Volume 1 Chapter 7: Part 1: Together

"We're almost there at the orc camp! Prepare yourselves!" Irene screams out as she leads the charge towards the camp. It has been a couple of days. And in those days, the trainees changed a lot.

They understand what they have to do and turn more serious.

Even the nobles who messed around before now have serious expressions. The reason for all of this is due to survival.

What Joseph said before about not helping, he meant it. It took a couple of more times before they got it. Even when they were in trouble, the knights only sat there and watched them fight.

So it was a matter of life and death for them if they didn't fight. But they aren't the ones who got affected the most. The person who changed the most from all of this is Irene.

A leader emerged from this entire journey. In the beginning, the trainees were still fighting frantically. Even if they became more serious about it, it didn't change how they acted.

They were still frantic and unable to adapt.

They kept swinging their swords hysterically, not minding the other trainee next to them. It broke their formation.

Seeing this, Irene couldn't take it and began to shout out orders. Hearing it, the trainees became more organized and attacked the monsters in droves.

They became a well-honed small army. As the group gets closer to the camp, Irene shouts,

"Vanguard, raise your shields! The rearguard, raise your swords, and get ready to fight!" As she says this, Irene raises her sword and shield, ready to charge in.

The only person who isn't doing all of this is Onyx. He's beside Joseph, watching them fight.

"They look like a well-honed army now." Onyx smiles. Irene's growing so much. He's happier about Irene's growth. Well, it isn't surprising thinking about it now.

"Yeah, for a bunch of rookies. This looks ok. But they can do better." Joseph shakes his head at them. They're trainees of the knight order. For it to take them this long to get their minds together: it's disappointing.

"Well, compared to the other days, this is miles better than the first. They're not acting like brats any more. Just give them some time, I guess."

Should you be the one to say that? Aren't you the same age as them? Joseph gives him a strange look. The way he said it made it feel like Onyx was older than the rest of them.

While they joke around,

"Charge!" Irene screams out. Hearing that, the trainees charge in a tight formation. They're like a spear, ready to mow down everything in front.

"Hmm? Why did they stop." That charging only lasted a few seconds before they stopped moving. They were so gung-ho about it. To see them stop like that was a little dangerous. Some trainees even fell down in the back.

"I'm going to go check on them." Onyx jumps on top of the tree to get across faster. He jumps down next to Irene,

"Irene, what's the- huh?" Onyx was about to ask her what was wrong. But he didn't need to say anything. What he's looking at is enough to make him get the picture of why they stopped.

"Onyx, is this really an orc camp?" Irene just can't believe this is one.

"It should be." Yes, in front of them is an orc camp. But it isn't something they can consider to be one.

What they're looking at is a shattered camp. Pure desolation and destruction. What makes it worse is the splattering of blood across the entire settlement.

It's clear to everybody that there were orcs here before.

"Ugghh." Some of the trainees begin to gag from the sight. Never have they seen such a brutal scene.

"What happened?" Joseph pushes away the trainees. Unlike Onyx, he's wearing heavy armor so he can't jump from tree to tree.

But when he saw the carnage, he quickly took charge, "Everybody group up and back to back! The enemy can still be here!"

Hearing his orders, the knights quickly circled around the trainees. Unlike the trainees, the knights are quick in formation and cautious of their surroundings.

Onyx readies his sword and steps in front of Irene.

The knights begin to look around, checking if the coast is clear. Once it is, Joseph shouts, "Everybody stay alert. The enemy might still come back."

The knights nod and continue to be close to each other. However, they loosened up a bit more.

While they do this, Joseph begins to search the camp alone. There are battle marks all around the settlement.

"What kind of monster could treat orcs like playthings?" That's what Joseph figured out from all the claw marks. There weren't any signs of a battle at all.

It was a one-sided massacre from the other side.

"Mr.Joseph, what should we do now?" Onyx walks up to him. Now that the orcs are done for, their objective is gone.

The best option they have is to retreat.

"Mmmm. We should-"

"Let's go in and kill that beast!"

"!" Onyx and Joseph make a weird expression when they hear that.

But they are even more surprised by the person who made this request. The person who shouted this was Gregory.

Is that brat mad?!

How can he say something so stupid?!

That's what the two thought when they heard this suggestion. It is beyond foolish.

Even the other nobles look at him weirdly. Gregory explains himself, "Think about it! If we killed the monster that destroyed the orc camp, wouldn't we be considered heroes? We'll be considered heroes!"

That's the reason why Gregory wants to do it. He wants to show everybody that he's a hero.

Hearing his reasoning, the other trainees begin to look eager as well. His words sparked something in them.

They have been doing well these past days. They killed off anything that came their way.

So wouldn't this monster be easy for us to kill off? However, there was one person who cut in,

"Are you that dumb?" Onyx glares at Gregory.

"What do you want?" Gregory makes an annoyed expression when he sees Onyx cutting in.

"What do I want? Do you know how pig-headed you sound? Do you not understand the situation we're in?!"

Onyx shouts at him. Onyx wouldn't have been this pissed off if it was another reason.

"With all of us together, we can easily kill the monster." Gregory still believes they can beat the monster with their strength.

Onyx sighs, "Do you not understand your own skill level? That monster easily massacred an entire orc camp. That thing is way stronger than everything you guys fought altogether."

Did he not look at the knights or something?

Onyx knows why Gregory has all this confidence. Sure, the beasts they fought were strong.

Strong for the trainees, that is.

If the knights fought those monsters, they could kill them in seconds. And for them to have serious expressions now shows this isn't something beginners can deal with.

Gregory sneers, "To think the hero is afraid of a little monster. What a coward."

"Being a coward and not running into something blind are two different things. We're rushing into something that will slaughter us like animals. Do you guys understand this?" If the group rushes in, they will be slaughtered.

