This chapter would be slower than usual, because of plot advancement. Thank you for continuing your support for my story and enjoy the chapter.

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“*YAWWWN*” Hiro let out a long drawn out yawn as he walked on the road.

The sun was not out yet and it won’t be for another good hour. What brought on this situation one might ask? Simple.

‘Who would’ve thought that as soon as the bear was killed a new predator or in this case predators took its territory.’ Hiro complained.

In the middle of the night Hiro was woken up by the eerie howls of a wolf pack. It seems they had already sniffed out the recently made corpse of the bear and were already beginning to move into the dead bear’s territory. Hiro was a light sleeper, the hair-raising howl had woken him and without another moment to decide, had him packing up and setting out back to the city.

‘Such a shame too. The size of the bear fang would’ve proved to everybody that I actually killed it.’ Hiro had planned to remove a fang from the bear on his way back, but the plan was cut short when the wolf pack moved in. So without much choice, Hiro hurried traveled west until he came upon the road once more and started heading towards the city.

[Tenga, can you recast the gravity spell?] Hiro asked.

[Ok.] Was the only response Tenga made, before the familiar burden of weight greeted Hiro’s half-asleep body.

[Ugh. Is it me or is it heavier than before?] Hiro began to complain.

[Must be you. I did tell you that cancelling the spell early would be detrimental to your training. Your body has gotten used to the normal gravity once more, so that’s why the spell feels heavy.] Tenga explained.

“There was nothing I could do. Either remove the spell or die.” Hiro mumbled as he thought back to the fight with the huge bear the day before.

With the end of their dialogue, Hiro slowly crept back to the city gates under the light of the waxing moonlight.

Once at the gates, the sun had just peeked over the horizon, revealing the tired figures. One was a black-haired young man with a pelt and bag over his shoulders, while the other two were clad in light metal armor with pikes leaning against their sleep-deprived bodies.

“Good morning.” Hiro greeted them.

Surprised because of the sudden greeting, the guard on the right woke up dozing off and fumbled to catch his weapon.

“Halt!” He screamed, “Who goes there?!”

Inwardly laughing to himself, Hiro answered, “It’s just me.” Although he said that, he knew they wouldn’t be able to remember everyone that goes to and from the city, however…

“Hey I remember you!” The guard on the left said, “You’re that lad the dame was looking for.” Amazingly enough, it was the same guard that had been bewitched by the black-haired succubus’ charm. It was also the same man that had allowed Albert to pass through with a half-dead Hiro in his arms.

“Eh? What do you mean?” Hiro asked in wonder.

‘Who could possibly be looking for me?’ He began to ask himself, ‘Don’t tell me… Lena’s looking for me…’ A chill began to run down his spine.

“Find out yourself lad. I’m not gonna help you, you lady killer.” The guard answered jealously, while motioning for Hiro to go past.

‘I think I already know who it was and I don’t have any plans on meeting HER anytime soon.’

Making his way through the empty streets of the city, Hiro had gotten some strange stares from the guards patrolling as he walked towards the AA building. It was still early in the morning, although the sun’s rays has breached the horizon, many were still enjoying the comfort of their beds.

Arriving at the front entrance of the majestic AA building, Hiro was full of excitement. Although a little out of breath, he was about to turn in his first quest.

‘With the 10 Silvers that I will receive from the completion, I would be able to stay at the BannerMare Inn until the tournament.’ Hiro replied happily. A single room at the inn costs 30 Coppers, with 100 Copper equaling 1 Silver, he would be able to stay there for approximately two and a half weeks with food expenses covered. ‘Now that I think about it. This quest reward is quite high!’ Hiro exclaimed.

Putting that thought aside Hiro walked into the nearly empty hall and looked around for Donovan.

“Well I can’t expect him to be here all day.” Hiro told himself after not finding the man. He felt sorry for Donovan, because Donovan doesn’t get many clients and adventurer’s so Hiro felt like he had to see him. “Oh well.” Hiro said as he walked up to a receptionist to turn in the quest item and thus completing the quest.

After receiving the pelt of the Marble Deer, she said, “Please wait here.” As she walked into the room behind the counter with the pelt and Hiro’s bracelet. After a few moments she returned with only his bracelet and handed it back to him, “Here you go. The 10 Silvers have been added into your storage. Thank you very much.” She said with a bow.

