Chapter 87 - Briefing

I wake up feeling completely refreshed, but I also notice that Ellena and Hope are still sleeping soundly, I carefully get up from the bed trying not to wake them up, I them pick up the clothes that I threw on the floor last night and put them on before leaving the room, trying not to make any loud noises, and as I leave the room, I'm greeted by the same female magic knight that had the outburst of anger when we were on our way here,

I awkwardly wave and say.

"uh hello."

she responds.

"I apologize for my conduct when we first met."

I reply,

"it's water under the bridge now."

she replies.

"oh okay."

I clear my throat and ask.

"so what brings you around here?"

she responds like she remembered what she was going to tell me.

"I was sent here to fetch you, but since you were still asleep, I just waited for you out here, so I wouldn't wake you up."

"so where are you taking me?"

she answers.

"to meet the people who will help you hunt down the vampire lords."

I reply.

"I see, but isn't it a bit soon to start hunting them down, we still need to gather Intel on possible locations and we also need to train so we can defeat them once and for all."

she gets offended with what I said.

"we don't need training, all the people your going to meet have were born with the strongest Hero's Blessing and are considered the best in the human region."

I sigh and ask.

"so I'm guessing that your going to be part of my team?"

"yes, with our combined strength we will eliminate the threat with ease."

I respond with a cold attitude as I remember my fight against Abigail.

"even so you can't treat them lightly, so we have to prepare for the worst."

she gets taken a back with what I said.

"I guess your right, you do have more experience with this kind of thing when you compare us."

I then think to myself.

"but the only vampire lord I fought was Abigail, even I'm not even sure on how we'll be able to kill the rest."

she notices how gloomy I got and so she pats me on the back and says.

"don't worry Collin, with your help and all of our strengths combined we can pull this off."

I sigh and realized that I don't know her name, and then I ask.

"sorry for not asking you earlier, but what is your name?"

she replies, like if I'm supposed to know who she is.

"what I'm the famous hero from Arcadia, the one who defended the village against a pack of stalkers."

I chuckle nervously and respond.

"sorry I still don't know who you are."

she then clears her throat and responds smiling.

"the name is Katie Del Rio, the Poison Hero."

I reply.

"it's a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you, even though our first encounter was unpleasant."

"well that's the past, let's just move past that and continue forward as partners."

she extends her hand out for a handshake, and I reach out with a firm grip and respond while shaking her hand.

"sounds good to me."

I continue following her until we reach another room, where I see the four kings gathered with the other top heroes that Katie was talking about,

when King Tully sees me, he says.

"alright Collin Belfaust, these fine man and women, will be assisting you on eliminating the vampire lords, so go ahead and brief them about your fight with Abigail."

I nod and start talking.

"alright I need you all to pay attention."

the heroes make their way to me and ready themselves to listen what I'm about to say.

"Abigail was very confident about her magical defence and she had every right to because when I used magic to attack, it didn't do much."

one of the heroes, raises his hand and interrupts

"but you weren't born with the Hero's Blessing, so it makes sense that you wouldn't possess very effective magic."

I then ask.

"are all of you familiar with, Heaven's lighting storm."

they all nod and the same hero responds.

"yes it's a top tier magic spell that only people with vast amounts of mana can only cast."

I reply.

"well when Abigail was injured by me, she was unaffected by the power of this spell."

they all look at me with concern and ask.

"so how did you beat her?"

I answer.

"I overpowered her with my physical strength."

one of them bursts out laughing and replies.

"what a pathetic way to lose, anyone who loses a battle to someone using physical combat, are less than nothing."

I point at him and ask.

"and who might you be?"

he responds snuggly.

"James Halsberg, the hero from Telpon."

I then ask.

"would you like to see if you can handle the kind of physical power that Abigail possessed?"

he laughs.

"there's no point, because these vampire bastards wouldn't get a chance to get close to do that and even if they did, my trusty enchanted weapon would help dispose anyone who closes in."

the other heroes nod their heads agreeing to what James said, also including Katie, but except

for one who is leaning against the wall, raising his hand, I then point at him and ask.

"you got something to say?"

he responds.

"if what you say is true, I would like to see this for myself."

the heroes begin to murmur amongst themselves excitedly, and then I whisper to Katie.

"what's with all the fuss?"

she whispers back.

"that's Ying Zhu and he's considered to be on par with the great hero Gary."

I then think to myself.

"jeez, I can't believe that I'm in the dark when it comes to knowing the strongest Heroes of our generation."

I then ask Ying.

"would you like to try this out?"

he separates himself from the wall and replies.

"yes but on one condition."

I ask.

"and what would that be?"

he replies.

"if I can take your strongest physical attack and stay standing, we'll stop talking about this whole physical combat nonsense and start hunting down the Vampire lords."

my eyes light up with excitement and I say.

"and if you can't stay standing after my strongest attack, there won't be any back talk when I put you all through rigorous physical training."

everyone begins to cheer on Ying, and then he replies.

"alright then let's get this over with."

I then ask the Kings.

"is there healer available?"

King Ryan asks.

"yes, do you need the healer now?"

I answer.

"tell the healer to meet us out into the courtyard."

I then say to Ying.

"let's go outside."

we all head outside to King Tully's courtyard, including the kings who were also interested about this spectacle, I then think to myself.

"I think silver eyes should be enough, because that's around the same strength that Abigail was at when she was in Gargoyle form."

me and Ying stand about five feet apart from each other while the others stood in the distance about fifteen feet from us, and once the healer arrived with the rest, King Tully shouts.

"you guys can go ahead and start!"

while the others shout.

"go Ying, you got this!"

I loom at Ying and say.

"let's add another stipulation to this?"

he asks.

"what do you want to add?"

I answer.

"If you remain standing after taking my strongest punch, I want you to use your full power, with no holding back."

he responds worried.

"I can't do that."

I ask.

"why not?"

he replies.

"because you will die before the healer can do anything."

I respond.

"don't worry about that, I'm more durable than I look."

he sighs and responds while closing his eyes.

"alright but don't say I didn't warn you."

I reply.

"good, let's get started then."

I then think to myself.

"I need to go all out and use Wolf's rage too, I can't lose this and have them face the vampire lords unprepared."

I then chant.

"silver eyes."

Ying's eyes light up and he responds slightly impressed.

"interesting, you seem to be emitting some very intense pressure ow, but if this is all you've got, then this match up over before it has begun."

after wards I chant.

"Wolf's Rage."

and I take off from the ground like a speeding bullet, closing the distance between us in an instant, he panics and yells out.

"Mana Shield!"

a thick layer of mana surrounds his whole body. acting like his personal shield, but I continue by swinging with all my might towards his body, and after my punch makes contact the shield shatters and he begins to throw up blood instantly, and as I back away, a chunk of skin was gone from his lower oblique, I then yell out.

"healer get your a.s.s over here!"