Chương 20: Moving On

Joe had accomplished his task. He helped all fourteen of the guardians, his name for them, reach level forty, with Samira and Esha at the top with levels of forty-four. He gained two levels in his profession but none in his class. Learning from past mistakes, he immediately placed all his free stat points into Dao knowledge every time he levelled up. A grand feast was held in Chara's honour, in which Joe pulled out his trusty oven, cooking enough meat to feed the entire village.

Words of warmth were exchanged, stories told, and memories shared. Overall, it was a very touching night, and it helped Joe move on, looking forward to the future. After disbanding the party, much to the complaints of the guardians, who lamented losing the ability to loot Beasts with a mere touch. Joe sat in the house he had been staying in, preparing for his departure. The night before, the village held a farewell ceremony for him.

Everyone expressed their gratitude for his help in strengthening the village and 'power levelling' the guardians. Just when he thought the night was winding down, Laila and Chanda dragged him aside, hustling him into special clothing. Moments later, all the guardians appeared, pulling him into a relentless dance around the fire for nearly two hours. By the time he was finally freed, with some aid from Drishti and Samira, he staggered back to his room, exhausted. But the night wasn't over.

Two surprise visitors invited him to spend the night at their place. Before he could even react, Esha materialized like a ghost, chasing them off, much to Joe's relief. Alone with his egg, Joe studied a map of India. A few days earlier, Samira had pointed out the locations of the remaining three boss Beasts in the country. One was on Mumbai's west coast, another lay to the east in the Odisha region, and the third was up north near Kanpur.

The distance between Mumbai and Kanpur spanned almost one thousand three hundred kilometres; India was far larger than the UK. He had a long journey ahead. As he took one last look at the map, a knock at his door signalled the arrival of some visitors.

"Come in," he called out. Esha entered first, followed by Samira and, lastly, a shy-looking Drishti. All three carried large backpacks over their shoulders, dressed in the leather gear they wore when hunting.

"Ready to go?" Esha asked, avoiding his gaze. Joe, momentarily thrown off, realized it was one of the rare times he wasn't wearing his sunglasses. So his expression of surprise was plain to see across his face. Amused and confused, he had expected a final goodbye, maybe a tearful hug, but not this.

"Esha…" Drishti said in a slight panic.

"I am so sorry, Joe. What Esha meant to say is… We would like to go with you on your journey." Joe blinked. Then blinked again. He looked at Esha, then Samira, and finally at Drishti, who was staring at the ground.

"Fuck it. We leave in ten minutes," he said. Esha turned to Drishti with a triumphant smile spreading across her face.

"Ha, pay up," she extended her hand. Drishti sighed, reaching into her pocket and handing Esha a small object.

"I knew he'd be smart enough not to question us," Esha said, still avoiding Joe's eyes.

"I'll wait outside." With that, she promptly left the room. Joe scratched his head.

"I apologise on Esha's behalf," Samira said.

"I'll make sure she behaves from now on."

"I think we both know there is no chance of that," Joe chuckled.

"It's fine anyway, I could use some company." Samira smiled.

"We're grateful, and we hope we won't be too much of a burden to you," she said as she headed outside to join Esha. Joe turned his attention to Drishti, who was still staring at the floor.

"You okay there?" he asked. She looked almost comical, fidgeting under the weight of the massive backpack. He suddenly remembered the extra storage ring he had.

"Here, take this." He removed the ring and handed it to her. Drishti examined it curiously; her eyes lit up when she realized what it was.

"This is a storage ring," She said in awe.

"Yep," Joe replied.

"Are you giving me this?"

"Yep. Just put it on and pour some mana into it. You know how to do that, right?" He watched as she slid the ring onto her finger, the band automatically adjusting to fit perfectly. A few seconds passed before the backpack over her shoulder vanished. She let out a little yelp.

"Wow, that was amazing." For the next minute, she kept making the backpack appear and disappear, her excitement growing each time. Then, she ran outside. A little while later, she returned, beaming.

"You should have seen Esha's face when I put her backpack into the ring," She said, laughing.

"Are you sure I can keep this? Isn't it incredibly valuable?"

"Yep, we're friends and teammates now. It's better than carrying those huge bags everywhere."

"Thank you," she said, stepping forward and hugging him.

"That reminds me." Joe sent her a party invite, which she accepted instantly. Joe picked up his bag and carefully placed the egg inside. At his touch, it hummed softly, sending a wave of emotions, excitement mixed with trepidation and a hint of curiosity. He took one last look at the place that had been his home for the past few weeks before stepping outside with Drishti. Samira and Esha turned toward him as he emerged. He sent them both party invites, waiting until they accepted.