“Thank you.” Hiro received his bracelet and turned around to leave the building.

‘After renting a room at the inn I’m going to go back into the forest.’ Hiro had concluded that what he needed to work on most was his body. The fight with the bear proved just how weak he was, even with his training up until that point. Only by heeding Tenga’s advice would he be ready for the tournament in 2 and a half weeks.

‘Tenga said I have to move and act as if the spell wasn’t there…’ Hiro thought. After just one day in the forest and experiencing the difficulties of moving like how he used to, Hiro had to agree that it was tougher than he imagined. ‘On second thought…’ Hiro began to form an idea, ‘That should be better.’

Hiro turned around and walked back into the hall.

---

Couple hours later

“Hey babe. Want to join our party?”

“What are you saying? She’s joining us. Right?”

“Someone that beautiful will obviously join someone like me.”

The lustful intentions of all the men there were obvious. They were all trying to recruit the beautiful black-haired lady. The bracelet on her wrist showed that she was only a D-Rank adventurer, but she was already receiving recruitments from C-Rank parties and above.

‘Ah~ Still no sign of that man.’ Morrigan complained, ‘What’s more… These filthy pests have been bothering me nonstop for the past few days.’

It had been a couple days since Morrigan had taken the adventurer test and became an adventurer. After that, she had waited in the great hall in hopes of finding ‘Hiro’, the man with black hair like her that was most likely the man in the prophecy. During that time, she was constantly swarmed with party requests and invitations.

Morrigan was a Succubus, a demon that preys upon men in order to live longer. Naturally the predator of men, she has a body that emitted sexuality from every pore. Her dark piercing violet eyes seem to hide a great deal of experience and her voice sends a tingle into the nether regions of all weak-willed men. She was the epitome of a walking lump of lust, some would say succubus are lust incarnate.

Currently, Morrigan was being bombarded with questions about herself and invitations. She had chosen to ignore them for the last few days, but her patience was wearing thin. She had chosen to use a cold and harsh front to push away anyone who wanted to speak to her, however that just seemed to draw in more solicitors.

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. Parting her luscious pink lips for the first time she yelled.

“Ah~! Will you stop it already?! No I don’t wanna join a party! No I don’t wanna join an agency! No I won’t tell about myself! No! No! NO!” She screamed. After her sudden explosion of anger, she was left there breathing heavily in silence. The crowd surrounding her had gone silent, surprised at her sudden outburst. For the past few days, the crowd had gotten nothing out of her, only looks of scorn and rejection. Finally, she had spoken and they were able to hear her voice, leaving them in shock.

“Cute…”

“Yea…”

“Wow…”

“Eh~?!” Morrigan began to cry out.

“She’s so CUTE!!!!”

“Marry me!!!!”

“Please join our agency!”

Her release of frustration seemed to have the opposite effect of what she had desired. Instead of pushing people away, the disparity of her sensual body and her fiery personality had captivated the whole crowd instead. They were going wild.

“No~!!!!” She screamed as she pushed her way out of the crowd and disappeared from the AA building.

‘What’s wrong with these humans~!’ She cried. Back in the Drakken Empire, just the sight of a Succubus commanded great respect. Here however, wasn’t the case. She was a person that worked in the shadows, gathering information and espionage. She wasn’t someone that would reveal herself in broad daylight like what she was currently doing. However, without much choice, she was forced to reveal herself to find the man fated to become the person in Goddess Sienna’s prophecy.

‘Stupid Kianis!’ She cursed the Demon Emperor, ‘Forcing me to go this far!’

---

Meanwhile outside of Siberus Luxia’s Office

“What’s with all the commotion below?” Allaya asked the secretary.

“It seems the rowdy adventurers found something interesting, please disregard the noise.” The secretary said, “Lord Luxia will be seeing you now.” She indicated for Priestess Allaya and Templar Kayo to enter.

They entered the spacious room to see a jolly looking old man sitting at a desk. The plain look of the old man contrasted greatly with the finely designed interior of the office, leaving a bewildered Allaya.

“Greetings Priestess.” Siberus began, “I’ve heard you’re here about The Prophecy of Sienna.”

“It is as you said.” Allaya bowed, “I’m sure you have noticed the strange event from a few weeks back. That was without a doubt the awakening of the ‘Chosen One’.”

“Amusing…” The eccentric old man began to stroke his beard, “Very amusing…”

Allaya waited for Siberus to continue, however she was met with only a casual stare.

