39 - Redirected Focus

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Gradually losing passion, wondering about a soft paradise.

A difficult, harsh decision, wiping tears away from his heavy eyes.

Burdened with a cruel mission, relentless advance to where his fate lies.

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

"Let us move with haste," Grisia said to them, snapping his fingers and casting a swiftness spell on them.

White, ethereal circles with runes appeared over them, their bodies glowing the same color. They felt lighter and thought they could move faster than usual.

"Running again? You're the only one I know who does not use a carriage, Grisia," Chadrhaad chuckled.

"It takes too long to prepare on short notice, and we should be faster and more flexible on foot," Grisia replied.

"Yes, yes. I understand. I was just making an observation."

The four began to run. They headed to the outskirts of the city west of the kingdom. They were to survey the situation once they reached their destination. But first, they had to reach the huge city by crossing the land of the nobles.

Grisia knew the best route inside the city where they could encounter the least amount of people and obstacles to further make use of their enhanced speed. They followed him and planned to go through the city's maze-like alleyways.

"Sir Rhaad, what are the differences between an adventurer and a mercenary?" asked Kairo.

"Hmm?"

"I've been thinking about the difference between the two, but I haven't really found an answer to that."

"You've come to the right person then," he smiled at Kairo. "Adventurers are essentially people who have a professional license to take up quests, find or explore ruins, discover locations or artifacts, and such. Mercenaries are... well, let's just say that they get the job done for the right price. By any means necessary."

"By any means necessary..."

"Many of them prefer it just like that, others simply can't be bothered to get a license. They're kind of the underbelly of the whole questing business. I manage and run the guild of adventurers for this kingdom, but as much as I hate to admit it, they are as essential to the kingdom as adventurers are, as dubious as they may be. Their methods are questionable, but it's better than having inexperienced people do it themselves and make more of a mess of things."

"Is that so..." Kairo pondered about it. He added being a mercenary to the list of jobs he may do, but he didn't exactly prefer the sound of its nature.

"If you're really interested in quests and such, I'd personally— and as the head of the guild— recommend you become an adventurer!"

"No, thank you. I already have my merchant's license."

"You— you what?! Well, congratulations! But even so, you may still become an adventurer," he said. Kairo took note of this at the back of his mind as well. "Ah, it's been a while since someone so young obtained one. The only other youngster I remember is Jarquis, and he's now the head of that guild," he beamed proudly.

"Yes, I've met him personally. He was the one who made my license and gave me a test."

"I see..." Chadrhaad contemplated for a moment. "He's found his peer. But be careful of that guy, he's not evil, but he is quite conniving and has the capability to do some underhanded things to get what he wants. Normally, it takes several business days to get your license after passing the test. Who knows what he's planning."

"Yes, I did get the feeling that he was a scheming person. But I got what I wanted, which was a license, and so far, I haven't felt his presence ever since."

"I see. But I guess when I say he does some underhanded stuff, he's really just outwitted me on some matters and I'm being bitter about it," he laughed. "He's quite dependable once you get to know him, and like me, he's maintained a balance with the dark side of his business."

Some time later, they crossed the fields and reached the city.

They stopped to enter the gates and greet the guards stationed there before entering the dark alleys and resuming their mad dash.

"Oh, to see so many ants casually living their paltry lives. Their defenselessness is pumping my blood," a wicked smile crept up to Tiraga's face.

"What?" asked the oblivious Chadrhaad.

"She means that she's worried about them," Grisia quickly replied as an excuse.

"That's... quite a way to express worry. Sounded to me like she's bloodthirsty."

"And you would be correct," she grinned devilishly.

Grisia shot a knowing look at Tiraga, to which she clicked her tongue before continuing, "Because I wanna... eugh, protect the citizens sooo much from a dangerous beast."

Sensing her scorn, Chadrhaad ignored it for now and focused on following Grisia. Maybe he was too hot and impatient about women after holing himself in his duties. He must curve his passion before pursuing romance, or there may come a time when he will become a negative role model as the head of the guild.

He thought he had to rearrange his priorities first before thinking about settling down. He proudly smiled at himself for having such mature thoughts. He rarely gets them outside of battle and managing the guild.

This smile of his gave Tiraga the creeps.

"Disgusting," she thought.

They followed Grisia through the narrow twists and turns of the alleyway. They were quiet for the whole time they were weaving through the city since they were rushing. Lives were at stake after all.

Meanwhile, Grisia had been thinking about how the two were able to clear his hard task that fast, so he planned to ask the two of them later, if ever the time comes when Chadrhaad and Tiraga are not present.

They reached the gates on the other side of the city. They once again met the guard who let Grisia and Kairo in through the unconventional way. He was about to tell them to halt when he saw the head of the adventurer's guild. Chadrhaad explained to him that they were on an emergency mission.

The guard sighed, grumbling about how Grisia was simply doing what he wanted as usual, but since their company included Chadrhaad, it should be fine.

They kept running even through the forest until they saw the first sign of a village on the outskirts. 

As Grisia stopped, the four of them also halted in their tracks.

"We're here," Grisia proclaimed.

"I'll talk to the villagers, it's fine if I do it alone," said Chadrhaad.

"I see. Then we'll wait here."

"Why don't we join Sir Rhaad?" Kairo asked.

