Volume 3 Chapter 1: Part 1: The Abnormal

"Grawwwhh!" An orc screamed as it charged toward Onyx with its ax raised. But Onyx didn't turn to it.

Rather, he didn't need to. He could hear the heavy footsteps from the orc coming his way. Jumping into the air, Onyx dodged the ax.

The orc was split in half as Onyx came down the next second!

It didn't stop there. There wasn't only one orc. Surrounding Onyx were a group of orcs itching to attack him.

"How did it come to this?" Onyx wryly laughed as he watched the orc charging at him. He didn't have time to answer his question as he rushed at them.

The orcs swarmed him on all sides. Onyx didn't worry about it as he focused on the one in front.

And that gave them an opening to attack Onyx. But there was no need for Onyx to worry.

Swoosh!

An arrow pierced one of the orc's heads. With the sudden drop of their comrade, the other orcs were surprised. But it didn't stop there,

Multiple arrows came flying down onto the orcs.

All of it pierced the orc's heads.

"Hmpf!" Onyx sliced down the orc in front and then turned over to a tree. Raising his thumb up,

Good job. Rena nodded as she readied her arrows again and fired at the orcs.

As the orcs dwindled down in numbers,

"I can't slack off either." Onyx charged toward the monster, not wanting to lose to Rena. It only took a few seconds before all the monsters got taken out.

Rena jumped down from the tree, and Onyx praised her,

"Good job taking those monsters out." The reason why he was so calm when dealing with those orcs is that Rena was there. There was no need for him to worry.

"You praise me too much. This is what I should be doing, master Onyx."

Onyx's expression turned a little pouty. Are you still going to keep calling me master? It had been a few weeks since Onyx bought Rena. He told her she didn't need to call him that.

But it seemed she was going to continue that. I'll guess she'll stop when she wants to. Onyx wasn't planning to force her to stop.

He would have to wait for it.

"Anyways, we still need to find that herb. Just where is it?" Onyx and Rena didn't come here to deal with the orcs. He took up a quest to search for an herb.

"It should be around here, master Onyx. The map did show we are close to it." Rena said as she took out the map.

"Mmmmm. For now, we shall rest up here. We've killed enough and got ourselves some orc meat for lunch." Orc meats were a staple food and a delicacy similar to pork. Just more tender and juicy.

"Rena, go plant some blood around here. I'll do the cooking." "Understood." Rena grabbed some of the blood and dashed off into the forest.

Thank goodness I took her with me. Onyx smiled. With Rena here, things got a lot easier for him. It took him half the time to set up camp.

At first, he thought about leaving Rena in the city and letting her do whatever she wanted while he took on quests. But Rena rejected the idea,

"Master, I will be useful in battle. I'm able to fight and provide support." That's what she said. Onyx was a little skeptical at first. After a few weeks, Rena looked much more lively, and her face filled up.

However, he didn't think it was a good idea. Onyx was still worried something would happen to her. But Rena was adamant about going with him.

In the end, Onyx decided to bring her with him. Having two people travel together was better than one.

And that's how the duo was formed. Rena would be the one covering from afar while he fought up close. It was a balanced formation.

"Master, I'm back." Onyx smiled at Rena's return,

"Good job. Also, our lunch is finished cooking." And a good thing about having a second person was he didn't need to be afraid when he cooked!

He opens the pot, and the smell of the stew comes out. So good.

As Onyx eats it, a smile beams from his face. It's been a long time since he could do this. Dried meat is no more! He won't need to live through that ever again!

"..." What's wrong with you, master? Rena looked at him strangely. How could he be so happy about eating a stew? She could see slight tears coming down.

"Rena, how's your supply of arrows?" Getting back on track, Onyx asked her. Her primary weapon was the bow and arrow.

And the arrows were a finite amount.

"I have only used around half. But it's fine, master. I took back the arrows from the bodies." There was a limitation when she fought. Once she was out, it would be difficult for her to fight.

"Good. When we fight, signal me when you don't have any left. I'll try my best and toss you some arrows from the bodies."

"Understood."

"Ok, now let's eat as much as possible. After that, we'll start moving again." Onyx started to eat more and handed more to Rena's bowl.

...

It didn't take long before they finished eating, and it was back to search for the plant again. As the two searched the forest, they met up with other monsters and herbs, which they collected.

It didn't take long before they arrived.

"Finally, we found it." Onyx looked over at the brush and saw the plant. It was bunched together with other herbs.

It was a simple maple leaf shape. The only difference is the color is dark amethyst purple.

"Now, we can grab that and be on our way." Onyx walked over to it, ready to take it off the branch. When,

"Master! Stop!" Before Onyx could take it off, Rena quickly tackled him away! The two flew a few meters away from the bush.

"Hey! What was that for!" Onyx looked at her, caught off guard by the sudden tackle.

"I'm sorry, master Onyx. But that leaf isn't the purple life maple leaf." Rena got off of him. And Onyx did the same. But this time with a weird face.

