Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“I guess I can charge fifty gold a month...” Amelia murmured as she placed a hand on her chin.

Noele paused. “What? No—” she started.

“Twenty-five, then. But that’s the lowest I’ll go.”

“That’s...” the blonde girl trailed off. Noele pursed her lips, shaking her head. There was no point trying to argue. She might as well just come out and say it. “Amelia, a hundred gold coins isn’t a lot.”

“Seriously?” Amelia blinked. She frowned at herself, looking surprised. “I could’ve sworn that I read that most people barely even earn a hundred gold in their lifetime.”

Noele nodded. “And that’s true. A single gold coin is a hundred silver, and a hundred gold coins is worth a lot to normal people. But for adventurers? A-ranked adventurers earn a thousand gold a year. And S-ranked adventurers can earn that much in a month...”

“So it’s a lot of money, just not ‘fuck you’ money, I see.” The brown-haired woman rubbed her chin. “I don’t really need ‘fuck you’ money. I just need retirement money. So a hundred gold it is— that is if you can afford it.”

“I’m not exactly an A-ranked adventurer just yet, but I have quite a lot saved up,” Noele said as she stepped forward. “And I will do anything it takes if it means you’ll help me become as strong as you.”

Amelia nodded approvingly. “That’s the spirit. So for your first lesson—”

—--

Noele blinked as she took in her dark surroundings. She heard the clicking. She saw the slithering. Red eyes moving in the shadows, stalking her every movement. She raised her head, looking up at Amelia standing at the edge of the pit above.

The brown-haired woman spoke simply. “Survive.”

“Uh, what?” Noele opened her mouth to protest, but Amelia leapt away.

“Good luck. I’ll be back by sundown.”

“Wait, but this is—” The blonde girl raised her hand. And she watched as her mentor vanished into the distance. Slowly, she looked back down into the darkness.

All around her were the shadows of undulating creatures. They circled her, clicking and hissing as she reached for her sword. Her eyes narrowed.

And one of these long creatures lashed out like a whip. She raised her blade as she ducked under the attack. With a vertical slash, she tore through an armored segmented section of the monster’s body. It fell back in half, oozing green blood.

Noele bit her lower lip.

“These are... colossal centipedes. C-ranked threats. I should be able to deal with them just fine.”

Her eyes flickered. The clicking sounds grew louder, and she saw more and more of the monsters encroaching on her location. There were far too many of them to count. They were climbing the walls and the ceilings, each many times longer than Noele was tall. She hesitated.

“...I hope.”

And the colossal centipedes charged her as she braced herself.

—--

I leapt through the forests of Briar Glen, heading back to the city of Windrip. I could still see some remnants of smoking pouring out in the distance even though it had been two days since the Goblin Lord’s attack. Rebuilding a city wasn’t easy, and nearly half the populace was gone, having either fled Windrip, or having died in the battle. It was going to take a while before a sense of normalcy would be restored here.Witness the debut of this chapter, unveiled through Ñôv€l--B1n.

Her eyes flickered as a blue screen flashed before her. A deluge of notifications from the World System.

[You have defeated a colossal centipede!]

[You have defeated a colossal centipede!]

...

[You have leveled up! You are now Level 48!]

She frowned. Noele raised a hand, dismissing these notifications as she shook her head. She had only leveled up once from this debacle, which made sense. These colossal centipedes were probably low Level 30s. Killing them didn’t provide much experience to her. That was as opposed to killing the Goblin Lord.

While Noele herself was not responsible for defeating Glutaz— Amelia was— the World System had rewarded the experience from that feat to the Noble Spellsword. As a result, Noele had leveled up twice from Level 45 to Level 47 and learned [Force Barrier].

If only she had [True Appraisal] or the like. She could evaluate her own status— track her strength more accurately. With each level up, she felt like she grew stronger, faster... better. But she couldn’t exactly quantify it in the same sense if she did have such a Skill.

Groaning, she cracked her shoulders and stood up straight. A few of her worst injuries healed just a little bit thanks to the level up. She didn’t have any healing potions with her because Amelia had brought her here by surprise, so Noele was grateful for any help she could get. Plus—

“The nest isn’t cleared out just yet,” the Noble Spellsword said as she raised her head.

If she had cleared out this nest, the World System would’ve informed her. The fact that it said nothing of the like just proved there were still plenty of colossal centipedes lurking about, even if she no longer heard the crawling of the monsters. Even if the last of the golden flames had been snuffed out.

“Amelia told me to survive, so do I just... wait here for the rest of them to show up?”

If so, this granted Noele a good chance to relax. A brief reprieve. She wanted to just slump over and rest. But she caught herself. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply.

“No— I can’t just lie around and waste my time,” Noele whispered to herself. “Amelia took a chance with me. She let me be her apprentice. I know she’s probably somewhere out there, watching my every move, carefully evaluating my performance—”

—--

“Hi, yes, can I have this made for me by the end of the day?” I said as I slipped the piece of paper forward.

I showed the [Tailor] the sketch I drew out. My clothes were ragged and dirty. I also didn’t quite like the way I looked. The first step back to normalcy was shopping for new clothes. So I paid the coin and waited for my outfit to be finished.

He nodded eagerly as he rubbed his hands together. “Of course. It’s a little bit complex, so it will cost—”

—--

“I cannot disappoint Amelia,” Noele resolved herself.

So the Noble Spellsword raised her blade and dared to venture into the darkness. But she paused when she heard the clicking. A deep, resounding clicking. Slower than the footsteps of the colossal centipedes. Meticulous. Dangerous.

Noele took a step back as she scanned her surroundings. She paused when she caught a glimpse of a giant dark shadow. Something that was lurking in the dark.

Her eyes grew wide. “That’s...”

And she saw it. The massive mandibles. The serrated chitin. A hundred giant segments of body. A monster that extended a hundred feet. It emerged from the shadows, looming over the B-ranked adventurer as she stared on.

“That’s... a titan centipede. An A-ranked threat.”