Today, I woke up very early because I was extremely excited. The reason is that today is the day we promised to explore the ruins that Marglas and the others found in The Great Theondia forest together. When I opened my eyes, it was still quite dark, so I checked the time.
4:47 AM.
"Huh... I woke up so early today."
I was so excited and filled with joyful emotions that my heart was pounding loudly. I pressed my hand against my chest to calm it down. Then, to ease my overwhelming excitement, I went to the dining area and drank some water. It seemed like the effect of drinking water helped. My excited mind calmed down a bit, and the drowsiness disappeared, leaving me feeling refreshed. After that, I grabbed the sword I had placed by the door corner and stepped outside. I saw the bright sun slowly rising from the east. I prepared my body for training and swung the sword vertically.
45 minutes later.
I started to feel tired, so I took a break from my sword practice. Then, I went under a tree and took off my shirt. I was drenched in sweat. As I took a deep breath, I gazed at Limart, the small town with The Great Theondia Forest in the background. Adventurers heading to the Adventure Guild early in the morning to secure good quests, vendors preparing to sell breakfast, soldiers returning home after a night shift, and people going to the temple for morning prayers—all of them made Limart's morning lively and vibrant. In Limart, where I live, there are town guards, but their numbers are small, and they aren't very strong. That's why, as my grandfather once said, the lifeblood of Limart lies in its adventurers.
"Arthur... are you practising your sword skills?"
I heard my grandfather calling from the doorway.
"Yes, Grandpa. I woke up early today and couldn't go back to sleep, so I decided to practice my sword skills."
"Alright, don't overwork yourself. When you're done, come inside. I've prepared breakfast."
"Okay, Grandpa."
I picked up the shirt I had taken off earlier and went inside. I placed the sword in its usual spot by the corner of the doorway and hung the shirt in the bathroom to dry. Then, I changed into a fresh shirt and went to the dining area.
"Come on, Arthur. After eating, let's get ready to go."
I replied, "Yes, Grandpa," and ate my breakfast. Today's breakfast consisted of fried eggs, bread, milk, and roasted tomatoes. After eating, I went to my room and put on the leather armour my grandfather had bought for me. Then, I looked in the mirror. I saw a young boy with slightly long, dark hair that reached his eyes, sun-tanned skin, and golden eyes. I'm not trying to boast, but I think I'm one of the good-looking guys. After that, since my grandfather was waiting outside, I grabbed my sword and went out.
"You look so happy... your smile is about to reach your ears, Arthur."
My grandfather was waiting under a tree. He was over 60 years old, with white hair tied back and a moustache. Like me, he was wearing leather armour. My grandfather never used to wear armour, always preferring to hunt without it, so I had to insist until he finally agreed to wear at least leather armour. He carried a bag with a magic circle drawn on it and had his sword hooked at his waist. Even though he had retired long ago, I could still feel the aura of a knight emanating from him.
"Let's go, boy."
"Yes, Grandpa."
I followed my grandfather as we headed into town to meet Marglas and the others.
"Yo! Old man, you're late!"
"We're just a little late, Marglas. After all, today is Arthur's first time joining us."
Marglas greeted us first. He had short hair, a tall and sturdy build, and wore armour made of a mix of steel and leather. He carried a shield in one hand and had his sword strapped to his back. Behind Marglas, I saw two others. One was Kobe, who had fair skin and wore bronze armour, with his sword hooked at his waist like my grandfather. The other was Nax, who had golden hair and wore leather armour, carrying a bow. Nax was the fastest in Marglas's party, so he had a magic circle bag tied around his waist. Marglas's entire party had recently been promoted to B rank.
"Wow, Arthur... you're almost an adult now, huh?"
"It's my first time joining you, so I'll be counting on you, Uncle Marglas..."
"Uncle... Uncle Marglas... Come on, Arthur, I'm not that old yet!"
I teased Marglas.
"Arthur's right... you're over 30 now, so you're practically an uncle, Marglas."
Nax backed me up from behind, and Kobe nodded in agreement with what Nax said.
"You little brats... Ouch!"
My grandfather smacked Marglas on the head.
"Brat Marglas... stop talking nonsense. We're already late, let's go."
"Old man, why did you hit me..."
"Yes, Grandpa."
"Yes, Grandpa Thomas."
After that, we left the small town of Limart and headed toward The Great Theondia forest.
