After I bought the rights to the hunting grounds, I was officially accepted as their party tactician. There was no contract for me to sign because, unlike Guilds, adventurers handled things differently. Of course, many pyers were cheated because of it, but what was that to me? Kimmel seemed like a forthcoming individual, and they accepted my terms, which meant that I could level up more efficiently, but I was after something else. I'm not just doing this for myself, I thought as I looked on from the hilltop at my party fighting monsters on the pins.
Kimmel and Sarde showed the most promise among all the fighters on the team. Their teamwork was impeccable. Kimmel would weaken the monsters with his sword strokes, and Sarde would then finish them off with powerful nce thrusts. Sometimes, it was the other way around, so both of them were getting decent EXP from all the Centaurs and Floating Eyes they had killed.
I turned my eyes over to Batti, who was fighting a Centaur. The Centaur raised its massive two-handed axe and swung it with incredible power, but Batti ducked to avoid it. From his crouched position, he then swung his steel axe, targeting one of its legs, but the beast bent back with incredible swiftness and countered with a kick of its front legs, knocking Batti back a considerable distance. Then, it dropped its two-handed axe and brought out a steel bow. Oh, shit. But before anyone could react, it quickly shot at him with deadly accuracy. I'm finished, I thought. I couldn't have somebody dying on the first day, as that would put my skills into question, but I was worried for nothing apparently, as he took the arrow to the chest, let out a powerful roar, and threw his axe at the Centaur, splitting it into two in the process.
How much HP does he have? I watched on in sheer amazement. Matilda went over to him and healed him, but I was nonetheless impressed. He could be the team's tank since we don't have an armored knight, I thought as I moved on to my next target. Lucia was fighting a swarm of Floating Eyes all by herself. Her small frame and mages generally high speed stat allowed her to dodge all their attacks effortlessly, but it didn't ease my worries one bit. Unlike Batti, she would be finished if one of their attacks nded, but she didn't seem to care as she kept on mowing them down with powerful lightning spells. Why would anyone put their life at risk like that? I wondered, but thinking about it wouldn't bring me to the answer. I would have to ask her myself.
I turned to Hertz, who was sitting beside me, and asked, "Why don't you join them?"
"I'm a spy," He replied. "I'm not well-suited for combat, especially during the day." He was right about that st part, as spies, thieves, and other such csses generally received status boosts at night that improved their combat. But I wasn't buying the first part. Spies at level 50 could be promoted to Assassins, one of the most feared csses in the game, so you could bet I was going to level him up, even if he didn't want to. It's not ideal for a team like this, but I'll have to use that method...
"How did you get the gold?" He asked with keen interest, interrupting my thoughts.
"Oh, well, I happened to come across a few Gorgon eggs, three of which I sold at the Auction House."
"And they didn't cheat you?!" He asked, genuinely surprised at the turn of events.
"Well, they did try to cheat me, but Marquis Dartinius happened to take a liking to me and asked them to give us the full amount. Maybe I'm just lucky, I dunno," I shrugged.
"If he took a liking to you, then you're not," He said with a grave expression on his face.
"How can you say that so confidently?" I asked, but he remained silent for a while, probably wondering whether he should tell me something.
"You've heard the rumors, haven't you?"
"Yeah, pretty much. People think he's some kind of mastermind, controlling the world behind the shadows." I thought it was ridiculous, so I ughed at the absurdity of it, but Hertz looked on silently with a complicated look on his face. Wait, don't tell me it's actually true!
"Ah, it seems you don't know," He said with a sad smile. The look in his eyes was strange. It was almost like he knew the full truth but wasn't any better off for it.
"The Marquis... isn't human," He began with a revetion that confounded and left me utterly speechless. I remembered his face, eyes, clothing, and demeanor and how I had not suspected anything. I-it can't be! I thought, but before he could continue, the party returned, seemingly done with their training for the day.
"We left ten monsters for you like you asked," Kimmel began, but as I was so stunned, it took me a while to respond.
"T-thank you," I managed.
"Is everything alright? You look pale." He asked with concern on his face.
"No, no, everything is fine!" I said as I waved my hands to dispel all doubt. They didn't really seem convinced, so I drew an arrow from my quiver and positioned it on my bow. I took a deep breath to calm myself and then released it. The arrow soared through the air majestically and hit a weakened Floating Eye with near-perfect accuracy, killing it instantly. I gained a level and proceeded to shoot down the other nine weakened monsters, gaining two levels on top. At the end of the training session, my stats looked like this:
DaphneLV 14HP63Str13Dex39Spd22Luck 12P-DEF10M-DEF17Status-----Compatibility-----I had a meeting pnned based on what I'd seen from them, but I was more interested in hearing what Hertz had to say. As far as I could remember, there were no monsters in Everst Dynasty like that, and putting aside what I knew, something was unnerving about a monster perfectly taking on a human appearance. I'm going to have to ask him about this ter, I thought as we called it a day and returned to the tavern.