"It's fine if I go by myself, I have to introduce ourselves and assess their situation first anyway. These people are currently wary of bandits and opportunistic bastar—" he stopped himself with a cough, realizing that he was talking in the midst of children. "—bad guys that might exploit their crippled defenses now that they're weakened from this dragon threat."

"And also, we have some things I'd like to discuss first," Grisia added.

Seeing that there might be no other time than now that Chadrhaad wouldn't be with them, he had to ask the two his question, even if Tiraga was still present.

Curious, when Chadrhaad headed to the village, he walked in an unhurried pace to hopefully hear a little about their conversation.

"Sia, Kairo. How were you two able to destroy the spires from my Earth: Land Upheaval?"

Tiraga flinched in shock hearing this. In her occasional spars with Grisia, she experienced this chakra technique firsthand. Around fifty or more spires raised to disorient her and make him trickier to hit.

She could imagine herself having a field day obliterating those rocks for breakfast, but how did two measly brats literally do it before breakfast? Unless it was done gradually for days, even then, they were massive and tough spires for the typical humans. She didn't know much about their training, but she knew they weren't using any cannons or explosive materials, or else she would've smelled the gunpowder.

There weren't any lingering smells either. So this must've been done through powers, or maybe she underestimated these measly children and they actually had quite the brute strength. Could it be that they were now worth a fight? Things were getting interesting, and so, she listened to their answer.

Chadrhaad was also curious to know how it went down exactly, but he couldn't slow down his steps any further to listen in. There were people who needed his help. And so, he was outside of the hearing range for the rest of their conversation.

Grisia added, "Just how did you use your... physical strength... to accomplish it beyond my expectations?"

Kairo and Aisia knew by how he emphasized the word "physical strength" that it was the word that they would substitute for「 Ki 」.

"Well, I thought about what you said. Learning how to utilize our physical strength like that was a crucial start to a lot of new possibilities, and you were teaching us how to learn things on our own, so..."

Earlier, when Grisia disappeared after giving them their large task...

Aisia was working hard slashing through the thick stone, but it was simply not as satisfying to do as how it looked when Kairo easily sliced Grisia's Earth: Stone Ascent boulder in half. Kairo was also having trouble going through them.

And so, Kairo stopped, closed his eyes, and thought for a while. During this, he also started to practice the breathing method Grisia taught them.

"Hey, quit slacking off! We have to complete this at least before dinner! Or are you thinking about if we should forage for our own food for now since we're not gonna be eating breakfast at the mansion? Hiyah!" she kept hitting the stone over and over again, but it was just too tough.

The blades of their weapons were being chipped away. Kairo thought that at this rate, their weapons wouldn't survive through the whole task with this crude method. There must be another way. Grisia's recent lesson was about thinking outside the box, or using their ki in different ways other than simply coating their entire body.

"Keep working on that, Aisia. I'll try to figure out a better way to finish this task. I'll help after I give up on thinking."

Aisia grunted and stopped for a moment to argue with Kairo.

"And what will I get if you do give up and I end up doing most of the work?"

Kairo opened his eyes, seeing her point. "Well, then I'll owe you a favor," he smiled before closing his eyes again and resuming his search for another way.

"But we're already close friends, doesn't that already mean you'll do a lot for me anyway?"

"I meant if I don't want to do something, then you can use your favor."

"Fair. Alright," she said before continuing her strikes.

After a while, he had an idea. Both of them successfully covered their weapons with their ki aura, but what if they could allocate more of their ki from their body to their weapon and to the limbs they use when striking?

"It shouldn't be too hard to do. Here goes nothing!"

From behind her, Aisia sensed the change in the flow of Kairo's ki. She let him have a turn to conserve her stamina and observe his new idea.

As Kairo walked up to the spire she was focusing on, she saw that the aura around his body was significantly thinner and the aura on his sword was bigger than before. She understood his idea now, but she wanted to see just how potent this idea was first.

Kairo lifted his sword above his head, charging for a heavy downward slice. In one swift motion, he swung the sword as he bent forward. It was instantaneous, but nothing happened.

"Did 'ya miss?"

As if bothered by her words, the spire began to move and rumble loudly, the slice in the middle becoming more noticeable as each half parted from each other. The two halves fell down on opposite sides, spewing dust and dirt all over from the commotion.

"Well, my idea worked," he said as he panted. "Though, it's far more tiring than normally keeping our aura active. Do I gain a favor from you instead since I made our job easier?" he giggled.

"No! You didn't say anything about if your idea worked. We only agreed that I would gain a favor from you if it didn't work," her face made her signature cheeky smile.

"What?! Unfair," he grinned at Aisia's mischievousness.

"Too bad, so sad. Now, let me try it too."

"Fine. I'll keep at it then."

Kairo repeated what he did, redirecting more of his excess aura to his weapon. It felt draining to do, but he felt like he could become more used to it with more practice.

Returning to the present...

Tiraga was confused about some parts, but she supposed that by "physical strength", they meant martial arts. She surmised that it was probably the same power that Grisia possessed, his brute strength that didn't seem like any power she knew of.

She was close to the truth, that they were talking about「 Ki 」which was normally invisible to other people, but she was wrong in thinking that Grisia ever used「 Ki 」against her.

"I see. Great job, then this is going to be perfect. Your next task will be... facing a dragon."

"WHAT?!"

As if on cue, Chadrhaad appeared in their midst, only hearing the last part of the conversation where two children will be facing a dragon.