"Huh? It's not. But it looks just like the one we saw."

Rena shook her head as she explained, "Master, look at the leaf's membrane." Onyx walks over and looks at the leaf.

The leaf had three membranes sticking out like a fork through each five-leaf point.

He found nothing wrong with it. Rena quickly explained again,

"The purple life maple doesn't have three membranes pointing out. It only has one line going down. This is the dangerous herb called the phantom maple leaf. A touch can make one's body numb for half a day."

"..." Onyx's eyes turned wide, and he looked at the herb. I almost touched that? He sighs in relief, "Thank you for stopping me then."

"It is my duty."

"Then we have to keep searching for it."

Rena nodded her head. Onyx was about to leave when Rena asked, "Master Onyx, can I pick up those herbs?"

"Hmm? But aren't these poisonous?" Why would she want something like that?

Rena explained, "Yes, these herbs are poisonous. However, it can become a powerful weapon to deal with against monsters if it's handled properly."

"I see. So what do you have in mind?"

"I will coat my arrows with the herb."

Onyx smiled, "Then I will leave it up to you." Rena nodded as she took two twigs from a tree. She used it to get a couple of leaves and placed them in a bag.

"Now, let's go and find that herb." They still had an objective of getting the purple life maple leaf.

"Understood." Rena got enough and tied the bag onto her waist. The two continued to search around the area. The herb also grew in the same place as the poisonous one.

And as they walked around, they spotted it. The two also spot something else around it.

"Damn, there are so many wolves around it." What was around the bush was a bunch of wolves! They were sleeping right now, so there was no need to attack.

Onyx raised his hand to make Rena stop. He whispered, "Is that the right one?" Onyx wanted to make sure it was the right one. He didn't want to fight a meaningless battle.

Rena nodded, "Yes, master. That's the purple life maple leaf."

"Then I'm going to grab one of them. Stay here and watch my back." There's no reason for them to have a direct confrontation with the beasts. His job was to get the herb, not to kill off those wolves.

Yes, Onyx and Rena could do it and kill them all off. But it was not worth it. They would be wasting time and precious resources.

"Understood." Rena nodded and readied her bow and arrow, ready to fire it if the wolves woke up.

"Mmmm." Onyx jumped onto the trees and moved around as quickly and discreetly as possible. He arrived at the tree at the top of the bush. He ties himself with a rope. Slowly letting himself down, Onyx's hand was close. Come on, just a little more. He stretched his hands a bit more: trying to get closer to it.

"Gghh" "!" Onyx's eyes went wide as he looked at the wolf. It grunted a bit before it returned to sleep.

Thank god! Onyx sighed in relief. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that. If the wolf woke up, he would be in an awkward situation!

Looking over at Rena, her face sighed too.

Alright, I got it. Onyx stuck his hands a bit more and grabbed one. He quickly pulled himself out.

Onyx signaled with his hands, Let's get out of here! They should get out of here before those wolves can wake up.

...

"And we are finally back." Onyx sighed in relief as they arrived in front of the guild hall. It didn't take an hour before they came back. The two entered, and they got all the stares.

Well, Onyx wasn't the one who was getting the stares. Rather,

It was Rena.

"Look, it's the monster."

"Careful! Don't make eye contact with her, or you will die!"

"Oh no! I think she's staring at me! I'm going to die!"

More so, they were all afraid of Rena.

Yeah. Not surprising. Onyx wasn't surprised the adventurers were all acting like that. It all happened on that day.

The first day he brought Rena to the guild hall, Onyx asked Madelyn to register her as an adventurer.

And Madelyn registered her, and like Onyx, she was asked to fight an instructor. That caused everybody to be interested in the fight. It was a person brought in by Onyx, the person who beat up a C-rank adventurer with ease.

Outside, at the guild's training ground, the instructor and Rena stared at each other.

"I won't go easy on you." The instructor said as he pointed his sword at Rena. And Rena held onto daggers too.

And that was overkill.

"And begin!" The moment the referee started the fight, it ended instantly! Rena had a sword at the instructor's throat!

"..." Nobody can say anything. They couldn't believe the fight would end so quickly. And that's why everybody was looking at her in shock and horror.

"That white hair."

"Why is somebody like that even an adventurer?"

What do you guys mean? Onyx's expression turned dark as he stared at the adventurers, telling them to shut up now. And he got the point across too. The adventurers looked away. How could those guys forget about this monster?

"Master, it's fine." Rena shook her head. She didn't care about what others were saying about her. But Onyx had other thoughts.

"No. No, it's not." Onyx shook his head, "As long as I'm here, I won't let those people say those things about you."

"..."

"Anyways, let's go and get out reward now." Onyx walked over to Madelyn, "Madelyn, we have gotten the herb."

"Ahh. Thank you. I'll give you the reward later. Also, Onyx. The guild master wants to meet with you. He has something to say."