by Brent Tyman
“I thought the whole point of that ill-advised exercise was to find someone that had your Strength,” Karl reasoned.
“But no one was supposed to be as strong as me in the Academy, or even outside it. This dent in my glory will simply be washed away when we get to this town. You will see,” Daiver assured us.
I was still floored that these guys knew about me and Juliana and talked about it so openly. I mean, with the way Juliana had been acting, it didn’t take a genius to figure it out, but still…
I supposed it was refreshing to see that they were okay with it. The ladies didn’t come back to our side of the march for the rest of the day, so I spent the time talking with Karl and Daiver.
Karl had mostly wanted to talk about my monster behavior theory, while Daiver focused on his heroics in previous Dungeon runs and fights. The time alone with them was well spent, and I learned a lot about Juliana’s retinue.
Although I learned the most about Daiver’s colorful past, mostly because he kept offering up embellished tales at lightning speed. Despite all that, it made the day fly by.
I did, however, very much doubt that Daiver had punched a tree so hard in his youth, that it flew straight to the moon, then fell down to hit a deer in the head, which he promptly ate that very same night.
Since that was frankly ridiculous. He knew how to spin up some interesting tales though… I’ll give him that.
True to their word, the ladies had their own tent set up deep within the makeshift camp the soldiers established. Of course, there weren’t that many tents to go around, thanks to Juliana’s stingy father.
Daiver spent the good part of an hour trying to convince some men to give up their tent, so that he could have one all to himself. Unfortunately for both me and Karl, he failed spectacularly. The three of us had to share a tent together.
I really should have brought my own supplies.
“You aren’t a snorer, are you, Alex?” Daiver questioned as he tried to smooth out his pillow until it was just right for him. “A man with high standing like me, a Duke’s son no less, requires suitable rest.”
“Don’t think so, then again, I usually sleep alone,” I said.
“Well, do try to keep it down.”
“Haven’t you realized you are surrounded by one hundred men?” Karl asked, taking off his glasses. “If you’re looking for silence, you won’t find it here.”
“Ugh, this is the downside of travel. Nevertheless, glory awaits us soon,” Daiver declared before stuffing his face into the pillow. He said something else, but mercifully, the pillow muffled his words.
“Night then,” I said, and Karl nodded to me as he blew out the lantern, the sole source of light in the tent.
Our tent was slightly bigger than the ones that the soldiers had, but not by much. It was far more rudimentary than the modern tents I was used to, but it was good enough. Naturally, it was dyed red, just like everything else.
I lay on my back, watching the darkness for a moment before closing my eyes. There was noise coming from outside, but not enough to disrupt me.
It was only a few moments before I heard loud snoring beside me. I thought it was Karl, at first, before realizing it was coming from Daiver’s pillow.
“You have got to be kidding me…” I muttered.
“Yes, I thought this would happen,” Karl whispered back in the darkness. “Usually, he stops in an hour.”
“An hour? Can’t I just whack him?” I asked.
“By all means.”
I gave Daiver a gentle shove, since the last thing I wanted was for him to go flying out of our tent. This stopped his snoring for a minute, but then he started right back up again. He was out and one heck of a heavy sleeper.
Jeez…
“Damn, guess I’ll come back in an hour,” I whispered.
“What was that?” Karl asked, and I shook my head.
“Just heading out.”
“Very well, I’ll see if I can persevere in my pursuit of slumber, despite this distraction,” Karl replied.
I headed out of the tent after pulling on my boots and immediately realized how chilly it was without my armor. I wasn’t willing to put it on though. I’d just have to deal with the cold.
Rows upon rows of tents surrounded me. I caught occasional glimpses of sentries patrolling the camp’s perimeter. I wasn’t entirely sure what to do, but I hoped I would get tired enough to just fall asleep immediately when I returned.
Keeping that in mind, I headed for the outskirts of the camp where I found a lone tree in the midst of a sea of grass. It didn’t have any tents nearby, so I figured this would be as good a spot as any to wait.
I sat with my back to the tree, propping my legs up. Now was a good time to reflect on what I wanted to do next. I hadn’t really had a chance to think about it with everything that had taken place, lately.
I had gotten fairly strong over the past few weeks, and my Defense was in a good place. Once I had some more Strength to back it up, it would probably be a good idea for me to acquire some magic.
I’d only used the Dynamic Healing spell on Juliana and had yet to come across another situation where I needed it. Although, that was a good thing, I supposed.
The Clan system of this world intrigued me, and I decided I really should look into finding more people to build my party. I had my Healer with Clarissa, and I could be either the damage dealer or Tank. To complete the trinity, I’d need to find either a Tank or damage dealer for my party.
I most definitely preferred dishing out damage over taking hits, so I would likely focus on a Tank next.
It wasn’t a time sensitive priority, as the Dungeon was easy enough to manage—at least with Clarissa in tow—but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t be on the lookout for more potential Clan members. I’d gone through the trouble of making this Clan after all, so it only made sense to plan for its future.
This was usually the time that Clarissa would send plenty of messages. I opened up the Clan Messages screen and focused on one particular section.
