Chương 19: Scouting Mission

Adolin woke up drenched. Groaning, he chuckled.

"Not gone, huh," he muttered. The nightmares were back. The few days he had spent in this world had felt like a treat. He hadn't even wanted to think about them, afraid he might jinx it. It turned out it had just been a few lucky days. Without the nightmares that tormented him. It was ironic. The day his village was massacred was the day they began. And the first nightmare in this new world was the village. At least he saw his mentor again. Well, not really. He heard his voice, felt his grip. It was enough.

It brought back the good memories. He lay there for a while, staring at the ceiling, thinking about him. It was still dark outside. He hadn't slept long. But there was no chance he would fall asleep again after that. He stood and shook off the nightmare. Taking a whiff, he frowned. He really needed to start showering more regularly. Walking downstairs, the innkeeper was still there, sitting behind a table, his eyes half-closed.

"Hey," Adolin called out. The innkeeper looked at him.

"You wouldn't have soap?" He pointed toward a door next to the stairs. Adolin opened it and went inside. It was a small room, more like storage than anything else. Shelves lined the walls, cluttered with old buckets, cracked basins, and worn-out cloth. A few bars of soap sat in a wooden box, covered in dust. He picked up a bar of soap. Dust burst into the air. He coughed, turning his head away. Outside, the innkeeper was already awake, holding a towel.

"How much?" Adolin asked.

"Nothing," the man smiled.

"Thanks for the potions." Adolin just nodded and took the cloth from him.

"Is my party in the inn?"

"Yes. Same floor. Last door on the left." Adolin nodded and walked around the inn. Behind it stood a small structure. Calling it a building was generous. It was more of a shed. He stepped inside. A bucket of murky water sat in the corner. He picked it up and poured it out, then returned. He cast Fill, a basic water spell, then Warmth, heating it. He took a long shower, even washing his clothes. When he was done, he hung them on a rack, placing the soap beside them. He cast Small Wind and Warmth together.

The wind and heat dried both the clothes and the soap. He sat on the bed in his room, Blaise was sleeping on the bed next to him. Snoring. Loudly at that. Adolin ignored him and packed his backpack. He added the soap, covered with a towel. It felt nice having a soap he could use anytime he wanted. He packed three soaps before joining the hero's party, but at the end he spent a half a year without a shower. Something he didn't plan on repeating ever again.

"Status," he muttered. [New Skill Detected: Eavesdrop.] [Skill Tier: 4] [Attribute Points Available: 5] [New Skill Detected: Growth.] [Level Increased.] [Skill Tier: 5] [New Skill Detected: Burden Transfer.] [Skill Tier: 7] [New Skill Detected: Fill.] [Skill Tier: 2] [New Skill Detected: Small Wind.] [Skill Tier: 2] [New Skill Detected: Warmth.] [Skill Tier: 6] [Level Increased.] [Attribute Points Available: 7] He went over the new spells he had cast. They had only gotten him two levels.

It was already getting harder. It didn't bother him. From what he understood, levels didn't come from spells alone. Life experience. Learning. Training. Dareth either hadn't done much with his life, or the system had reset when he took over the body. But from the memories, that didn't seem right. If that were the case, he should've started at least at level ten. Maybe higher. That left one option. The system had reset. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

That was his understanding so far. From the people he had met. Lira already had a class. The others in his party too. And they weren't older than Dareth. But they had trained. In the academy, or with tutors before even entering it. Probably more than that. Lira's mother was a professor at the academy. She had likely been tutoring her since she was young. The others were nobles. He was certain they had received even more training than Lira. Then there was Blaise. He had no idea about him.

The boy talked too much when he was nervous, and it got annoying fast. Still, he could guess he came from a powerful family. Or at least had someone to train him from a young age. [Status:] Name: Dareth Wood Race: Human Mana: 127/220 Level: 17 Class: / [Attributes:] Strength: 18 Agility: 19 Endurance: 20 Intelligence: 22 Constitution: 18 Attribute Points Available: 7 He stared at the attribute points for a few seconds, then put all of them into Intelligence. He decided to dump everything into that stat.

At least until he was close to his former power. Or stronger. The other stats would rise on their own. At least until he chose a class. After that… he had no idea. Another thing he noticed over the past few days—people in this world were far stronger than in his previous one. The wounded he healed should have died from the injuries. Most of them. But here, they would recover on their own. The spark was what told him they would pull through. Without it, he would have thought most of them would be dead by morning.

