"Alice, would you like to join us on a hunt before we set out? The materials can be sold for profit in the Jorgen. " Alan asked while strapping his armor on. "Sure that sounds like fun, let me know if I hold you back any. " Alice said with a smile thinking it has been a while since she last went to fight with monsters.
"I am sure we would be the ones who hold you back, you are an envoy after all. " Hara said jumping up and down with a relaxed posture to get warmed up for the day.
"How do you fight? I am curious. " Hara asked, now doing some stretches.
"I use a scythe as well as some elemental spells. I can do whatever is needed so just let me know! " Alice said while pulling her scythe out of her inventory to show them.
"What an ominous aura.. " Alan said looking at Alice"s weapon.
"How about a quick spar before we go out so we know what her strengths are? " Joey, another stocky man that carried a large s.h.i.+eld and short sword said standing up and joining the group.
"I am fine with that. " Alice said, happy to prove herself to them.
"Since I have the best defense out of all of us, why don"t you try attacking me? Do not be afraid to give it your best shot. " Joey said, raising his s.h.i.+eld and getting in a low stance ready for her to attack.
"Don"t blink. " Alice said, twirling her scythe in one hand and using Rift Warp to instantly get behind him letting her swing the blunt end of her weapon at his legs.
Barely able to keep pace Joey rolled forward and made eye contact with Alice now aware he should take the spar a little more seriously.
Seeing him at the ready Alice decided she would try out the skill she got when she became a demiG.o.d.
Looking serious she whispered "Dead of night" which immediately caused all the light in the surrounding area to begin being sucked towards Alice as if the world itself was being sucked in by her.
Trying to keep his composure by the unreal sight he was witnessing Joey used a skill of his own to protect from being killed by magic attacks. Before he knew it he was not able to see anything at all. His s.h.i.+eld that was inches from his face was completely out of sight, the ground below him and all had gone. All that was left was his consciousness.
"DADDY!!!!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!? " Sora yelled out not being able to see anything causing her to start panicking.
Hearing Sora freaking out Alice quickly released the ability and restored the light to the area and ran over to Sora who was crying with her knees tucked up to her chest on the ground.
"I am so sorry Sora! Are you okay?? " Alice asked, unaware of how fond she was of the little girl.
"Don"t cry Sora everything is okay. " Alan said, picking her up and giving her a hug and bringing her inside to try and make her feel better.
"I didn"t mean to scare her… " Alice said softly, feeling guilty.
"Don"t feel too bad about it, Sora has always been frightened easily. " Hara said after noticing how bad Alice felt for it.
"Joey are you okay? " Hara turned to see Joey who was still standing on guard just realizing that his sight had returned.
"Yeah… I ended up stuck in my thoughts.. " Joey replied remembering the feeling of Alice"s blade at the back of his neck before she ran to check on Sora.
"Well it looks like you are plenty capable of handling yourself. However if you used that on a hunt we all might die. Not being able to see our prey could end up making us prey instead. " Hara said before going to say goodbye to Sora.
Waiting outside Alice looked up at the sky wondering if she made the right choice staying with the group rather than just flying around until she found one of the Kingdoms on this side of the world. Putting her scythe away she summoned the Grimoire to do some reading while they all checked on Sora.
"Are you ready to go on the hunt? " Alan said with the others following behind him as they exited the house walking over to her.
"Yeah, I am good to go. " Alice replied letting her Grimoire disappear like she normally would when reading it.
"Just beyond the treeline right there should be a few wild Flame Boar. If you have not faced them yet then just sit back and watch until you catch on how to fight them. " Joey said as they led the way into the forest.
"I have been meaning to ask this but what happened when Lord Kira took control of this land? " Alice asked as they walked through the trees.