With not reply from the old man she began, “That’s why I’m here. I seek the aid of the adventurer’s association. I want you to dispatch some men to the source of the light and investigate, although some time had passed, there should still be some sort of clue.”

“I’m sorry Priestess, but the Adventurer’s Association doesn’t work like that.” Siberus began, “I don’t control the adventurers, we’re not a mercenary organization, we simply are in charge of the guilds. You could say a manager of multiple factions. I have as much influence over the adventurers as you have over the troops of King Forst’s armies.”

“But as the head of the AA you should hold some influence over some strong individ-“ Allaya desperately began to argue.

“Head of Adetia’s Branch.” Siberus interrupted, “The title of chairman of the Adventurer’s Association belongs to someone else.”

“Yes sorry for that slip of the tongue.” She corrected herself.

“As for whether I hold influence over some that is up for debate. I’m just an aging man, Priestess. I’m way past my prime, surely no one would look twice at me, much less look up to me.” He humbly replied.

“Oh you do jest Siberus of the Lightspeed. Everyone knows how powerful you were and still are. I’m sure you would be able to travel to the site of the phenomenon and back in the blink of an eye.” She challenged.

“Perhaps.” Siberus brushed aside her statement, “However I’m currently preoccupied with an arrangement at the moment.”

Puzzled, Allaya asked, “What kind of arrangement?”

“There’s a tournament that will be held in about 2 weeks’ time.” He airily answered.

“What?!” Allaya frustratingly asked, “We’re talking about the fate of the world here and here you are talking about some sort of tournament?!” She was frustrated. The conversation wasn’t going the way she had planned it to and Siberus kept avoiding her questions and requests.

“Ah but it isn’t just a mere tournament.” He interjected, “You have heard of Romulus Armstrong correct?”

“The S-Rank adventurer known for his powerful strength? What of it?” She replied.

“He’s finally taking on a disciple.”

‘What?! Didn’t Romulus declare to the whole world that he won’t take on a disciple until he planned to retire?’

“H-How can this be?!” She asked, visibly shaken.

“Aye. Seems the poor bastard fell in love and planned on living out the rest of his days quietly.” Siberus let out a sigh.

“Oh…” Allaya was left speechless, there was nothing she could say about it.

“The tournament will decide who will become his disciple. Exciting is it not?”

“I have to agree, it will be a sight to behold.” Although still bitter at Siberus, she had to agree that the tournament would be a sight worth to watch.

“Now back to your situation.” Siberus began, “I can’t personally go and investigate myself, but I can send someone in my place. She’s a little feisty, but she’s quick and can handle herself.”

Allaya’s face began to smile, “Please do! I can’t express how delighted I would be, to receive assistance in my endeavor!”

“Hahaha…” Siberus chuckled quietly before speaking into a device on his desk, “Please call in the ‘Blue Swallow’.”

The voice on the other side of the device answered, “As you wish Lord Luxia.”

Moments later the door to Siberus’ office opened. The woman who had opened it was clad in dark blue leather armor. She had her light-brown hair tied up in a pony-tail. Although her chest leaves much to be desired, her lithe and supple body more than makes up for her lack in that area.

“Is there a task for me Luxia-sama?” She bowed.

“Yes there is. This task is in regards to the strange light a couple weeks past.” He began, “If I remember correctly it came from the far north, probably inside ‘The Forest of Mist’.”

“What would you like me to do?” She asked.

“I want you to go and investigate the area. Look for any clues that might point to someone anyone, being the source of that light.” He answered, “If I remember correctly, the village of Torin is in that area, I would start there if I were you.”

“Yes Luxia-sama.” She bowed once more and turned to leave.

“Oh and…” Siberus stopped her, “Do hurry, I’m sure you want to prepare for the tournament right?”

Lynn smiled, “That’s right Luxia-sama. I’ll be back in about three days.” With that parting reply, she disappeared from the doorway.

“Wow… Who was that?” Allaya asked in amazement.

“That’s my granddaughter, Lynn Luxia.”

---

“This should do.” Hiro said as he finished securing the tarp over his makeshift shelter.