Hearing Onyx's words, some of the trainees flinch. With death in my mind, some didn't want to risk it. But Gregory continues to rile them up,

"Don't be afraid! We have been taking down all the monsters before. So why couldn't we deal with that monster too?!"

The group became conflicted on what to do. But then, the grand priest spoke up,

"Hero Onyx, you don't have to be afraid of going into the forest with any dangers. If it gets out of hand: we'll use our magic to heal all of you." Hearing all of that, the trainees have relieved expressions.

They have seen the effects of the healing magic. So knowing the priests would help was reassuring.

But Onyx still isn't convinced. He didn't trust it at all.

It takes time to cast healing magic. So if anybody gets seriously injured, can they actually do it?

"What do you think we should do, Hero Irene?" Gregory turns over to Irene. In terms of influence, Irene's voice was important. She was the leader of the group. Compared to the knights, Irene has the most trust of the trainees. Whatever she says would make the other trainees follow.

"Hmm." Irene thinks hard about this. But the next second, she decides,

"Alright, we should go and take care of that monster."

Onyx has a blank expression on his face. But the next second, he shouts, "Are you serious right now?!"

"You don't have to worry about it. With this many people around, we can defeat the monster." Irene says with confidence.

And that confidence is brought over to the other trainees as well. No, it invigorated the trainees. Knowing that Irene believes in them, the trainees(Mostly males) wanted to show off even more!

"..." Onyx was speechless. He looks at Joseph, and he shakes his head. Seeing this, Onyx sighs,

"Fine."

Hearing his agreement, Irene smiles, "Onyx, you don't have to worry about anything."

"..." Onyx doesn't say anything. His expression, on the other hand, says it all.

...

"Mr. Joseph, why would you agree to something like that?" The only person who had the same thought as Onyx was Joseph.

So Onyx couldn't understand why he agreed to something like that.

Joseph shakes his head, "It was too late. The moment Irene said something, my words wouldn't bring them over."

That's how much the trainees trust Irene. Even if he says something, the majority would be siding with Irene. Of course, Joseph doesn't want to continue with the journey.

But splitting the group up right now isn't something I want to do. Some will follow Joseph's words. The knights, especially. The majority will be coming from the trainees rushing in with Irene. And that will cause a lot of deaths.

But that is the least of Joseph's problems.

Why do those bastards want to go fight that monster? Joseph stares at the grand priest and the rest of the priests.

What the grand priest said was weird. He should have the same amount of battle experience as him. So he should understand the risk involved.

Joseph just can't understand why.

"Onyx, be on your guard. If that something is dangerous, prioritize escaping rather than fighting." Joseph warns Onyx. Even he doesn't know what awaits them further on in the forest.

"Understood." Vargar had told him this as well. With those two telling him to run, Onyx became even more cautious of the forest.

...

"Go for their necks!" Irene shouts as she faces off with the monsters in front of her. Her face is tense as she faces the beasts.

The trainees are no different either.

The monsters they're facing are kobolds. Except for the head being a dog, the rest of its body is humanoid.

"Rawr!" Compared to the orcs, the kobolds are weaker in terms of strength. But they make up with their speed. They claw at the trainee's weak spot, taking advantage of every weakness they show.

"Everybody pull back! I'm going to use my lightning magic!" Irene shouts out. And the trainees quickly move away from the beasts.

Irene's hand burns yellow as she shouts,

"Thunder Wave!" A wave of thunder shot forward, electrocuting anything in its path.

There's no more roaring coming from them now. The kobolds quickly got burnt to a crisp by the unending wave of lightning.

"We did it!" The trainees scream. They have defeated another monster. While some are getting treated by the priests, Onyx mulls over something,

Are they the ones who killed the orcs?

The more they fought, the warier Onyx became. The monsters they're fighting are becoming harder as they go deeper in.

And they still haven't found the one who destroyed the orcs.

What kind of monster are we dealing with?

"Let's keep moving!" But Onyx isn't allowed to think more as the group goes deeper. The more they moved in, the darker the forest became.

"Everybody! Stick closer together. The forest is becoming darker!" Somebody can easily get lost if they aren't attentive to their surroundings.

The trainees nod. But before they can go forward, Joseph screams out,

"Everybody, stop moving!" His shouting alarmed everybody. This is his second time giving out orders. Even Onyx became alarmed.

"Everybody prepare yourself. There's a battle up ahead. And it's an intense one!"

Blood. The reason why Joseph was giving out orders was he smelled blood. And it wasn't just beast blood.

It was human.

As the group continued to move forward, they saw the scene. It's a human camp.

Was, to be exact.

It was the same as the orc camp they saw. But the only difference is that the bits of flesh are from humans.

The trainee's expression turns pale. Some even start to throw up instead of gagging. Even Onyx and Irene's face pale when they see it.

Joseph and the knights are the only ones who kept their cool. He examines the blood,

This battle isn't recent. The blood dried halfway.

Onyx looks at the scene in shock. But amidst the shock, he can hear somebody's voice,

"How can they be killed? What about our plans?" Onyx looks over to see the grand priest's expression pale. This is the first time he sees him without a smile.

Onyx tilts his head. Plan? What does he mean?

"Everybody, we need to go now!" Joseph screams out. They need to leave right now before it comes back for some reason.

Gregory's face was pale. But he still shouts out, "Why we haven't-"

But it's too late.

"Ahhhh!" One of the trainees screams out in horror! And when everybody turns around. They see it.

The monster has one of the trainees in its mouth. And then, it swallows him whole without any struggle.

Amidst all the screaming and horror going on, there is one person who looks at the monster.

Onyx stares at the monster with wide eyes.

He knows what it is. It's all too familiar to him.

Chimera.

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