"I guess things might be different over the mountains if you do not know about it. Some Kingdoms here fought back and others just used diplomacy to avoid bloodshed. In my opinion Demon Lord Kira was insanely lucky in how things played out here. Jorgen being the closest Kingdom to his own fought back and was only beaten by a small margin. Once he occupied Jorgen he didn"t really change anything about how the people lived. All he requires is a yearly tax and the treatment of his men is good. However after Jorgens change in leaders.h.i.+p the other Kingdoms heard of this. Some just sent the yearly tax to him in exchange for him staying away and others joined forces to try to stop him. Just before the other Kingdoms planned their attack they received news of the Angel"s downfall. This news struck fear in many of the warriors and as such their morale fell before the war even started. Seeing this fall in morale Lord Kira moved his forces quickly and took advantage of the chaos. He held a joint meeting with all of the Kings and offered them terms of peace as long as they recognize him as the supreme ruler of the land. The thing about it is that since he largely stays out of people"s way and sets terms of an end to war and civil conflicts between the Kingdoms everyone pretty much just lets him do what he wants. If I had to offer an opinion about the man honestly I think he might be the most successful diplomat and King in history. The yearly tax can be harsh but you are not without ways of paying as well if you cannot pay you have the option to join his army and have your families taxes waived. " Alan replied as they came upon some tracks on the ground created by the monsters they are hunting.
"That is much different than what I had expected to hear. " Alice said softly as not to alert the monsters in the area.
"He was cruel to his enemies but showed kindness and fair treatment to those who chose to take his side. With him not living on this side of the world it is much easier for the Kingdoms to just pay him to stay away. However if he tries to push back anymore than what he has currently I have heard rumors of a secret faction to completely wipe out his armies and Kingdom. You as an envoy will probably be invited to join this faction once word of your arrival reaches the other envoys. Lord Kira may have a powerful army but do you think he could survive an attack of the G.o.d"s envoys joined together? That amount of power alone could probably wipe out much of the land, you yourself have the power to drown your enemies in darkness and despair whoever you turned your blade at would have no choice other than to present their neck for you to take. " Alan replied again while taking out his weapon as they came into sight of the Flame Boar which was eating another monster it had killed.
"Stay back and support us if you see a chance to do such. " Joey said quietly before charging forward and ramming his large s.h.i.+eld into the beast"s side, sending it rolling to the side.
"ROOAOAARRRR " The Flame Boar yelled with a small cloud of smoke leaving its mouth as its fur looked like it was catching fire.
Giving a shout of his own Joey drew the Boar"s attention while Hara and Alan took their positions on opposite sides of the monster getting ready to attack it once it charged at Joey who was activating some of his spells to boost his defense.
Watching while sitting on a tree limb above them she was surprised to see the boar that had charged at Joey with full force was stopped in its tracks by his s.h.i.+eld giving Hara and Alan a perfect chance to attack.
Das.h.i.+ng forward with great speed Hara had struck the boar"s ribs with so much force she punctured its skin sending blood splatting around her while Alan had used his weapon to break one of the boar"s legs.
Receiving so much damage the Flame boar backed up and the fire on its fur blazed while its s...o...b..r burned the ground as it hit it.
"IT"S GOING TO SHOOT FIRE GET BACK! " Joey yelled as he slammed his s.h.i.+eld into the ground and tried to hide his ma.s.sive body behind it preparing for the coming attack.
Taking her chance to be useful Alice used her Rift Warp and stood in front of Joey taking out her scythe and infusing it with the Wind Element as she spun it in her hands blocking the fire that was being continually spit her way sending it flying around her protecting him.
As soon as the boar attack was finished she leapt into the air landing on top of it and slit the Boars throat causing it to fall to the ground and its fire to extinguish.
"That was close, I didn"t know if you could handle being hit by that attack so I blocked it.. Alice said jumping off the Boar.
"I would have taken some damage but nothing too serious, thank you for your help. " Joey replied happily, thankful his shoulders didn"t get burned again.
"Just how many elements can you use? " Hara asked, looking pretty impressed.
"I can use Fire, Wind, Shadow, and the Light element"s. " Alice replied putting away her weapon ignoring the dumbfounded expressions they showed hearing what she could use.
"That is certainly very rare. We should drag the Boar back to the settlement and get ready to bring it to Jorgen. We will leave in the morning. " Alan said happy the hunt went so smoothly.