Now that everyone was officially in the party, he decided it was time to set some ground rules. [Welcome to the party, ladies,] - Joe. [I'd like us to get used to using the chat feature. It keeps our conversations private and will be very convenient while we're on the move.] [Here we go,] - Esha. [Let me guess… You have orders for us?] [Esha!] - Samira. [Yes, I do. Firstly, from this moment, you shall all address me as Sensei Joe.] - Joe. Esha raised an eyebrow at him.

Joe barely lasted a second before bursting into laughter, and the others quickly followed. [I hope no one accidentally stabs you when you sleep.] - Esha. [Rule number two: no stabbing Joe in his sleep.] - Joe. [Okay, in all seriousness. I wanted to try something.] He set his bag down and opened the top. Placing a hand on the egg. [Everyone, put one hand on the egg next to mine.] - Joe. They exchanged puzzled glances, clearly wondering what he was up to. Joe motioned for them to join him.

One by one, they knelt, stretching out a hand to gently touch the egg. The moment they did, the egg pulsed. A greeting flowed into their minds. Joe felt all three women's backs straighten like a parent was addressing them. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. [This is Eggy, she says hello,] - Joe. [Eggy? That's her name? You are never allowed to name anything ever again,] - Esha laughed. [That is a terrible name.] - Samira added, while Drishti nodded in agreement.

[Come on, it's not that bad.] - Joe. Unimpressed, they shook their heads in unison as they stood and started walking toward the village exit. __ Kabir and Anaya sat on a rock outside the ruins of Murbad, just east of Mumbai. At levels forty-nine and forty-eight, respectively, they were among the highest-level Divers in India. Mid-meal, they both froze as an unexpected system message appeared before them. System Message You have been given a new quest!

A Progenitor is currently nearby on their way to Mumbai; they will arrive within five days. Your quest is to delay him by any means. You will be given a mini-map showing his location for the duration of the quest. Quest reward - Legendary skill book and profession Time limit - 3 days, 12 hours, 34 minutes Accept quest? Y/N They turned to each other. Neither spoke a word as they both mentally clicked 'Yes.' They sprang to their feet the moment they did, already moving to rally the rest of their team.

Two sadistic grins stretched across their faces as greed consumed them. __ Elsewhere… Nithya watched a small group of Cocodines loitering below from her vantage point on a hillside. All three were level thirty, no match for her. At level forty-six, as an Arcanist, she could wipe them out in moments. Just as she prepared to strike, a puzzling system message interrupted her. System Message You have been given a new quest! A Progenitor is in India and is currently on his way to Mumbai.

A Team of Divers has set out to stop the Progenitor in his tracks. You have been tasked with preventing this from happening. Will you come to the Progenitor's aid in time? Quest reward - Legendary skill book and profession Time limit: 3 days, 11 hours, 20 minutes Accept quest? Y/N Nithya spun on her heels and bolted back toward her teammates. __ In Heliopolis, a man sat on the roof of his house, staring out at the horizon. It had been over two weeks since Joe had vanished without warning.

At first, they feared he had died, but Kai had reassured them. Joe had been forcefully removed from the party due to being too far away.

"He's probably out there somewhere doing something stupid," Hakeem muttered. He pulled up the quest Joe had shared with him. Quest - Kill all 100 Gate bosses to restart Integration into the multiverse. Quest progress - 3/100 Yep. He was definitely still alive. And definitely doing something stupid. __ Joe, Samira, Drishti, and Esha ran across the vast fields of India, heading west towards Mumbai. [Druid.] - Esha. [Shaman.] - Drishti. [Earth Mage.] - Samira. Joe's three companions were trying to guess his class.

[Close but not quite.] - Joe smiled as they continued throwing out guesses. The first three made sense, given the skills they had seen him use, but he knew there was no chance anyone would ever get it right. His Class was too… strange. [Gardener.] - Esha guessed. Joe perked up at that one. That was pretty close. [Gardener? That doesn't make any sense.] - Drishti. [How could that possibly be his class?] [He does grow plants really well.] - Esha. [Plus, he smells like wood shavings most of the time.] [Wait, I smell like wood shavings?] - Joe frowned, sniffing himself in offence. Esha took one look at him and burst out laughing. I do not smell like wood shavings, He thought. When had she even smelled him? [You don't smell like wood, Joe,] - Samira reassured him, smiling. [Thanks, Samira.] - Joe. [It's more like dried leaves.] - Samira. Joe just shook his head as he kept running. He was beginning to think that having three women as his only company might not have been the best idea.