He glanced at his stats again. Mana: 127/290 Intelligence: 29 A small smile formed on his face. Once his mana recovered, he would have access to stronger healing magic. And when it doubled, he could heal Lira. The Count would be trickier. But not by much. A few more levels. It would take far longer than he thought. He had underestimated it. Now he knew what he needed. He just didn't know how long it would take to get there. It all depended on his class. A door opened at the end of the hall.

A moment later, footsteps moved downstairs. It was time for him to join the scouting party. Revel and Clay were sitting at the table on the left. There were only three tables in the inn. The innkeeper was nowhere to be seen. Adolin stopped in front of them and bowed slightly.

"Lady." He turned to Clay.

"Lord." They both stared at him, their eyes narrowing. He continued, "This lowly one would like to volunteer to join the scouting party." The silence stretched. Adolin chuckled and sat down.

"Don't do that again," Revel said.

"No," Clay added, shaking his head.

"Why not?" Adolin asked, tilting his head. Revel sighed.

"It's our rite of passage. We're acting as adventurers for a year. We're not allowed to use our names."

"Rite of passage?"

"Yeah," Clay said.

"Some noble families do it. The ones that started as adventurers."

"So you failed." Clay chuckled.

"No. That was allowed. If using our names helps in a crisis, we can." Revel added, "And whatever is happening here… it's a crisis." It made sense to him. Nobles were always doing strange things. Luc had to reach the top of Black Mountain alone at sixteen. And Black Mountain was one of the deadliest places in the region. Filled with monsters. Treacherous terrain. Surviving with a full party was difficult enough. Yet he had done it alone. He was the hero, after all. They talked about the rite of passage for a while.

They had to complete a year of adventuring. Or more, depending on the rank they reached. The goal was Platinum, but they could finish it by reaching Gold and spending enough time with the guild. Adolin also learned the guild ranks. Bronze. Silver. Gold. Platinum. And two above that. They didn't mention them. He didn't care enough to ask. All of them were Silver. Even Lira. But she was far from reaching Gold, while the others were on the edge. A few quests away.

"Lord Ashvale will count the scouting party as a quest and reward us accordingly. It will be reported to the guild later and registered as a Gold tier quest. That should be enough to push us to Gold," Revel explained.

"I'll come with you." Revel nodded.

"Master Eldritch told me. I should warn you. It will be dangerous. Extremely so. There is a chance we all die." Adolin chuckled.

"I know the stakes."

"Good." She winked.

"Let's not keep Lord Ashvale waiting." They walked toward the main gate. The village looked the same as when they arrived. Maybe there were fewer people, but no one had stopped preparing for another siege. The walls were patched, with only a few gaps left. The corpses inside were gone. Fires burned outside the village, where the bodies had been dragged. A dozen soldiers stood by the gate alongside the village guards. Lord Ashvale was there as well.

"Ready?" he asked. His gaze moved from Revel to Adolin, where it lingered.

"Dareth. A mage from my party," Revel said.

"Dareth," Edrin repeated.

"Nice to have you." Adolin just nodded.

"Let's go over the plan once more," Edrin said.

"The goal is to find the source of what's plaguing Zent, and possibly the capital. The secondary goal is to deal with it if we can. If it's beyond us, we return to the village and defend it from another wave."

"Did you manage to send a message to the capital?" Clay asked. Edrin shook his head.

"No. The artifact still doesn't work. There's some kind of interference. Two scouts left an hour ago to bring reinforcements and warn them about possible monster waves." Interference. Adolin hadn't noticed anything like that. He could try to find the source, but it was probably where they were headed. No point wasting mana before a dangerous mission. It wasn't like he had enough to deal with it from here.

"The merchant. Master Eldritch agreed to delay the caravan until the issue is dealt with. His guards will work with my men and the village guards to defend the village." Revel's expression didn't change. Clay's flickered. What were the chances the merchant worked for her family? If Adolin had to guess, high. But it didn't matter. He was just glad the village wouldn't be left undefended. He had to give it to the nobles of this world. They were far better than those in his old one. Maybe except Luc's family.

Soon, they left the village and entered the forest. The same one the monsters had come from. They followed the trail. It didn't take long.

"Formation!"