Hiro had decided to train in the woods for the remaining time until the tournament. Instead of using the reward from the Marble Deer quest to book a room at an inn, he had spent it on some necessities required for outdoor survival. He bought cooking utensils, a tarp protect himself from the weather, a larger bag, and some more items. For his old hunting bow, he bought some oils to clean and polish it, while buying more arrows for his quiver. Although he needed upgrade from his weak bow, he didn’t have enough money left over after buying the survival gears.

After purchasing the stuff, Hiro had quickly left the city and returned to where he had found the waterfall. Since that was a source of fresh running water, he decided that he would make camp there. While finding wood to build himself a small shelter, he had stumbled upon the corpse of the male bear he had killed the day before; it was picked clean. The tracks found at the body indicated that it was a large pack of about 10-20 wolves. Now back at the falls, Hiro had just finished tying and securing his tarp on top of his shelter and was beginning to cook dinner.

He filled his small pot with water taken from the pond and placed it over the fire. On a small flat rock he had found near the falls was the carcass of a small hare that he had just cleaned.

“I hope there aren’t any bandits or danger nearby.” He muttered to himself as he watched the water began to boil. Although he had purchased a map of the surrounding area from the AA, he was still unsure of where bandits are located.

‘They said bandits don’t usually stay near the city, I hope that’s true.’ Hiro thought as he placed the butchered hare into the pot. He sprinkled some salt and pepper followed by some ginger and lemon-grass.

Bandits don’t stay near the city, because villagers from the city outskirts frequently hunt to accommodate their plain meals. Whenever a villager goes missing, a request is usually taken up with the AA and adventurers will be recruited to help search the area. That’s why it’s not safe for bandit camps to be near, the further away, the better.

While waiting for the food to cook, Hiro began to practice his meditation. He still kept a portion of his focus on his surroundings though. This proved quite difficult, the point of meditation is to concentrate on oneself. Yet here he was going against the norm; Hiro was ‘watching’ his surrounding whilst watching himself.

“Mmm…” Hiro mumbed in frustration. The soft drone of the fall was lulling Hiro into a relaxed state, making him sleepy. The late evening cries of birds and animals were disturbing his already difficult endeavor to meditate, thus adding to his frustration.

“Gaah! Forget it!” He pouted and opened his eyes. The aroma of the boiled hare was teasing his nose. Feeling that he was making no progress in his training, Hiro gave into temptation and pulled out a bowl and spoon from his void inventory. Giving himself a hearty serving of the delicious looking broth and meat, Hiro’s mouth began to water.

“*Slurp*” He swallowed his drool.

“Ahn~! Mmmm!” He took his first bite into the tender hare meat and felt the flesh melt away in his mouth. Not holding back his hunger anymore, he began to tear into his meal like a raving animal. He spent most of the day travelling to his current location and had only a small snack on the way out of Adetia, now that there was a warm meal in front of him, he couldn’t hold himself back; he finished the meal in record time.

“*Gulp*” He swallowed the last drop of the broth and laid there, in front of the fire.

‘I wonder how Colin is doing.’ Hiro laid there wondering, ‘What kind of training is he doing to prepare for the tournament? Probably some serious training unlike me…’

With the tournament nearing, Hiro couldn’t help but wonder if he’ll do well, given the way he has been training up until that point. Feeling a bit sad for himself, Hiro pushed the thought aside and stoked the fire. It was already dark out and he had to wake up early tomorrow, he wouldn’t want to oversleep and miss out on some much needed strength training. Crawling into his shelter and closing the entrance, Hiro took out the small glowing soulstone from his void inventory and peered into its depths, admiring the beauty and despair that it represents until he fell asleep.

---

Earlier that Evening

“W-w-what is this?!” Lynn muttered in disbelief. In front of her was a huge swath of forest that was pulled out from its roots. “Only an A-Rank mage could have done this…” She stared.

She had just arrived at the location where Hiro and the caravan were ambushed. The whole area on the left side of the road looked like a twister had come by, the trees were uprooted and tossed all over the place, the grass was strewn all over the place, and there was hints of a battle.

“There must’ve been a struggle here…” She looked at the hilt of a now rusted blade sticking out from under the trees. A few nights past, rain had already washed away any signs of blood, leaving only the stuff that wasn’t looted or picked up.

“Strange… Did the bandits acquire an A-Rank mage? There’s no word of an A-Rank mage arriving in Adetia…” She began to worry, “I’ll have to inform Luxia-sama once I return.”

She got up onto one of her two horses and rode north, this time paying more attention to her surroundings.