Clan Messages: 0
Huh, that was weird. She’d sent me a message around the time that Juliana had me checking how much coin I had, but it was idle chatter, mostly. I had sent her a few more messages, letting her know that I would be out of the city for the next week or so, but she hadn’t replied.
Surely, she wasn’t mad at me?
Out of curiosity more than anything else, I decided to try out the Clan location tracker function. Another screen popped up, asking me to choose who I wanted to locate.
Naturally, I chose Clarissa, but the next part stunned me. The interface immediately went away, which made me think I had accidentally turned it off or selected something wrong.
Just as I was about to open up the Clan Management screen again, I noticed an arrow in the corner of my vision. When I looked at it, the arrow morphed in real time, pointing deeper into the camp. There was also a number next to the arrow.
Distance: 294 feet
That couldn’t be right! We had traveled for almost a full day, so this number had to be wrong.
Nevertheless, the number gradually got smaller, and I saw that sentries were rushing along between tents, waking everyone up.
“Get to your posts and form up!” one yelled, “We have incoming.”
Despite all the groaning, the men were lining up on the far side of camp, so I got up from my place next to the tree and walked over to join them. It appeared I was heading in the same direction that the arrow was pointing.
Most of the men formed up in two long ranks, so I had to go around to actually see what was happening. When I finally did so, stepping around the final soldier at one end of the line, I saw something I didn’t expect to see here, of all places.
That beautifully kept blond hair, those pouty lips and dazzling eyes belonged to none other than…
“Hey Alex! Handsome, did you think you could leave the city without taking your Clan healer with you? I don’t think so!” Clarissa
Vos Hoganna shouted, her grin never fading.
Behind her were rows of men in green-lacquered armor.
20
Juliana was not impressed when Clarissa showed up, doubly so that she’d brought a lot of soldiers with her. Sadly, I didn’t get to speak to my Clan mate, as the ladies whisked her away before she had a chance to get close to me.
The green clad soldiers ended up setting up camp right next to ours and I was fairly sure no one was going to get any sleep for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, that included me, since Daiver had still been snoring when I got back to the tent and Clarissa began messaging me the second my head hit my pillow.
I wanted to know what she was doing here. She explained she would let me know in the morning. We exchanged our usual banter, with her mentioning that the Academy had suspended classes for a week due to the Demons’ attack.
I supposed that explained why she was willing to travel so far from the city.
I didn’t know what it was, but Clarissa’s messages had the power to make me fall asleep almost as soon as I started reading them. The next thing I knew, my eyes had closed, and sleep took me.
When morning came, I was still tired but ready for the day. I was in the middle of getting my armor on, when Daiver abruptly woke.
“Uhh, ahh,” he muttered. “This blanket was terribly uncomfortable and not very kind to my back.”
“That didn’t seem to stop you from falling asleep right away,” I commented. “You were out fast.”
Karl woke up soon after, and reached for his glasses.
“Morning to you both,” he said simply. “I’m surprised I got any sleep at all with that racket.”
“So, Alex snores?” Daiver asked.
I chuckled as Karl roll his eyes. Shaking my head, I left the tent. I really wanted to see both Juliana and Clarissa.
Based on the location tracker that I pulled up, Clarissa was much further away than I expected. I figured she must have gone back to her own camp, the one that her soldiers had set up.
I passed by the Sovereignty’s troops and headed for the nearby Hogannan camp.
In terms of aesthetics, other than the different dye the soldiers used for their armor and tents, it was strikingly similar to our camp. They had more sentries stationed on the side where the camps faced each other, but then again, so did the Sovereignty.
I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d need to say to get in as I approached their picket line. Maybe if I mentioned that Clarissa was in my Clan, they would recognize me? That was assuming Clarissa had even told these troops who I was.
“I’m here to speak to Clarissa Vos Hoganna,” I said, trying the formal approach on the row of guards in front of the camp.
“You’re the heir’s new flame, huh?” one asked.
“I heard you’re a commoner like us, that true?” another asked.
“Uhh, well I’m not an heir to any land,” I replied. “At least not in this life.”
“There’s a rumor going around that you bedded the heir as soon as you were alone in the Academy, that true too?”
My lips pressed themselves into a thin line without any conscious thought. Who the heck was spreading these rumors? I seriously wanted to know how everyone had learned about that.
“Well… uh… yes? You guys gonna let me pass or should I just head back?” I asked.
“No, no,” one said. “Go ahead. We won’t hear the end of it, if we turn you away.”
The soldiers parted for me, and I walked into their camp. Nobody had told me where Clarissa was, but my trusty location tracker led the way. I put it away once I reached deeper into the camp, as there was one giant tent amongst the others the location tracker pointed to.
The tent was colored a sharp green and took up the space of five regular tents while being twice as tall. There were also several more horses than we had brought with us that I could see on the outskirts of the camp.
Clarissa had come prepared, it seemed.
Another group of soldiers guarding this tent waved me in without a word when I explained who I was. The second I stepped inside, I was immediately caught off guard by Clarissa jumping into my arms. Her lips eagerly searched out my own.
