Faster than Expected

Aside from being discovered by Lawrence, Silver Face’s plan to leave Dream Maker to go north had gone unnoticed.

Before they set off, they made sure all their equipment was in good condition. They would be traveling by hang glider and on foot. Hikaru had confirmed the value of hang gliders, so he trained Lavia and Paula how to fly back in Vireocean.

Since the two of them had stealth-type set of stats as well, flying in the air would not be a problem. However, reckless movement could lead to serious injury, so they would be moving safely.

I feel like we should put more points on Stealth, but better save points for now. There’s a chance we run into some special kind of magical interference or even poison. If that happens, I gotta use the points to counter their effects.

【Soul Board】Hikaru

Age: 17 Rank: 55

3

【Vitality】

【Magical Power】

..【Mana】1

【Physical Strength】

..【Strength】3

..【Weapon Mastery】

….【Throwing】10 (MAX)

……【Heaven Shot】0

【Agility】

..【Power Burst】8

..【Balance】1

..【Stealth】

….【Life Obfuscation】5 (MAX)

….【Mana Obfuscation】5 (MAX)

….【Imperceptibility】5 (MAX)

……【Assassination】3 (MAX)

……..【Snipe】3 (MAX)

……【Group Obfuscation】5 (MAX)

【Intuition】

..【Instinct】2

..【Detection】

….【Life Detection】1

….【Mana Detection】5 (MAX)

……【Detection Expansion】3 (MAX)

【Soul Board】Lavia

Age: 16 Rank: 35

6

【Vitality】

..【Stamina】3

【Magical Power】

..【Mana】15

….【Magic Principle】2

..【Spirit Affinity】

….【Fire】6

….【Magic Creation】1

【Agility】

..【Stealth】

….【Life Obfuscation】3

….【Mana Obfuscation】3

….【Imperceptibility】3

……【Group Obfuscation】3

【Soul Board】Paula Nohra

Age: 19 Rank: 22

8

【Magical Power】

..【Mana】7

…【Magic Principle】1

【Agility】

..【Stealth】

….【Life Obfuscation】2

….【Mana Obfuscation】2

….【Imperceptibility】2

【Willpower】

..【Faith】

….【Holy】4

……【Healing Magic】8

……【Support Magic】1

While Hikaru’s rank had remained the same, Lavia and Paula’s ranks had gone up by 1 and 3, respectively, after killing monsters back in Vireocean.

As Hikaru expected, it wasn’t easy to increase ranks when you’re over 50. Of course, he could grind up a lot faster if he killed monsters all day every day.

Hikaru set his guild card job class to Greater Angel and equipped five classes. He found that he had two new classes since the last he checked.

【Servant of Light God: Light Bringer】4

【Dragon Exorcism God: Slayer of Evil】4

When he discovered them, he let out a groan. The classes probably appeared when he was in Dream Maker months ago. The “servant” one bugged him.

This sounds like I’m being employed to work for the good of the world.

Hikaru had no plans to do that at all. He slayed dragons of his own free will. So he ignored Light Bringer. In the end he chose:

【Higher Class Heaven’s Messenger: Greater Angel】5

【Stealth God: Darkness Wanderer】2

【Throwing God: Deadshot】2

【Wide Area Detection God: Grand Sonar】4

【Woods Strolling God: Forest Walker】4

【Dragon Exorcism God: Slayer of Evil】4

Lavia and Paula set their classes 【Flame Spirit God: Flame Magus】4 and【Healing Magic God: Extra Healer】3 respectively.

Lavia seemed like she would get a three-character class if her Fire stat was raised, but since she boasted immense power at this point, Hikaru decided to save her points for now in case of an emergency. He was worried that she didn’t have any points on Immunity stats.

As for Paula, Hikaru would have to spend points in unlocking her Vitality board, which he felt was a waste of points. While he only had three points available, he was more worried about the others. He also thought that with Paula’s Healing Magic, they could overcome any ordeal.

Healing magic wasn’t as potent in neutralizing poison as it was in mending external wounds. It was even less effective in curing diseases. If any of them was rendered unable to fight, they would have to retreat.

Since Paula was basically their lifeline, Hikaru decided that the Healing magic stored in his bullets should be used for her.