At least Drishti was on his side. She always defended him. [I thought he smelled more like a bird's nest.] - Drishti. Joe nearly stumbled. That traitor. She had been seduced to the dark side. The first day of travel was straightforward, with very little combat, mainly running, and endless teasing at Joe's expense. He didn't mind. He knew they were doing it to keep him from dwelling on Chara's death and blaming himself. For that, he was grateful and let them bully him without complaint.

During the quieter moments, he focused on refining his mana control. He practiced channelling mana into his fingers, attempting to create a smaller, more precise version of his Mana Blast. Instead of the large, destructive palm-sized blasts, he wanted to fire off small, bullet-like bursts. Thanks to his practice over the past few days with the Guardians, he had discovered that it was not as challenging as he had imagined to use his mana in different ways than simply activating a skill.

It was strangely intuitive and felt almost natural to him. Thus, he achieved his goal pretty quickly: concentrating small amounts of mana on the tips of his fingers. The subsequent blasts weren't lethal but packed enough force to send Cocodines stumbling or, if aimed at the head, even knock them unconscious. Joe had also adjusted the experience share, keeping his portion low at ten per cent so that Samira, Esha, and Drishti could grow stronger.

If they were going to face a Boss Beast, he wanted them as prepared as possible. Drishti was the first to level up that day, reaching Mage level 41. The moment it happened, she shot Joe a look. She knew. [Esha, slap Joe.] - Drishti. [Wait, why… ouch!] - Joe. Esha didn't hesitate. She smacked him mid-stride, grinned at him, and kept running. [What was that for?] - Joe. [You know.] - Drishti. He sighed. Yeah, he knew. [Fine, I get it; I'll up my share to fifteen per cent. Happy?] - Joe.

Drishti narrowed her eyes before giving him a reluctant nod. [For now.] - Drishti. Samira glanced between them, completely confused. Two hours into their journey, Joe sat in the centre of a village, performing Alchemy. When they encountered the first village, Drishti approached him with a request.

"Joe. How do you feel about stopping at the villages we come by so I can pass on a message from Gul?" She asked. Joe saw no reason to refuse. It was a good opportunity to take breaks and focus on levelling up his profession. He had noticed that when he used Alchemy to craft pills or activated Nature's Flourish, he gained significant experience. He didn't have a bar or anything on his Status to show how much he was gaining; instead, he felt it inside. Like something was growing as he used his skills. Ding!

Profession Nature's Custodian has reached level 24 - stat points distributed. Joe handed all the pills he made to Esha and Samira, who distributed most of them to villagers in need before they moved on. He also made sure to use Nature's Flourish at each stop, sprouting a few fruit trees in every village they passed to help alleviate food shortages. The fruits his trees created were delicious, packed with mana, and strangely effective at rejuvenating the body with a massive boost of energy.

He hoped it would help the villagers on the trip to Drishti's village. The first two villages welcomed them without issue. But things took an unexpected turn when they arrived at the third village. Esha, leading the way, stepped into a shabby, run-down settlement without issue. But the moment Joe tried to enter, the atmosphere shifted. A villager suddenly pointed at him.

"A man!" they shouted.

"He is not allowed in the village. No men!" Joe stopped in his tracks, confusion and concern written plainly on his face. He had encountered wary looks before, being a man in India made that inevitable, but this was different. This was hostility. And he had no idea why. Esha tried to calm the growing crowd of villagers gathered at the commotion. Meanwhile, Joe and Samira backed away from the village entrance. [I'll take care of this. Samira, hide Joe somewhere nearby.] - Esha sent through party chat while assuring the villagers that Joe would not enter. A short while later, Joe and Samira sat safely out of sight a few hundred metres away. Joe took the opportunity to activate Nature's flourish, spreading a thin layer of grass that stretched toward the village. He wanted an immediate way to move in and assist if something went wrong.

"Does this happen a lot? Are some villages scared of men?" Joe asked. Samira shook her head.

"No, this isn't normal. I have a bad feeling," Her expression hardened.

"I'm going to join them." Joe nodded.

"Good. Send a message in chat if you need me." With a brief nod, Samira turned and headed back into the village. Twenty minutes passed. Then, Drishti's message appeared in the chat. [There is a man here.] - Drishti. The message was short. Too short. Joe's gut twisted. [What level is he?] - Joe. [Forty-five.] - Drishti. That was high. The highest they had come across by far. He got to his feet and started walking towards the village. The egg on his back hummed. And his gut told him something was very, very wrong.