“Alex!” she moaned between kisses. “How could you leave me so suddenly, handsome? How dare Juliana try and whisk you away from the city like that.”
Once the barrage of kisses stopped, which took a while, I was finally able to concentrate. Her kisses were out of this world and distracted me from… well, all coherent thought really.
“Clarissa, why are you here?”
“To see you, of course,” she replied immediately, grinning.
“Oh yeah? And you needed to bring this many soldiers with you?”
“Well, the roads are plagued with bandits, handsome. One can’t be too careful,” she retorted, her eyes darting all over the place.
“Uh huh,” I said, finding myself smiling. “And that’s your final answer?”
Clarissa responded by kissing me again, and I couldn’t help myself. I ran my hand over her breast. Her green dress was low cut and exposed a healthy amount of skin, most notably her excellent cleavage.
She groaned at my touch, and I was half sure we would end up on the floor before another voice caught my attention.
“Is this the Alex that you were speaking of?”
I broke off from kissing Clarissa and looked further into the tent.
A woman with short black hair that almost covered up one side of her face stood to the rear of the tent. As soon as we our eyes met, she panicked and tried to hide behind a dressing screen that was somehow in the tent.
“Uhh, hello. Yes, I’m Alex,” I said. When I got no reply, I looked to Clarissa.
She grinned at me, pulling me deeper inside the tent until we stood before the dressing screen.
“Anny, come out already,” Clarissa said, tapping the screen. “Alex won’t bite.”
“I’m fine right here, thank you,” Anny said in a mousy voice, from behind the dressing screen.
“Don’t be silly now. My handsome Alex just wants to meet you.”
“Ahh, what if he doesn’t like me?” Anny questioned and I raised an eyebrow.
“I have no idea what’s going on right now,” I whispered.
“Anny here is one of my retainers. You owe me one, handsome, as I’ve managed to convince her to join our Clan,” Clarissa said with another of her patented smirks.
“Really?” I asked.
“Really. And while Anny may not look it, she is one of the top Academy students for the Speed stat!” Clarissa declared, putting both hands on her hips. “I think she will be an excellent addition to the Clan.”
It would be nice if I could get a good look at the woman first, but Anny clearly had other ideas.
“I’ve reconsidered,” Anny suddenly declared. “I’m not cut out for this.”
“She does have a problem with…” Clarissa started to explain, but was promptly cut off.
“I don’t have any problems!” Anny declared. “Joining another Clan is a big decision and… and…”
“And?” Clarissa prodded, and there was silence after. “Come out already, Anny.”
I wasn’t entirely sure what to say about this entire situation, but after a moment, I glimpsed Anny’s eyes as she peeked around the dressing screen.
She quickly ducked back, and I caught sight of a blur that zipped around the edge of the screen. I had just enough time to realize it was the same kind of blur that Juliana had demonstrated when using her Speed stat before a surprising force slammed into me.
Anny had wrapped her arms around me, her head pressed into my chest. She shook her head in a daze before looking up into my eyes.
“Hi,” I said, smiling.
“Eeep!” she squeaked, “I’m so sorry!”
“It’s fine…”
“Please forgive me, Alex, Sir!”
“I said it’s fi…”
“I’ll never bother you again! I swear,
it was just a reflex!”
Anny actually prattled on about how sorry she was for quite some time. The situation was so comical that it reminded me of silly scenes from some light novels I had read before.
First Juliana’s scary aura and now Anny’s speed-enhanced swan dive. I wondered how many other tropes I’d end up seeing.
“Anny!” Clarissa finally shouted, stomping her foot. “Calm down and listen. My handsome Alex just wants to get to know who you are.”
“Huh? Oh,” Anny said, stepping back from me. She was quite pretty, at least the side of her face I could see. Those brown eyes of hers sparkled in the limited light of the tent. Her dress didn’t expose her midriff or thighs, like Clarissa’s, but it was the same color, a grassy green.
Her cheeks turned beet red when she realized she’d had her arms around me this whole time. She dropped them, at once, and then wrung her hands together. “I… I can do that. My name is Anaisia Fardonna… but you can call me Anny, it’s much easier.”
“Right,” I said, happy that things were returning to normal. “My name’s Alex Augere. Clarissa mentioned you were interested in joining my Clan?”
“Ah… yes,” Anny said, as she wiggled on the spot idly. “Clarissa has been trying to convince me to join for a while now. You see… I’m not that good at combat, but I can gather loot really fast and maybe attack enemy weak spots. I uhh… also have the Pathfinding skill.”
“You know, my Clan is quite small, but I had just been thinking about expanding it,” I admitted. “If you’re willing to join up, and Clarissa approves, then I have no problem with it.”
“Really?” Anny asked. “You mean it?”
“Sure,” I said, shrugging, “why not?”
“Thank you, Alex!”
“Any particular reason you wanted to join, other than Clarissa here pestering you about it?” I asked curiously.
“Hmm, oh, it was because of the Growth skill.”
I looked at Clarissa and raised an eyebrow. “You told her about it?”
“Isn’t it great, Alex!” Clarissa grinned. “Have you seen my Defense stat recently? Who knew your amazing Growth skill could raise my stats so high!”