「The revolver’s not looking too good…」

The gun’s barrel was not in good shape after excessive use.

I gotta be more careful in using it, Hikaru thought. It could break at any moment.

In that sense, it was the right call to bring Lavia with him. If the revolver stopped working, he wouldn’t be able to kill hordes of monsters. Lavia herself could kill them as long as she had mana—and her mana replenishes as well.

Slaying the evil drakon was their objective this time. They would essentially be ignoring monsters along the way.

「Lavia, Paula, are you ready?」

「Yeah.」

「Yup! All good to go!」

At dawn, Hikaru and the girls stood on the ramparts. The wind blowing from the east would pose no problems for flight. Paula’s bodyguards watched from below as Hikaru’s party spread their gliders.

『We’re leaving. I’m counting on you!』

『Understood!』

Galixon brought his fist to his chest as a salute, and the rest of the squad followed suit.

「All right, then. Let’s go.」Hikaru said and jumped from the wall first.

Lavia and Paula followed. Their figures seemed to blend in with the background. If you lose focus for even a moment, you’d lose sight of them for sure. They had activated their Stealth.

Likewise, Hikaru had also activated his Stealth, so Lavia and Paula couldn’t see him. He couldn’t directly see the girls either, but with his maxed-out Mana Detection, he knew their exact location. Because they couldn’t see each other, they had to designate a landing spot in advance.

「Paula’s good.」

When Paula first started practicing hang gliding, Hikaru found out she had the knack for it, much to his surprise. She made remarkable progress because of her interest in flying. Lavia had a fear of heights, so her flying style was somewhat awkward.

The forest looked majestic under the light of the morning sun. It was hard to believe that monsters tainted by evil lurked down there.

「Things should go back to normal if we kill the root of it all… I think.」

The question was: could he defeat the drakon? Hikaru believed he could, considering he was able to take down the Gray Noble Drakon, but what if the Evil Drakon was far more powerful?

「I’ll just have to do what I can.」

As they headed for their first landing spot, Hikaru put an end to his doubts.

The three of them disappeared, quite literally. Galixon had his eyes on the walls.

『And off they go.』a member of the bodyguards said.

『Yeah. I really wanted us to protect the Goddess, but nothing we can do about it now. We’ll just have to do what we can.』

The elite bodyguards fell in line and returned to the city. They, too, were getting ready, with plans to scout the nearby Roots and take out the monsters in the vicinity. They weren’t going to destroy the Roots themselves, so as to not mess with the army’s share of the dragon stones.

Galixon frowned. It was early dawn, yet there were a few soldiers outside the headquarters of the Allied Forces, the doors left open. With a large conference room for holding consultations, representatives from each country visited the place day and night. It was also where Dream Maker’s central government office was located.

「Out of the way! The Vice Commander’s carriage is here!」

Hooves rumbled in the distance, and a carriage arrived. There were sounds of multiple footsteps. Many people were coming to the headquarters.

Sensing that something was up, Galixon and his comrades made their way to the headquarters. Since they were treated as adventurers, they couldn’t enter, but staying outside was fine. There he heard some words he wasn’t completely familiar with.

『My lord…』

It wasn’t too difficult to understand. No doubt that there was an emergency at hand.

「Is it true that monsters took over Lands Harvest?」

「Sounds like it. Then again, no one’s there, so I guess it’s not really that hard to believe.」

「I heard giants as big as mountains appeared.」

Hikaru said the enemy would send Yamamanekis if they wanted to launch a full-scale attack. It was clear that they wished to crush humanity.

『We’re leaving right away to destroy Roots.』Galixon said.

『Are you serious, Captain? If the enemy’s coming for us, we’d better fortify our defenses…』

『You’re looking at it the wrong way. It’s easier for the enemy to attack if we concentrate our forces. We’re gonna go around destroying Roots to divert the the enemy’s forces. The more we destroy, the more the enemy’s forces spread. That’s exactly the role we’ve been given.』

『Are you sure? The armies all want the dragon stones…』

『As long as we save Dream Maker from certain downfall, I don’t care if they will hate us for it. I don’t want to see the Goddess sad.』The image of the masked boy flashed in Galixon’s mind. 『Boss. Looks like things are moving faster than you thought.』