Chapter 11 - Doing a Suspicious Quest in Another World

We made our way over to the quest board. There seemed to be a lack of quests on the board with only a little bit of the massive board being covered.

Most of the quests were S rank.

[Quest - Kill Cahrles Agassi

Reward - 125 gold coins

Rank - S]

I wonder who Cahrles Agassi was?

I looked all over the board, searching for an easier mission.

Eventually, I saw a B ranked mission.

[Quest - Find and retrieve the Enfeoff Crystal

Reward - 7 gold coins

Rank - B]

I had no idea what this was, but beggars couldn't be choosers. I needed any source of income I could find.

I took the quest slip off the board and read the back, there were some more details.

[The crystal is a large rock looking item that protrudes magic power. The is likely someone using that power to make themselves stronger so be wary. A greater reward will be offered depending on the circumstances of completion.

Equipment included

- Tracking device (only tracks the Enfeoff Crystal)]

It didn't seem impossibly difficult, it looked like it was possible, even without fighting.

I walked over to Chloe, "What are your thoughts on this mission?"

"It looks pretty good."

Alright, I guess it's settled.

I made my way back over to the guild woman, she sorted out the logistics and passed me the tracking device.

"Don't die." She said.

I wasn't really expecting to die...?

Whatever, Chloe and I wandered out of the guild building and began following the tracking compass. It was refreshing to be out of the loud, humid environment back into the crisp fresh air.

We followed the compass which lead us a significant distance out of the city and into the farmland on the outskirts. It was a long walk, the two of us had no food and only a single bottle of water from the guild.

Eventually, everything around us was completely covered by fields upon fields of wheat, there seemed to be no buildings, trees or carriages. Only smudges of yellow with a crude winding road running through the centre, surrounded by a rotting wooden fence.

We were slowly getting closer to the Enfeoff crystal, the distance on the tracking device had gone from a snake to a small grain of rice.

This entire time, Chloe who was trudging along beside me did not make a single complaint or even ask how close we were. She was just walking, step by step, with me.

"We're nearly there."

"That's good."

After a while, we made it to the location on the tracking device. The only thing there was a small shack, no bigger than maybe a residential garage.

It was dilapidated and run-down, the wood was gradually peeling off, grass and other plants were growing out of the crevices and the windows were nearly completely covered by spider webs.

"I guess it's in here," I told Chloe.

The two of us walked over to the door.

I knocked it loudly.

"Anyone in here?"

No response.

Slowly, I pushed open the broken door which was barely connected to the hinge. There was no sign of anyone inside.

There was old, broken furniture scattered around the inside.

The tracking device had led exactly to this spot so it should've been in here.

The two of us looked around for a bit but we didn't see anything that looked like a crystal. Suddenly, Chloe noticed a plank of wood, sticking out slightly. I heaved the plank and it revealed a shining dark crystal from underneath.

Well, that was easy, the trip was pretty long but it wasn't all that bad.

"What do you think you're doing...?"

Suddenly I heard the voice of a relatively young man, maybe in his twenties. He was in a very aggressive posture, his hand was firmly gripped on a professional, red spear. He looked like someone of quite high esteem, he was wearing a long coat, similar to Reid and gloves on his hands.

"Um... we're just here for a quest..." I replied.

Without even bothering with another word, he boosted off his feet with some explosion and launched himself at me. His strength was extremely imposing, I felt as if I was going to die that instant.

Crap.

I could see the tip of his spear coming down at an angle straight towards my head.

I tried to step back as fast as I could but the slash managed to catch me, cutting a huge gash across my face. With a powerful step, he thrust himself towards me again.

"Ritsu!" Chloe called out to me.

"Stay back!" I replied.

This time I managed to barely read his attack and drew my sword parrying his stab with an inch of space to spare. He showed no signs of stopping his attack. Blood was dripping violently from my face, clouding my vision with a tint of red.

"Who are you?!" I asked desperately.

"I am one of Princess Lucia's guards." He stated.

Without a moment to spare he slashed at me with his spear. I tried to block it with my sword but his attack managed to connect with my hand drawing even more blood.

"Why do you need this crystal so much?!" I shouted at him.

"It's everything to me, I wouldn't be able to be Princess Lucia's guard without it."

He stepped back a little readying a thrust.

"Wait, if you're so strong already why do you need this crystal?!"

"You don't know anything about me!"

He thrust his spear towards my chest, it moved so fast I could barely see it. I only managed to block it with my left arm out of pure luck. The spear stabbed straight through my left arm and just barely missed my chest. Without any hesitation, he ripped the spear out of my arm again and adjusted his posture.

Instantly, he came in with another thrust. There was almost nothing I could do now.

I had to use one of the techniques.

"Fifth Form, Tranquil!"

My sword managed to guide away his spear, like a stream of flowing water, gently redirecting the direction of the force. He became unbalanced after the attack.

Suddenly I felt an intense crushing pain in my head.

I guess this was the side effect.

It was a serious pain. One like I've never felt before.

Not only that, but my mind was also crushed by a feeling of dread.

He kicked me with the bottom of his boot sending me crashing into the wall. There was nothing I could do to stop it. He kicked me again, sending blood spurting out of the gash on my face.

"I tried so hard, all my life, all I did was train to become one of her guards." I suddenly heard him speaking. "Yet no matter how powerful I became, I was never chosen. Every single time, even people who were weaker than me were chosen." He continued his monologue. "This crystal was the only thing that for some reason made me able to be one of her guards."

"You don't understand how it feels to be constantly held back, despite being more capable, despite being more talented, always held back, unfairly." He explained.

You don't understand how it feels.

You don't understand how it feels.

The pain in my head reached a turning point.

I could no longer control my body.

"No,  you  don't understand how it feels."

"Huh?"

"You cheat."

"What do you think you're saying, you piece of shit!" He screamed angrily. "This crystal was the one thing that pushed me over the line! You would never understand how it feels."

"Shut up."

The guard was fuming in anger. "I'll kill you right here, right now!"

"Universal Sword, Second Form, Arctic Blizzard."

Before the guard could even process what was happening, a sudden gust of wind struck him, sending him crashing out of the shack. Ice then appeared in the path, creating a massive ice spike out of the ground. He was rolling around on the ground, covered in dirt and the remnants of wheat plants.

"You piece of shit!"

"Universal Sword, Sixth Form, Break."

With a single swing of the sword, a huge wave of water appeared, following the trajectory of the sword. The pressure crushed the ice, splattering it into tiny fragments, strewn all over the ground.

Several icicles managed to impale the guard, leaving him cringing in pain. He stabbed his spear into the ground, pulling himself up.

"You'll pay for this!"

He charged at me again.

"Royal Arts, Infinite Spearhead!"

The tip of the spear began glimmering a deep brown colour.

"Universal Sword, Seventh Form, Confluence."

My sword made a ringing noise like the boiling water in a kettle. Air swirled around the border of it. In one swift swing, the guard's body was split in two. Blood gently dripped from his body. His spear dropped out of his hands.

"You don't understand how it feels."