"Are you sure?""This is a big mess.. a big one I tell you."The villagers who were suddenly woken up from their deep sleep due to the frequent earth quakes looked around in confusion. Erza, who was there to explain everything to her father after leaving Ian and his party behind found herself in the midst of all these shouts and confusions. The two people that had listened to her explanation, her father and an elder of the village, looked at each other with a troubled expression. They were the people that believed in Erza's word before anything."I'm sorry.. This is all my fault.. I shouldn't have went along with them.."Erza said dropping her head, feeling the weight of the guilt that was pressing on her. It was her people and her friends (Ian and the rest) that were in danger due to her miscalculation. Not receiving any type of reaction from her father even after a while, she raised her head only a little to peek on what was happening. To her surprise, both her father and the eld
"You finally found a trace?!"Arthur slammed his hands on the table as he asked the wizard in front of him. They were talking about Ian."Yes! Although it's in a weird location.."The wizard replied with a not-so-confident voice. Arthur's party, they were trying to track Ian down since forever. At the begining, Arthur was confident he'd be able to find Ian.But after a month passed by, his confidence started to grow thinner along with his patience.In the end, he decided to ask for help from one of his acquaintances, someone who had connection with a wizard. The wizard requested Arthur to get him something that Ian used on a regular basis. Since people used mana consciously and subconsciously, things that someone with a lot of mana used regularly will have a trace of their mana in it.Simply said, Ian's things should have small traces of his mana. The wizard intended to locate him using that mana. But even that wasn't possible at first. Since Ian was always hiding his traces along w
"Everything ready?"The village chief asked one of the elders. The nodded his head in return. They were ready. But all of them had grim expression on their faces, a sharp contrast from the night before. "Will it really be okay?"Erza asked, tugging her father's clothe from behind. Now that it had finally come to this, the reality was finally kicking in. "It'll be alright.. although.."The chief strained his sentence without saying anything for a while, making Erza curious. "Although? Is something not to your liking?"The elder asked from the side, seeing the slight expression of dissatisfaction on the chief's face."I would've felt a bit more at ease if I had my staff with me."He said, opening and closing his palm a few times. Erza wanted to say that he shouldn't worry since Ian and the rest would arrive any moment but the words failed to leave her mouth at the last moment.'Will they really come..? Knowing how dangerous things will get here..?'She couldn't help but ask herself t
"Hey..""We're here."Louis welcomed Ash and Ian into the village while the elders and the chief remained stunned still."Great! You're back!"Erza approached them trying to ease out the air and also to retrieve the staff that Ian was holding in his left hand like a stick. "Miss Erza.. You guys have made quite the preparation I see."Ash commented as he looked around. It was pretty impressive considering the short time they had in hand."Thanks. By now, we're used to sudden attacks."She said as she smiled. Life on the desert was tough. It was tougher than anything the people living in cities could imagine. The heat, the food shortage, limited supply of water were the least of their worries. The monster attacks that happened at least once a month, the drought, the storm, there was nothing that they didn't have to deal with. "I see.. Oh, your father's staff.. He must've been feeling anxious without it, right? I apologize once again."Ash said as he glanced at Ian who was standing to
"Young master.."Arthur called out to Ian with all the affection a person could hold in their voice. Although he had a noble title now, and even though all of his achievements made it so he didn't need to bow to no one, he still lowered his head without a second thought in front of Ian. Without a doubt, Ian was his master. And this was a fact that Arthur accepted with all his mind and body. No one could convince him otherwise, not even his friends or subordinates. "Umm.. Mister Louis.. Is this person..?"Erza couldn't help but ask as she saw Arthur's changed demeanor in front of Ian. Even at a glance, one could tell that Arthur was someone of power and authority, someone important, someone who mattered. No matter how oblivious the people of the desert were, this was something that was obvious to even them. Yet, the way he presented himself in front of Ian shocked them all. It didn't look natural. "That guy.. He's someone we know.. ""Yeah.."The two of them looked unwilling to gi
"How long do you think it'll take?"Louis asked, looking at the horizon which had turned completely black by now. "That's not what you should be worried about."Ash said, finishing his stretching. It was Ian's suggestion to always stretch well before going into a fight. That way, one won't suffer from sudden muscle sprain or any other variable."What should I be 'worried' about then?"Louis asked, frowning. He really hated this cheeky side of Ash. Made him want to punch the guy in the face."Hmm.. what about which one we should cook for dinner?"Ash asked, laughing. They did indeed have quite the variety right now while all they were looking for were some desert scorpions at first."That's a no-brainer. Of course we'll have whichever one brother thinks is the best."Louis sighed as he answered. It was obvious what they were gonna have for dinner. They always ate whatever Ian prepared for them, and Ian always prepared the best for them."Stop it guys.."Ian sighed from the side and to
"Why is this happening to me?"Ian asked himself as he looked at the battlefield in front of him. Arthur had gone out first to offer Rianne a hand after Ian recognised the person inside the dust storm to be 'Rianne', his ex fiance.The two of them were fighting off the monsters while buying time for the people behind to escape safely. As Ian saw them slowly approach the village, he couldn't help but sigh.The two people he wanted to avoid in this life of his, one, the ex fiance that the owner of the body had feelings for, two, the protagonist of the story, they were both fighting hand in hand while approaching Ian slowly."Brother..""Are you okay, Mister Ian? That girl..."While Ash could feel Ian's hesitance to some level, Erza was completely in the dark since she had no clue about the identity of this new person who just appeared. "It's alright.. I'm okay.. Probably.. yeah.."Ian's lifeless reply was more than enough to shut down the people around him and ask no further question.
An infinite monster wave. That's what it looked like to the people inside that small village.As far as their eyes could see, every single piece of land was covered by monsters, big and small, ugly and terrifying. "Will this ever come to an end?"One of the people from the offense party asked as he pierced a small monster through it's heart with a spear. Arthur was commanding them and making them take turns between defending the village and attacking the monsters. That way, they could get enough rest and catch their breathe inside this crazy madness. "At least nobody has died yet."One of the villagers spoke from a distance, slaying what it seemed like a mutant monster. The normal tribal villagers were stronger than average knights, which had surprised many people earlier. An average knight was stronger than ten soldiers combined, yet, they fell pale in comparison to these people. It was a truely bizzare situation."Fall back!"Someone's voice rang in the distance, and they all in