrip a few minutes later. I had to slow down because Jax passed out for a few monts. And when we finally landed, the Forsaken Archer was drenched in sweat. He collapsed onto the grassy ground, panting as he stared up at the sky in a daze.
“Is that… all you… got…?” he mustered up.
I rolled my eyes, before looking away from him. I had already indulged him once, so I was going to ignore him now. Instead, I swept my gaze over my surroundings. I took in the lush green forest surrounding .
The trees were tall and dark. Many of them stood at a hundred feet tall, creating a thick canopy overhead that cast a dark shadow over the underbrush. But sohow, the foliage down here was thick, even with the sparse light that leaked below.
It was unlike the area around Wolfwater which looked like an ordinary forest I’d see back on Earth. With the colorful mushrooms and the vibrant flowers sprouting from the trees and the bushes, this place almost looked like a magical land straight out of a fairy tale.
And it was a familiar sight to . After all, I had been here before. In fact, it was the very first place I had found myself in when I first exited the Fractured Realm and entered Vacuos.
It was Briar Glenn. A B-ranked region. One full of dangerous monsters and plantlife. And just up ahead, located right in the very fringe of this forest was the city of Windrip.
Well, it was a city in na, but it was built like a fortress. Although… most of its defenses had been torn down when Glutaz the Goblin Lord attacked.
I had specifically chosen to land a few miles outside of Windrip to not draw too much attention to myself. I wanted to go in, grab Guildmaster Evan, and get out. I was here to make things right, but I also wasn’t going to get involved in this war between the Astrad Kingdom and the Kingdom of Kal. That was why I wanted to get this over with as fast as possible.
“Co on,” I said as I glanced back down to Jax.
He rose to his feet, still looking sickly. But he forced a grin back at . “I’m… completely fine…”
“Then let’s get going.” I strode past him, heading for the city in the distance.
The Forsaken Archer stumbled after . Evidently, he was not completely fine just yet.
Not much had changed since I had last been here. So colorful flowers had sprouted on the leaves of the trees in Briar Glenn, but it was mostly the sa forest I rembered. And when I got to Windrip, I expected there to be significant changes to the city since Kallistus Kal attacked.
But there was no substantial change— the populace wasn’t enslaved, and there weren’t legions of guards marching down the city streets. It… looked just like it did before. Except in a state of disrepair.
The only real difference was that there was now an encampnt of soldiers located right next to Windrip. A small fort had been erected at its very center, probably built out of magic by so [Geomancer].
They flew the banner of the Kingdom of Kal— a crescent moon hanging high over a pyramid. I narrowed my eyes as I stared at the fort in the middle of the encampnt.
“Think Evan is in there?” I asked as I turned to Jax.
The elf just shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll have to poke around and find out.”
A savage smile spread across his face as he unhooked his bow. I stopped him from reaching for his quiver. I sighed as I gestured at Windrip.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said, taking a step forward. “Let’s ask so questions first, alright? I don’t want to storm that fortress if Evan is not in there. It would just be embarrassing…”
“Hmph. Very well.” Jax lowered his bow as he slumped his shoulders, following as I walked up to the city.
He pulled his hood over head, and I did the sa. My jacket had a hood— it didn’t mask as much of my face as the elf’s since mine wasn’t enchanted. But it was good enough for .
Windrip wasn’t in the best of state right now. But that was true from when I had last been here. The only difference was that a few more streets had burned down, and the makeshift walls covering the periters of the city had been destroyed.
Most of the rubble and the wreckage had already been cleared away. But there hadn’t been any repairs made to the infrastructure since the city had been attacked. And the mood hanging in the air reminded of what I had seen right after the Goblin Lord’s attack.
The streets were mostly empty. Everyone kept to themselves. Jax barely paid any attention to the state of the city, but I noticed that we were drawing a little bit of attention to ourselves. I heard a handful of voices whispering as figures pointed at us from the dark alleyways.
“Are they…?”
“They look like adventurers, so maybe...”
“We should stay away.”
“They would only cause trouble.”
“Let’s go—”
I watched as those who had been watching us began to slink away. I narrowed my eyes.
“What’s going on?” I whispered.
It was strange. Most of the passersby would shy away from us too, and parents would bring their children into their houses.
“Are we just going to wander around aimlessly, or do you actually have sothing in mind?” Jax asked as he crossed his arms.
I glanced back at the impatient elf, before sighing. “Co on.”
I led him down another street corner, before coming to a halt right before a ramshackle building. Jax looked it up and down, inspecting the damaged brickwork. The sign that had once been hanging from the front door was gone, but it was evident even to the elf that this was an inn.
It was the inn I had stayed in when I was living here in Windrip.
“Brynn’s inn,” I said its na. “We can ask her so questions. She’ll help us out.”
Jax just shrugged and followed as I pushed the door of the inn open. But right as I took a step in, a trio of hooded figures made their way out.
“Watch it,” a gruff voice said as the first man brushed past .
His companions trailed after him, and I stepped out of the way. The second figure just silently followed him, while the third figure turned to face . I caught a brief glimpse of her face— she looked like a young woman, about Noele’s age.
“Sorry about him,” she said as she nodded apologetically at . “He’s an idiot.”
Jax glared at them, but I waved a hand off dismissively.
“It’s fine.”
I watched them go, before I turned back to the lobby of the inn. There were hardly any custors here— which was unexpected. I had thought that Brynn would be offering her establishnt to house those who had lost their hos during the attack.
But it was mostly empty. There were only a handful of slumped figures sitting at the tables and chairs of the inn, passed out from drinking too much.
I strode up to the bar as I heard a voice calling out from the kitchen.
“We’re closed!” Brynn erged from the kitchen, carrying a steaming pot with both her arms. She was paler and thinner than when I had last seen her, and she wore a disgruntled look on her face. “If you want a room to stay, you can go to Jesper’s place. You just have to fork up the right price.”
She shook her head as she set a pot of soup down on the bar, and I ca to a halt right before her.
“I’m not looking for a room,” I said simply.
“Then what do you want?” The [Innkeeper] narrowed her eyes. “If you’re here to rob —”
“We’re not.” I pulled my hood back as I cut her off.
I smiled at her, and her eyes went wide. She stared at , taking a step back.
“Hello, Brynn,” I greeted the [Innkeeper]. “It’s been a while.
Brynn tried to work her jaw. Then she leant forward, pointing at in shock.
“You’re— Alia the Unranked Adventurer!”
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