*
Amidst the mist, old buildings and broken walls, On top of one of the ruined structures, we spotted two people.
"20 million, huh... Betraying your own country isn't good, but you guys didn't provide enough funding for research... That's your fault... Anyway, I've never seen such a powerful ghoul before. This is truly the best..."
The person dressed in a black robe spoke to the ghoul in armour beside him. However, the ghoul didn't respond.
"Hmm... no matter how powerful it is, it's still just a ghoul... Anyway, my masterpiece will be complete soon. Hehehehe..."
Then, the person in the black robe stood up.
"Dark Magic - Summoning."
Immediately, a large black magic circle appeared behind him.
*
We gradually reached the edge of The Great Theondia forest.
"Arthur, Grandpa told you to be careful, right?"
"Grandpa Thomas, we're here too," Nax added. Then, Nax took out a piece of paper from his magic circle bag and tore it. As soon as the paper was torn, a small blue magic circle appeared, and a thread-like line suddenly pointed toward the location of the ruins. Following the blue thread, we continued forward, led by Marglas. At that moment, I remembered my grandfather's words to always stay alert, so I gripped my sword tightly and focused.
"There are skeletons ahead. Get ready."
As soon as Marglas warned us, we saw the skeletons. It seemed like the skeletons had sensed us. They started moving toward us, step by step.
"Fight!"
Suddenly, an arrow shot past me and struck one of the skeletons in the head. It was Nax's arrow. Then, the others also began attacking the skeletons. I immediately ran toward one of the skeletons and slashed its neck with my sword. After its head fell, I stabbed it with my sword and crushed it under my foot. Then, I attacked the other skeletons. It didn't take long before all the skeletons were defeated. There were 22 skeletons in total. My grandfather took down 8, Marglas took down 6, Kobe and Nax took down 5 each, and I managed to kill 3. Skeletons are different from other monsters because their remains can't be used for anything, and their bones aren't suitable for making weapons. That's why quickly destroying them is the most effective way to save time.
"Phew... Thanks to you, Grandpa, things got much easier."
"Skeletons are easy. They're only D rank..."
"And Arthur, good job."
I nodded at Marglas.
"Alright, let's keep going. We'll probably encounter skeletons three more times ahead, so stay alert."
After listening to Marglas's warning, we continued forward.
15 minutes later.
Just as Marglas predicted, we encountered three more groups of skeletons before finally reaching the ruins. The ruins were massive. Amidst the mist, I saw broken walls and white structures for the first time, and I was amazed.
'Is this what ruins look like?' I thought to myself. This place must have been inhabited by many people in the past. I even wondered if it was the palace of ancient kings because of its grandeur.
At that moment, Marglas said, "Let's rest for about 5 minutes." We took a break to catch our breath after all the fighting. Everything around me was fascinating since I had never seen anything like it before. Just then, I noticed something on top of one of the structures. As I was looking, a magic circle appeared in front of it. What I saw next made me freeze in place.
"Grandpa, Marglas, Kobe, Nax... enemies..."
Suddenly, two black lightning bolts shot toward us and exploded. The explosion filled the area with dust, obscuring our surroundings.
"Grandpa... Marglas... are you all safe?"
I stood up amidst the dust and looked around. Gradually, the dust cleared, and I saw my grandfather. Seeing that he was unharmed, I felt relieved. Just then, I noticed someone not far from my grandfather preparing to strike him with a sword.
"Grandpa..."
Clang...
I felt my body being flung into the air along with the sword's impact. It seemed like the sword broke from the force as I tried to block the attack aimed at my grandfather. Then, I crashed into a tree. I quickly tried to get up and looked toward where my grandfather was. In front of me, I saw the person who had been about to strike my grandfather now engaged in combat with him. 'I need to help Grandpa... but... Marglas and the others... are they safe?' Blood started flowing from my mouth. My vision began to blur, and I tried to stand up, but my body refused to cooperate. 'Ugh... I want to help Grandpa, but... I don't even have a sword anymore....' Then, I collapsed back onto the ground. 'I can't... my vision is getting blurry...' As I was thinking this, I noticed a piece of broken chain in front of my eyes. With the last of my strength, I tried to grab the chain, but my vision darkened, and the world seemed to fade away. 'I'm done for... I'm losing consciousness...' Just then, I felt as if someone was saying to me,
"Do you want strength?"
"I want it... please... give me strength...."